by Solet, Trina
“Cookies?”
“Pie,” Jake told her. He then inspected the boat Tyler rented.
“We’ll row across,” Jake pointed to the other side of the lake. “There’s a small stream that empties into the lake. We can eat next to it. It’s a nice spot.”
Getting into the boat, Julie was nervous as the small boat rocked. Tyler held her tightly once they sat down. Just as Tyler had predicted, Jake did all the rowing. Only it wasn’t just because Tyler was lazy. He had to hold on to Julie so she could enjoy the boat ride and not be scared. She dipped her hand in the water then drew it back.
“Too cold for a swim, huh,” Jake said. He had taken his jacket off so Tyler could watch his muscles at work as he rowed. Or maybe he did it because the exertion made him hot. Either way, he was putting on quite a show. The only way it could be better was if he were shirtless. Tyler vowed to himself that they would come back here in the summer.
The stream was very small, but Julie had a lot of fun playing and jumping over it. They walked around until they got hungry. In addition to the fried chicken, there were rolls and butter, some potato salad and slices of peach pie. There was also a thermos of lemonade.
Seeing that Jake was guzzling their only beverage, Tyler warned him, “Hey, don’t suck up all the lemonade. Leave some for us.”
“Greedy!” Julie accused him. “The lemonade is for everybody!”
“OK, OK. But I did do all the rowing,” Jake reminded them both.
Julie frowned at him, but then she relented.
“OK. You can have extra,” she said.
“She spoils you,” Tyler told Jake.
“No. He worked hard,” Julie said, defending him.
Tyler smiled. He enjoyed watching Julie being tough on Jake and being nice to him too.
After lunch, Jake and Tyler felt lazy while Julie had enough energy to play. When Jake stretched out for a nap, Tyler folded up his jacket for him to use as a pillow.
“No. I want this,” Jake said and rested his head on Tyler’s thigh.
Tyler looked down at his handsome face. Jake winked at him then closed his eyes.
Julie had actually found some flowers to pick. There weren’t as many wildflowers as there would have been in the summer, but Julie picked enough for a small wreath. She put it first on Jake as he pretended to sleep.
“Put it on your dad,” he told her without opening his eyes.
Tyler protested, but the wreath went on his head. Jake sneaked a picture. He also took one of Julie wearing it.
They slowly made their way back to the boat. It was getting cold so Tyler put his own jacket on Julie on top of the one she was already wearing. Jake took a picture of her like that.
“Take more pictures, Ty, or you’ll kick yourself later,” Jake admonished him. He had taken more pictures of Julie than Tyler had on this trip.
“I’m not used to it,” Tyler said. He knew Jake was right though.
“That’s why you have me.”
“You’re good for other stuff too.” Tyler squeezed Jake’s ass. Since Julie was a few steps ahead of them, there was no danger that she would see.
This time, Tyler offered to row, but Jake didn’t let him.
“I actually want to get there,” he said.
Tyler didn’t object. He just sat back and enjoyed the show. He did drive them back home. Tired, Jake dozed next to him in the front seat. Not wanting to wake him, Julie whispered to Tyler about the things she saw out the window.
Chapter 16
Tyler had called Fiona and his mom to see if they would take Julie off his hands for the day. Another major crisis was keeping him tied to the computer and on a Sunday too. Julie was not happy with him. And Tyler was not happy that Mom had already enlisted Fiona to help with some woman’s group function so neither one of them was available. Jo wasn’t answering his phone. Then Jake showed up just as he was needed.
“Hey, you and Jules want to do something?” he asked, but he didn’t like what he saw. Tyler was staring at the computer screen too intently.
“Can’t. Got to work. But Julie is free. She’s giving me a guilt trip from hell.”
“Wonder why she would guilt you for working on Sunday?”
“I know,” Tyler said admitting his guilt. “But I can’t let this snowball. It’s glitchy now, but with more traffic... I don’t even want to think about it. You don’t mind taking her, right?”
“At the moment, she’s more fun than you are,” Jake said and went to give Julie the good news.
A few hours later, Tyler was surprised to open the front door to Julie’s unhappy face.
