Strays and Lovers

by John Inman

  Ruth’s old eyes sparkled. “And don’t you look happy! See how smart I was to shove you two together?”

  Heat rushed to Eddie’s face. Ignoring Tommy, he leaned down and planted a kiss on Ruth’s wrinkled cheek. “And I’ll thank you to my dying day,” he whispered in her ear, causing her to blush right back.

  Eddie slipped away and headed toward the Quonset huts, where a lot of the partygoers had congregated. He spotted Gray inside one of the dog runs, introducing a young couple to one of the older dogs up for adoption. The humans and the dog seemed to be hitting it off pretty well. Gray was beaming, the woman laughing, and the young man had squatted down low to the ground so the dog could lick his face. The dog’s tail was a happy blur.

  Spotting Eddie, Gray quickly excused himself. Before Eddie could say a word, Gray grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the couple he had just left. The man and woman looked up and smiled when they approached.

  “Eddie,” Gray said, “I want you to meet Jerry and Jean Stevens.”

  The young man stuck his hand out before Eddie could even say hello. With his other hand, he continued to hold the collar of the dog Gray was showing him.

  “Hi, Eddie. It’s good to see you again.”

  He pumped Eddie’s hand up and down while the young woman leaned in and gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Eddie.”

  “Wait a minute,” Gray said. “You guys know each other?”

  Eddie winced and quickly jumped in with an explanation. “Uh, we must have met in town one day.” Did that sound as feeble to Gray as it did to him?

  “Really?” Gray asked, clearly suspicious. “And when was that, pray tell?”

  Eddie ignored him. Both Jerry and Jean ignored him too. They all shook hands again in a flurry of goodwill Eddie doubted was particularly convincing. He gave the Stevenses a beseeching look.

  “Well, we certainly feel like we’re old friends,” Jean gushed, jumping into the fray. “Gray’s told us everything there is to know about you, Eddie.”

  Eddie shot Gray a wary glance. “Not everything, I hope.”

  They all laughed except for Gray, who still looked confused. “So I guess you know that Jerry is the lawyer I told you about. The one who owns the cabin. The one who got me out of prison.”

  Eddie flapped his hand in midair. “Oh, sure! I know all about that.” Gray had told Eddie about that, but Eddie thought he might have overplayed it a bit. To illustrate his gratitude, as well as to create a distraction, he jumped forward and pulled both husband and wife into a monumental bear hug. They looked surprised, what with almost being jerked off their feet and having their heads bonked together, but they looked happy too, so Eddie figured they didn’t mind being manhandled.

  “Thank you so much for doing what you did,” Eddie said. “I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s meant for us.”

  Jean smiled at Eddie’s fervency. “Actually I think we know already, Mr. Hightower. Gray told us about the two of you. We couldn’t be happier for him. And for you too.”

  “Thanks,” Eddie stammered, edging closer to Gray.

  Gray was still looking mightily confused. He opened his mouth, more than likely to ask again for clarification about how everybody knew each other and when they’d met, but Jerry cut him off. “We’re pretty happy too,” he said, gazing down at the dog at his feet. “We’ve decided to adopt Sebastian here.”

  “Great!” Eddie bellowed.

  “Wait a minute,” Gray stammered. “About you guys meeting—”

  Once again Eddie distracted him, this time by stooping and pulling Sebastian into one of his patented bear hugs. Sebastian was a Collie mix. He had come to the refuge when his owner died and there was no one in the man’s family to care for the animal. Still fighting Gray’s attempts to get at the bottom of things, Eddie stared up at Jean and Jerry and shot them a wink. “He’s a really sweet dog. He’s a little older, but you’ll still have a lot of years of happiness with him. I couldn’t be more pleased.” To prove it, he gave the dog a congratulatory kiss between the eyes before he got to his feet again.

  Another timely interruption arrived in the form of a young boy on crutches, who sidled up to them with two large dogs trailing along beside him. The boy’s mother hung back, holding a plate of food in each hand.

  “Charlie!” Eddie cried. He dropped to his knees and gave the boy a gentle hug. Charlie hugged him back, balancing gracefully on his chrome crutches. Eddie had to smile when he saw a little pile of dog biscuits stuffed into the boy’s shirt pocket.

