Gateway to Love

by Sarah Hadley Brook

  They stopped for a photo at the base and were told they could purchase it at the end of the tour, which Mitch planned on doing.

  It was cool, probably in the 60s, and Mitch was wishing he’d brought a jacket. When he shivered again, Craig stepped closer behind him since the trail was too narrow to walk next to each other.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, just a little chilled.”

  “Hang on. We’ll be through it soon.”

  “I don’t mind. This place is beautiful.”

  As they walked, the tour leader filled them in on the various formations, when the cave was discovered—1500 AD by an Osage tribe—and how explorers in the mid-to-late 1800s thought there was marble to be found in the cave but only found bat guano.

  When they finally reemerged into the sunshine and warmth, they boarded a red cable train that carried them up to the top. The whole tour only took about an hour.

  They ordered the picture and were told they could pick it up before they left the park.

  Mitch squinted into the sunshine and enjoyed the warm air as they made their way into the park. Everyone wanted to hit the rides first, so they checked their paper map of the park and found Thunderation, the wooden roller coaster, was just around the corner.

  The line wasn’t too long, and before Mitch knew it, he was sliding into the seat, Craig riding next to him. Adam was directly behind Mitch, and Craig laughed when a teen girl took the seat next to Adam. She was looking at him like he was adorable.

  “Oh, she is so barking up the wrong tree,” Mitch whispered as they buckled up.

  The ride started, and when they were at the peak, Mitch was in awe of the view. They could see for miles, they were up so high. Then suddenly they were racing along the wooden rails, up and down and twisting and turning.

  His stomach dropped for a moment, and Craig grabbed his hand and held on tight. Riders in front of them were holding their hands up in the air, but he wasn’t about to let go of Craig.

  At the end of the ride, they rode through the tunnel and pulled up at the exit where they climbed out. When Mitch’s feet touched ground, he found his legs were shaky. Shit. How long had it been since he’d been on a roller coaster?

  One look at Craig and he bit back a laugh. He was white as a sheet. Apparently, it had been a long time since either of them had been on one.

  “You okay?”

  Craig nodded and held on to the rail as they made their way back out to the park. Adam was ready to go again, but Mitch and Craig had no desire for a repeat ride. They agreed to meet him in an hour at another ride, the Mighty Galleon, giving Adam plenty of time to ride Thunderation again, possibly even twice more. Mitch and Craig were going to visit some of the shops for a while.

  The map showed a glassblower nearby, so they decided to check it out, walking hand in hand. When they arrived at the shop, a salesclerk pointed them through to the other side to see the show, which was just starting.

  Two men stood in front of a large redbrick and black-metal area in the back wall. Openings in the metal showed fire as one of the men explained the process, dipping the long metal rod into the opening and heating the glass up. He pulled it out and twirled it, blowing through it and forming the glass as it cooled.

  Craig put his arm around Mitch’s shoulders as they watched. It was so easy to move from friends to dating—if that’s what was really going on, Mitch reminded himself. It was as if they fit together like two puzzle pieces. Things were falling into place.

  But they still needed to talk. Too bad they were around hundreds of people in a theme park.

  Once the show was over, they perused the shelves. There was a beautiful blue, silver, and clear glass bowl with wavy edges that caught Mitch’s eye and he decided to purchase it. He was thrilled when the cashier told him they would have it waiting for him at the exit later today and was given a ticket. This meant he didn’t have to worry about breaking it while he toted it around the park.

  Craig found a round multicolored blown-glass ornament. “For my first tree in California,” he explained. “To remember today.”

  Mitch turned to hide the tears that sprang to his eyes, surprised at how sweet Craig was. He wiped at his eyes and stepped outside, looked around. There was a candy shop right across from them, and when Craig joined him, he’d pulled himself together.

  “Let’s check out that store,” Mitch said, pointing to Brown’s Candy Factory.