“What’s this?” he asked her.
“He’s not my friend!” Julie said pointing at Jake as he came in right behind her.
“Are you mad at Jake?” Tyler asked, stunned.
“Yes!”
Before Tyler could ask her anything more, she stormed past him, doing a frighteningly accurate impression of a teenager. It made Tyler’s blood run cold. All that was missing was the slammed door. He now turned his attention to the crestfallen Jake, who dragged himself over to the couch. He slumped then sprawled before telling his story.
“We were driving by that gay-hating church on 4th and Bly Avenue, and Julie wanted to go there.”
“She wanted to go to church?” Tyler asked.
“No. They were having some kind of outdoor bazaar or something. They had a big display with flowers and cakes and cupcakes. All the junk she likes. That’s what got her attention.”
“But didn’t you tell her why it wasn’t a good place,” Tyler asked since that seemed like the obvious thing to do.
“I couldn’t trust myself to do it.”
“But you are the great explainer,” Tyler said remembering how well Jake had handled Julie before.
“You know my temper. And those people piss me off. My explanation would have been just a series of expletives.” Jake then added in a lowered voice, “And mainly, I wasn’t sure I could keep the words ‘assholes like your grandfather’ from popping out in the heat of the moment.”
Tyler decided it was just as well Jake chose to keep that to himself.
“So you’re only any good when I’m in trouble. That means we’re both pathetic,” Tyler concluded from this.
“Looks that way,” Jake agreed.
“I guess it’s OK as long as we’re there to catch each other,” Tyler said since he was hoping he could make things right with Julie this time.
“That’s exactly why I keep you around,” Jake confirmed. “Now go, make her like me again. You owe me.”
Tyler found Julie stomping around her room. She turned to glare at him.
Tyler started by saying, “I heard that Jake didn’t want to take you to that...”
She didn’t even let him finish.
“They had flowers. And cakes too. He didn’t want to go. He just made a mean face. I hate him!”
“Don’t be a drama queen.”
“You don’t be a drama queen!” she shot right back at him.
But Tyler knew what she was talking about. He had seen Jake in that mood before, wearing that face she called mean. It meant that he needed a few minutes before he could trust himself to speak. Or in this case, until he could hand her off to Tyler.
“Just listen. That place might have looked nice, but it’s not a nice place. The people who go there don’t like gay people.”
“Why?” Julie said. She was still frowning, but she was starting to get the picture.
“Because they want to make everyone the same and punish anyone who is different. It’s not a good place. That’s why Jake couldn’t take you there. OK?”
“It looked pretty. I didn’t know,” she said apologetically.
“You want to go talk to Jake now? He’s moping.”
She took Tyler’s hand when he offered it. She went up to Jake who was pouting on the sofa but sitting straight now.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was a bad place,” Julie said
to him consolingly. She climbed on the couch to sit next to him.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t explain, but that place makes me mad,” Jake told her.
“Makes me mad too. We’ll never go there.” Julie took Jake’s hand to show her solidarity.
“Never,” Jake agreed. He kissed her little hand and made her smile.
“There. She’s a happy kid again,” Tyler said after Julie left them alone.
“Then I’m happy too,” Jake said.
“We can go and eat somewhere,” Tyler offered.
“I’ll make us something,” Jake said.
He went into Tyler’s kitchen. Tyler sat on the barstool to watch him then Julie joined them. They did help a little, but mostly Jake told them stories about his family as they watched him make fried rice and the glazed carrots Julie liked.
Chapter 17
When Tyler heard about the concert in the park, he thought it was something Julie might like. He didn’t expect both Jake and Jo to want to come along, but they did. Jake was the last to arrive to meet them. In the meantime, the three of them strolled around as the park filled up with people. To pass the time, Jo and Julie were playing a game.
“I spy with my little eye... Jake!” Julie yelled spotting him as he approached.
“That’s not how the game is played,” Jo corrected her. “You’re supposed to say, ‘I spy with my little eye something tall and grouchy.’”