  “Just wanted to thank you again for my dogs, Mr. Hightower. We’re getting along great.”

  Eddie ruffled the fur on both dogs’ heads in greeting, and they wagged their tails in response as if they remembered him too. Since dogs never forget a face or a smell, Eddie was sure they did.

  “It’s good to see you guys,” Eddie grinned. He stood and introduced Mr. and Mrs. Stevens to Charlie, then dragged Gray up close and introduced him too. Gray squatted low and gave the boy a long hug. Charlie gave each of the adults crowded around him a nod of goodbye. “Gotta go before Mom eats my hamburger.” He grinned, and everybody laughed. Before he stepped away, Charlie slipped his fingers through the coat of the old dog being adopted by the Stevenses. He bent and whispered in the dog’s ear, “I’m glad you found a home.” Standing upright and balancing himself on his crutches, he flashed everybody a final perfect smile, then steered himself and his two dogs back toward his mother, who was beaming proudly.

  With one hand at Gray’s back, Eddie waved to Charlie’s mother, then watched as she and her son turned back into the crowd in search of a place to sit and eat.

  As if knowing Eddie and Gray might want a moment of privacy, Jerry and Jean turned their attention once again to Sebastian.

  Gray took the opportunity to grab Eddie by his shirtsleeve. He gave him a happy shake, his face bright with excitement. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning and seemed to have given up on wondering how Eddie already knew Jerry. “We’ve found homes for nine animals already. Paying customers, Eddie! The money’s rolling in, and the animals are rolling out!”

  “Cha-ching!” Eddie laughed. “That’s great!”

  “And the last boa constrictor is gone too! You’ll never have to buy another box of rats!”

  “Thank God!” Eddie cried. “On feeding days, my sympathy always lie with the rat.”

  Gray groaned. “Mine too.

  “Speaking of eating, have you had a sandwich yet?” Eddie asked.

  “Not yet. Been too busy.”

  Eddie grabbed Gray’s hand and led him toward the grill. “Come on, then. I’ll buy you a burger.”

  “Ooh, the last of the big spenders.”

  They weaved their way through the crowd. Gray leaned in and whispered, “Who the hell are all these people anyway?”

  “Future pet owners, with any luck,” Eddie whispered back.

  Suddenly Gray stumbled to a stop. Clutching his heart with one hand, he yanked Eddie to a stop with the other.

  “My God,” Gray gasped, his fingers digging into Eddie’s arm. “I can’t believe it.”

  Gray’s eyes were wide with shock. Eddie peered through the crowd up ahead, instantly seeing what Gray was so surprised about. A happy, knowing light lit his eyes. Half-nervous, half-excited, he took a step back, easing himself from Gray’s grasp. His pulse hammered in his ears while he waited to see how events unfolded. He figured this was either the smartest thing he’d ever done or the dumbest. Only time would tell which way it went.

  Left to face the situation on his own, Gray took a hesitant step forward. The next thing Eddie knew, Gray was rushing through the crowd on his long legs, eating up the distance as quickly as he could between himself and the two people who had just stepped onto the property. A young man and a young woman. Twins. Both tall. Both handsome. Both looking a little bit like Gray. Especially around the eyes. The woman in particular had eyes exactly like Gray’s. Silver and pale. Stunning.

&nbs
p; Gray came to a stop directly in front of the two, and for a brief moment, Eddie’s heart flew into his throat. Not daring to breathe, he stood frozen, waiting to see what would happen next.

  A second later, Gray gave a cry of joy. He grabbed the young man and woman and scooped them into a crushing hug. All three of them stood there laughing, crying, and hanging on to each other. After a minute or two of that, while half the partygoers around them stared on, wondering what all the hubbub was about, Eddie saw Gray lift his head and seek him out in the crowd. With little more than a look, Gray beckoned Eddie to join them.

  Eddie approached slowly, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear. When all three pairs of tear-filled eyes were focused on him, he hemmed and hawed around for a minute, trying to think of what to say. Embarrassed at being tongue-tied, he finally stated the obvious. “I guess you three know each other.”