  The park was getting busier, and they weaved through the growing crowds. When they entered the shop, Mitch couldn’t believe all the candy. The workers were dressed in full-length calico dresses or vests and pants that men and women wore in the late 1800s.

  Craig wandered off to watch a woman demonstrate how they made peanut brittle, and Mitch decided to drown his worries in fudge, purchasing several different kinds and having all but one sent up to the exit so he could pick them up when they left. He ended up eating the whole piece as he wandered the store, staying away from Craig.

  His phone pinged, and he had a message from Adam, telling him he was headed to the meeting place.

  “Craig?”

  He turned to look at Mitch.

  “Adam’s on the way over to the Mighty Galleon. We better get going.”

  “Okay. I’m going to buy some of this. It’s awesome,” Craig called over, grinning.

  Mitch nodded and tried to look away, but when Craig smiled, it was nearly impossible not to be pulled to him. Instead of walking outside the shop, he moved closer to Craig, basking in his smile. How could he go to West Virginia to a job he would hate when he could be living in California with Craig?

  Now that he’d had a taste of what it could be like with Craig, Mitch knew it would be even harder to move away next week. He shoved his thoughts to the back of his mind, determined to enjoy the day as much as possible and not dwell on the possibility they might not be together after the trip. He really needed to talk to his sister to see what she would think if he turned down the job—that he’d already accepted.

  Craig paid for his peanut brittle and decided to have it sent to the exit. It was a nice service they offered and that way they didn’t have to worry about losing anything.

  Adam insisted they all take one of those old tintype pictures dressed as cowboys, and even though Mitch had scoffed at the idea, it ended up being a lot of fun.

  After the picture with the three of them, Adam took off to check out something across the way; he did that a lot, and Mitch had a feeling he was trying to allow them some time alone. As Mitch was taking off his cowboy hat, Craig asked if they could get one more picture with just the two of them.

  The cameraman was fine with it, and Craig asked for the handcuffs and a badge as props. He put the badge on and then cuffed Mitch’s hands.

  “Do you have a key?”

  The guy handed him an old metal key, and they posed, Mitch holding his handcuffed arms out while Craig stood next to him, wearing the badge on a faux-leather vest. He posed, holding the key out to Mitch, as if handing it to him.

  Mitch wasn’t sure what he was trying to do with the key, but he went along with it. Though Craig had only asked for one more pic, the cameraman was taking quite a few. He paused and asked them to face each other. Mitch’s smile faded as he looked into Craig’s blue eyes. His heart jumped and he took a shaky breath. Craig was looking at him with desire. There was no doubt about it. Mitch had never felt more mixed up in his life.

  Craig leaned in and kissed him, right there in the studio, and the cameraman clicked away. It was thrilling. Craig pulled away, seeming to finally realize they weren’t alone, but he held Mitch’s gaze for a moment.

  Mitch’s heart raced as he took off the costume in the small dressing room. He’d had no idea how much of a romantic Craig could be and it was throwing him for a loop.

  They were able to look at the pictures within the hour, and they bought three copies of the one with all of them, and a few photos with just the two of them.

  Craig�
��s phone rang, and he stepped away to take the call, just as they were shown the one of them looking at each other. Mitch gasped. It was just before they kissed, their gazes locked, their lips less than an inch away. The heat between them, the caring jumped out of the picture.

  He’d heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but this was the first time he’d truly felt it. He had to buy it and ordered two five-by-seven copies. He would give one to Craig as a surprise at the end of the trip.

  The cashier promised to have them at the exit within the hour, and they headed back outside.

  “Sorry about that,” Craig said. “It was the new landlord, letting me know my apartment was ready anytime I wanted to move in. Apparently the old tenants moved out early.”

  “Will you go early?” Mitch’s heart skipped a beat at the thought.