Jake swung her up into a hug. Tyler and Jo barely even got a hi from him. Seeing a vendor’s cart soon after that, Julie recruited Jake to buy her hot chocolate.
“Look at him strutting around. I hate that beautiful bastard,” Jo said as Julie led Jake away.
“Who? Jake? I get the bastard part,” Tyler said, lying. The memory of their night at the lake was just too recent. It was too easy to imagine Jake naked, doing wonderful, obscene things with his mouth.
“Are you blind?” Jo waved a hand in front of his face.
“He’s tall and has a great body,” Tyler was willing to admit. The truth was he wasn’t eager to dwell on Jake’s good looks, especially the way he looked that night.
But Jo just wouldn’t let it go.
“He is miles of gorgeous, you dummy. And also miles of bastard.”
“Maybe. But I’ve been there, done that. Several times,” Tyler said while struggling to remain in a decent frame of mind while ogling Jake.
“Wait. You two slept together and you didn’t tell me?” Jo said, backhanding Tyler in the chest.
Tyler had forgotten that Jo didn’t know, and now he was paying for it. He rubbed his chest because Jo didn’t know moderation either.
“You got that one for free. Next one, you pay for,” Tyler told him and raised a finger to warn him against any further attempts at violence. Then he explained himself. “We didn’t tell you for a very good reason. We didn’t want you to know.”
“I demand a pornographic level of detail. Right now!”
“Not now. Or ever,” Tyler said to him as Jake and Julie came back.
“They have coffee too. Look,” Julie said as Jake handed out the cups. “Jake said you didn’t want any, but I know you like coffee. You drink it all the time.”
“She pulled rank on me,” Jake said to excuse his good deed.
“You’re the best kid,” Tyler said and gave Jake a look that told him what he thought of him.
“And Jake is the worst,” Jo said, but Julie disagreed.
“No. Jake is the best Jake,” Julie said.
Tyler waited expectantly. Julie finally noticed.
“And you are the best Dad,” Julie said to Tyler so he wouldn’t feel left out.
“What about me?” Jo asked.
“You’re the best Jo.”
“That’s right,” Jo gloated like she hadn’t said the same thing about all of them.
“You are probably the only Jo she knows,” Jake said trying to deflate his ego. As if that was possible.
“No. I know another Jo,” Julie said. “But he picks his nose all the time.”
“There, you beat nose-picking Jo,” Jake said to him.
They picked a spot for their little group and got comfortable. Jo made sure to sit between Jake and Tyler like a chaperone. The music was big band, upbeat and jazzy. Julie looked like she was dying to dance to it, but none of them were willing to make fools of themselves and join her. At first they sat, then they reclined, then they listened to the music lying down on blankets. Jake dozed while Jo was restless. Julie wriggled her fingers and moved her feet to the music. Mostly Tyler just enjoyed watching her. When he caught her eye, they smiled at each other. Jake caught one of Tyler’s smiles too. Maybe the two of them gazed at each other too long because Jo nudged them and made a disgusted face. He was more immature than Julie.
Chapter 18
After the concert, Tyler took Julie to dinner at his mother’s. It smelled good as soon as they came through the door. When they went into the kitchen, Fiona waved to them with her glass of red wine. Julie got busy helping her grandmother, while Tyler and Fiona went off where they were in no danger of helping.
“A whole crowd of us went to that concert in the park,” Tyler told Fiona as they made themselves comfortable in the den.
“Crowd?”
“Me, Jake, Julie and Jo.” Then hearing the names all in a row, he said, “What the hell!? Am I collecting people whose names start with a J?”
“That’s the only thing that explains why you would willingly hang out with Jake and Jo,” Fiona said as she tried to get comfortable sideways in the armchair and not spill her wine.
“What’s wrong with Jake?” Tyler asked.
“So you’re just throwing Jo under the bus?”
“What’s wrong with Jake?” he repeated though he had a rough idea what the answer would be.
“He is a bad influence, always has been. It’s his fault you don’t have a boyfriend.” Her words had a familiar ring. He wondered how often he had turned a deaf ear to that claim.