  Gray reached out and pulled Eddie close. With his face still bright with happiness, he presented Eddie to the two people beside him. “Eddie, this is my sister, Jenny, and my brother, Mike. Mike and Jenny, this is Eddie.” A blush rose in his cheeks before he sweetly added, “Eddie’s my… lover.”

  Mike and Jenny both stepped forward and pulled Eddie into a hug. Catching Gray totally off guard, Jenny turned and said, “We already know Eddie. We’ve met before.”

  Gray stood there staring from face to face to face. He seemed to be trying to grab a response out of the empty air since his brain was clearly empty. “What do you mean you’ve met before? When? How?”

  Gray’s gaze suddenly swung back to Eddie. It took a minute, but a light of understanding began to brighten those beautiful gray eyes.

  “You invited them here,” he finally said, as if it was all starting to make sense. “But—but why? Why would you do that?”

  Eddie reached out and gently wiped a tear from Gray’s cheek. “It was my present to you. I wanted you to have your family back. I could tell you missed them.”

  Mike and Jenny stepped close and gave Gray another hug. “We’ve missed you too, little brother,” Mike said. “We’d been trying to find you for years. Then one day there was Eddie, standing on my doorstep. While we were trying to find you, he had been trying to find us.”

  Still shocked, Gray’s eyes swept from one to the other. “But how? I mean how did he find you?”

  Eddie turned and hooked a finger to another young couple standing off to the side. Jerry and Jean. They were beaming too, watching the happy confusion on Gray’s face.

  “Eddie asked us for help,” Mr. Stevens explained. “That’s really how we met. We thought it was important for you to reunite with your family too, Gray, so we gave Eddie your brother’s address in LA. He took it from there.”

  Eddie gave an embarrassed shrug. “It was the day I disappeared. Remember?”

  Gray turned back to Eddie, his face still blank with shock. “You drove to Los Angeles that day?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You drove to Los Angeles to find my family?”

  “Yeah. And to invite them here.”

  Gray blinked in astonishment. Suddenly he paled, and a look of shame washed over his face. He stared down at his feet. When he lifted his eyes again, they were centered on his brother and sister. His voice, when he spoke, was low, hoarse, and anguished. “Then you know. You know about what happened.”

  Gray’s brother answered, “We know.”

  Gray stared from one to the other as he fought visibly to find his voice. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run away like I did.”

  Jenny took his hand and pulled it to her lips. “Stop it,” she said, her eyes misting up. “You don’t have to apologize for what happened to you. And we understand why you did what you did. But it doesn’t matter now. None of it matters. We know it wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t do anything wrong. We’re just glad you’re all right and we have you back.”

  “Th-thank you,” Gray said, his eyes slipping from sister to brother, then back again. They seemed to be in perpetual motion, his eyes—skipping from one object to another, not knowing where to land.

  Jenny laughed at his confusion. “All that matters is we’re together again.” She stepped close and rested her head on Gray’s shoulder. At the same time she reached out to pull Eddie and her brother into the hug as well.

  Eddie took Gray’s hand in his. “Tell me I did good,” he pleaded softly, his lips at Gray’s cheek. “Tell me this is what you wanted.”

  Gray squirmed his way entirely into Eddie’s arms. With his lips at Eddie’s ear, he whispered, “You know it is. Thank you, Eddie. Thank you for this.”

  Turning back to his brother and sister, and his lawyer and his wife, and trying to ignore all the other scores of people looking on like it was their business too, Gray finally found a shy smile to offer everybody. With the heel of his hand, he squeegeed happy tears from his face and took a deep shuddering breath.

  Facing his family for the first time in years, and with his hand buried snugly in Eddie’s fist, he cleared his throat while dredging up a grin and said, “So what can we get you guys to help fill your empty lives? Dog? Cat? Pot-bellied pig?”

  From down around their ankles, Louie gave a merry yip. Because they simply couldn’t stop themselves, Eddie and Gray bent down and smothered the little dog in kisses.

  “I’m not sure I’m in the mood for a pet,” Jenny hedged, her face still flushed and happy but suddenly leery too. She shot a glance at her brother for help, but he looked as lost as she did.