  Craig shrugged and glanced away, so Mitch let it drop, knowing California was a bit of a sore spot at the moment. They wandered awhile, waiting for Adam to text them. They started to pass the old wooden chapel, but Craig paused and gazed at it for a moment before making his way toward the entrance. “Wilderness Church” was painted in white on a wooden sign above the door. A church bell hung high atop the slanted roof, and he wondered if it still worked. It looked really old, but so did the building, which was kind of the point of Silver Dollar City, he reminded himself. The 1800s were alive and kicking there.

  Craig strode up the walkway to the chapel.

  “Where are you going?” Stupid question. Clearly.

  “The chapel. Come with me, Mitchell. Just for a second,” Craig urged.

  Mitch nodded and was rewarded with a huge grin, which of course sent his heart right over the edge. God, he was going to miss that smile. He trailed after Craig, following him into the small, empty chapel and glanced around the simple one-room old-West-style church. The floor planks were old, but they shone as if they’d just been buffed and polished that very morning. An aisle cut down the center, separating the rows of rough wooden pews lined up on each side. At the very front, there were two large windows looking over the tree-filled hills. Mitch followed Craig down the aisle, assuming he was heading to the windows, but Craig stopped midway and settled in one of the seats to their left, bracing his hands on the back of the pew in front of him.

  Mitch stood still for a moment, unsure what to do. Craig seemed to have something on his mind, and while Mitch was dealing with his own sadness about their moving away from each other, his friend needed him. He sat down on the pew directly across the aisle from Craig and waited for his best friend to speak.

  “Do you believe in God?”

  Mitch could have been knocked over with a feather at that question. Not once in the years they’d known each other had they ever discussed religion that Mitch could remember. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I like to think there’s someone—or something—out there who holds the answers to all our questions, but I don’t know.”

  “My dad did,” Craig told him. “He was a true believer. Knew he was going to heaven.”

  Craig had rarely mentioned his dad over the years, so Mitch kept quiet, giving him the chance to talk.

  “I’ve been thinking about my dad a lot lately,” Craig admitted quietly. “Wondering what he would say about me. About my sexuality. About who I love.”

  Mitch noticed he said “love” not “loved,” but he tried not to read anything into it.

  “Would he still love me?”

  “Craig, you’re the best person I know. There’s no way your dad couldn’t be proud of you.”

  “Do you think he can hear me? See me?” Craig’s focus was on Mitch.

  Mitch sighed. “I don’t know. I believe there is some sort of afterlife, but whether it’s heaven or not, I have no idea. It could be just another plane of existence. My grandmother died when I was in eighth grade and we were really close. It was a hard time.” He paused and shook his head, getting his thoughts together. “I’ve never told this to anyone, but… I am sure she came to visit me the day after she died.”

  Craig’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  Mitch nodded. “I woke up in the middle of the night and she was just… there. There was this feeling of comfort running through me, letting me know I was going to be all right. Nobody will ever convince me I dreamed that or that my mind played a trick on me. She was there.”

  His best friend stayed silent as they looked toward the front windows. The sunlight was filtering through the trees and there was a small glare off the edge of the window.

  “I think my dad would be ashamed of me,” Craig confessed quietly. “I’ve been thinking about my future.” He glanced at Mitch out of the side of his eye. “About how I want to spend my future—who I want to spend it with. I can’t shake the thought he would be ashamed. Disappointed.”

  Mitch rose from the pew and crossed the aisle in two steps. Craig slid over, making room for him, so he sat, their thighs touching.

  “I never met your dad, so I can’t say how he would feel.” Mitch let out a shaky breath. “Craig, we can’t live according to what others want or how they believe we should live. We have to be truthful to ourselves. But I can’t imagine any parent ever being ashamed of you. You’re smart, caring, funny… I could list a million wonderful things about you, and it still wouldn’t be enough. You are just… amazing. And your new job? You could have taken one anywhere, but you’re working at a nonprofit that helps teens, taking less pay than you could make somewhere else.” Tears sprang to Mitch’s eyes and he swiped them away. “I admire you so much.” He reached over and placed his hand on top of Craig’s, resting on the back of the pew. “Don’t you ever feel ashamed, Craig. Ever.”