“Hey, how about you lay some of the blame right here.” Tyler tapped himself on the chest. “I’m too young to settle down. I’ll wait till I’m forty. Forty-five. By then, hopefully, I’ll have a ton of money, and I can entice some hot, young stud to lie around the pool with me.”
Tyler’s dreams for the future had no effect on Fiona’s argument.
“This is all Jake’s fault. He is the worst thing that ever happened to you.”
Tyler contradicted her immediately.
“Try the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“The best?” She was incredulous.
“Except for Julie,” Tyler corrected himself, but that wasn’t Fiona’s reason for not believing her ears.
“He is a walking disaster. How many times have you almost been arrested because of him?” she asked.
“How many times has he almost been arrested because of me?” The answer was not as many, but Tyler wasn’t going to tell her that. “And the operative word is ‘almost’. Jake is a great guy. The best.”
“See! This is why you can’t have a relationship with anyone. You have this big, sexy hunk of a guy that you’ve put on a pedestal. Now he’s larger than life, and no other guy can compare to him. And since Jake doesn’t want a relationship, you’re stuck being alone.”
“I’m not alone. I’m far from alone. And I never wanted a relationship either,” Tyler told her.
“So you were perfect for each other. What about now?”
“We still are. He’s great with Julie.”
She dismissed that though.
“Everyone is great with Julie. She’s a great kid,” Fiona said.
“She must be. Even you like her. And she likes you too.”
Fiona waved off his words, but Tyler could tell that Julie meant a lot to her. Even just talking about her seemed to mellow her out.
“I guess you can figure out your own love life,” Fiona allowed.
“Look at you being agreeable,” Tyler said and
put his hand on hers. She looked at him like he was crazy, but she smiled too.
But Tyler was left with the question of why Jake was on everyone’s mind. Of course, that just made Tyler think of him even more.
To get back at Fiona, Tyler told Julie what they were talking about. He knew she would stick up for Jake and Jo too, and pester her about it.
“Why don’t you like Jake?” Julie asked her after dinner while Tyler took their plates to the kitchen.
“He’s a bad influence on Tyler and always has been,” Fiona told her.
“And why don’t you like Jo?”
“He’s a little... umm female dog.”
“What? He’s...?” Julie was confused.
“It’s a word I can’t say in front of a kid,” Fiona explained.
“So you don’t like him because he’s like a little girl dog?”
“Exactly.”
“And why don’t you like Dad?” she asked just as Tyler got back from the kitchen.
“Yeah, what’s your beef with that awesome guy?” Tyler asked her as he sat down at the table with them.
“You try having a brother who’s prettier than you are,” Fiona said and looked at Tyler accusingly.
“I’m not pretty,” Tyler said.
“You were until puberty got a hold of you. Then you started to look more like a guy. But the damage was already done.”
“Jo is prettier,” Julie said.
“That doesn’t make me like him any better,” Fiona told her. “And I got cheated out of those green eyes too.” She pointed at both Tyler and Julie like they had stolen them out of her head.
“Your eyes are nice too,” Julie told her, and there was no doubting her sincerity.
Fiona simply said, “Thank you” and for once in her life, accepted a compliment.
His talk with Fiona did make Tyler consider his relationship with Jake over the years. Whatever his faults, Jake was essential to him. And maybe Tyler would have latched on to some guy more long term if it wasn’t for Jake. But there was never anyone who really tempted him. He wasn’t going to deny that there was an intimacy between him and Jake that Tyler had never felt with anyone else. And maybe if Jake ever said, “Let’s go for it” Tyler would say, “Yes.” But they already had each other in their lives, and neither one of them was looking for a boyfriend. Or maybe it was just complacency that kept them from taking any further steps. Maybe when they got too old to slam around the dance floor, they would fall together like they were magnetized. It made Tyler smile to think of spending his declining years with grouchy, old Jake. But until then, they were “closer than brothers, tighter than a virgin’s ass” as Jake had famously once said during a toast to their friendship. It was Tyler’s birthday dinner at his mother’s place, and she had nearly thrown a ladle at Jake over his toast. Fiona did throw a fork, but luckily, she missed.