  “Oh, don’t be silly!” Eddie cried. “Everybody needs a pet!” Leaning in close to Mike, he went into his standard patter. “You look like a dog man. Am I right or am I right?”

  Mike blanched and laughed at the same time, while Gray nuzzled up to his sister. “And you, honeybuns. You look like you’re in desperate need of a cat.”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m desperate,” Jenny stammered.

  In their element now, Eddie and Gray dragged both brother and sister off toward the kennels.

  “We’re in trouble now,” Mike muttered.

  “I guess I wouldn’t mind a cat,” Jenny said, with an unconvincing moan.

  “I heard that!” Eddie laughed.

  “Isn’t the world an amazing place?” Gray softly asked, leaning close to Eddie’s ear.

  “It is indeed,” Eddie whispered back.

  Little Louie, nose and tail held high, pranced along happily at everybody’s heels. He had no idea what was going on, but he was pleased as punch about it anyway.

  More from John Inman

  It’s not easy breaking into show biz. Especially when you aren’t exactly loaded with talent. But Malcolm Fox won’t let a little thing like that hold him back.

  Actually, it isn’t the show-business part of his life that bothers him as much as the romantic part—or the lack thereof. At twenty-six, Malcolm has never been in love. He lives in San Diego with his roommate, Beth, another struggling actor, and each of them is just as unsuccessful as the other. While Malcolm toddles off to this audition and that, he ponders the lack of excitement in his life. The lack of purpose. The lack of a man.

  Then Beth’s brother moves in.

  Freshly imported from Missouri of all places, Cory Williams is a towering hunk of muscles and innocence, and Malcolm is gobsmacked by the sexiness of his new roomie from the start. When infatuation enters the picture, Malcolm knows he’s really in trouble. After all, Cory is straight!

  At least, that’s the general consensus.

  Wyeth Becker is a quiet man. Staid, serious, calm. A librarian. When he meets preschool teacher Deeze Long, he discovers joy for the first time in his life. With joy comes laughter, excitement, and a new way to look at the world through the eyes of the kindest, most loving man he has ever met.

  When tragedy strikes and Deeze loses his joy, it is Wyeth who helps him find it again. It is Wyeth, the man who never truly understood happiness, who pays that gift back. Giving all he can of himself to the man who changed his life. Rest
oring in Deeze what he now so desperately needs.

  But the road of their relationship doesn’t end there. The joys and sorrows of life are never-ending. As they set out to weather the highs and lows together, Wyeth and Deeze hang on to the one thing that makes all the tears and laughter worthwhile.

  Love.

  For only through love can life be truly savored at all.

  When it rains, it pours. Not only has Larry Walls been evicted from his apartment, but his hours have also been cut at the department store where he works, leaving him facing homelessness.

  Meanwhile, Bo Lansing, a total stranger to Larry, toils at a dead-end job as a fry cook while attending night classes to become a certified chef. When the school closes its doors without warning, leaving Bo in the lurch for thousands of dollars in tuition, his dream of becoming a chef is shattered and his financial troubles spiral.

  Desperate for a new beginning, each man answers an ad for live-in help posted by a wealthy recluse, and wonder of wonders, they are both hired! Just as their lives begin to improve, a young Kumeyaay Indian named Jimmy Blackstone joins the workforce at the Stanhope mansion.

  When Mr. Stanhope’s true reason for hiring the young men is discovered by one of the three, a fourth entity makes its presence known.

  Greed.

  With all these players vying for position in a game of intrigue orchestrated by one lonely old man and a mischievous ghost, can a simple thing like love ever hope to survive the fray?

  A Belladonna Arms Novel

  Welcome to the Belladonna Arms, a rundown little apartment building perched atop a hill in downtown San Diego, home to the city’s lost and lovelorn. Shy archaeology student Stanley Sternbaum has just moved in and fills his time quietly observing his eccentric neighbors, avoiding his hellion mother, and trying his best to go unnoticed… which proves to be a problem when it comes to fellow tenant Roger Jane. Smitten, the hunky nurse with beautiful green eyes does everything in his power to woo Stanley, but Stanley has always lived a quiet life, too withdrawn from the world to take a chance on love. Especially with someone as beautiful as Roger Jane.