  Craig turned his hand palm up and twined their fingers, bringing their joined hands to rest on his thigh. “Thank you, Mitchell.” His voice was rough. “I… I don’t know why I’ve been struggling with this. I am not ashamed of who I am, but I guess I always wanted my dad to be proud of me.”

  “I believe he is. I think that when we die, our prejudices die too. I mean, surely, wherever we go, we don’t take the hateful parts of the world with us, right?”

  The light was back in Craig’s eyes, and Mitch smiled as they stared at each other.

  “Stop right now!”

  They both turned at the screeching woman, breaking the moment between them. Two little boys about the age of six or seven came careening in, running down the aisle, their harried mother close behind. They were at the window long before she could catch them.

  Craig pulled his hand away and gave him a small smile. “Want to go find Adam?”

  “Sure.”

  They left as the woman lectured her children on staying with her and not making her chase them down. Mitch was pretty sure they were already planning on running again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Craig

  THEY WERE exhausted by the time they got back to the cabin that night. They’d eaten at the park, and it was so late, they all collapsed in the living room with a cold bottle of beer.

  Adam sat on his bed, chugging his. He watched Craig and Mitchell on the sofa, sitting on opposite ends. “Guys, don’t take this the wrong way, because I had a lot of fun, but I’m going to head home in the morning.”

  Mitchell’s eyebrow rose and he turned to Adam. “Why?”

  “Seriously?” Adam laughed. “I feel like a third wheel.”

  Craig and Mitchell both started to protest, but Adam held up his hand. “I’m not upset, guys, I promise. Besides, Chance texted he’s going to a huge pool party tomorrow night and wants me to go.”

  Ah. Chance. Adam had had a crush on Chance for as long as Craig had known him. They were friends, but Adam had made it more than obvious he wanted more.

  “How early are you planning on leaving?” Craig asked.

  “Not sure. Probably going to leave when I get up, but not planning on setting an alarm.”

  “Make sure I’m up so I can say goodbye. I might not see you before I m
ove.”

  Adam nodded. “Sure.”

  “Me too,” Mitchell added, looking sullen.

  Adam tossed his beer in the trash and climbed into bed, clothes still on.

  “You feeling okay?” Craig asked, leaning over toward Mitchell.

  He flicked his gaze to Craig and shrugged. “When you said you might not see him again before you left, it reminded me of how many friends I’m leaving behind. Just sad to think about.” He drank the rest of this beer and walked to the kitchenette to toss the bottles away. He glanced back at Craig. “I’m heading up to bed… do you… want me to sleep on the twin?”

  Craig’s eyes widened, and he rose from the sofa, eating up the space between them in seconds with his long stride. “What do you mean? Why would you ask that?”

  Mitchell shrugged, focus on the floor.

  “Are you saying… you don’t want to sleep in the same bed with me?” Craig’s heart thundered in his ears. What happened? Was he pulling away?

  But Mitchell shook his head quickly, reassuring Craig.

  “I’m heading upstairs,” he whispered, reaching out and letting his hand trail down Mitchell’s arm. “Coming?”

  A blush covered Mitchell’s face, and Craig wanted to kiss him right there, but held back. There was something going on with his friend, and they needed to talk.

  He followed Mitchell up to the loft, keeping his hands to himself, no matter how strong the pull was to caress that gorgeous ass in front of him. His dick throbbed in his briefs and he felt dirty for being turned on when Mitchell was clearly preoccupied.

  But the moment they reached the room, Mitchell spun around to face him, scrabbled for Craig’s hips, pulled him close, and stepped up to kiss him. Craig moaned and reached around to cup his ass, kneading it with his hands while the kiss grew urgent. He wasn’t sure how, but their shirts were off in seconds, and they were fumbling with each other’s zippers, tearing at their clothes. The desire to be naked together filled Craig with a need that he couldn’t deny.