by Kyle Baxter
Papa’s chin lifted. “We’re on social media too.”
“I’m not sure whether to be impressed or frightened.” Alex’s brow knitted together. With a quiet laugh, Papa trundled off to the host stand, Eric following him.
“Hey, you stay out of trouble,” David called after them. The boy was already tugging on Mama’s apron. With a squeal she took the boy’s face in her hands and pinched his cheeks. He groaned but accepted her attention.
“The Mini Coop is fine,” Alex said. “They adore him.”
“Mini Coop?” David snorted.
“I mean, we called you ‘Coop,’ so . . .” Alex finished with a twirl of his hand.
“So . . . you look good. New York City must be treating you right.”
Alex bobbed his head from side to side. “It has its moments.”
“Nice scarf.” David reached over and felt the fabric hanging around Alex’s neck.
“It’s a pash-MEE-na,” Bonnie sneered as she arrived to refill their waters.
David feigned being impressed. “Cashmere?”
Alex bit his lower lip. “Basically.”
“You know, we are indoors and your uncle has the heat on. Certainly you can take it off and hang it up with your coat,” Bonnie said.
Alex squinted at her. “I like the aesthetic.”
She shared a look with David. “Of course you do.” She tittered as she walked away. Alex huffed indignantly and David put a hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh.
After he took a drink from his glass, he gestured with it. “You’re a hipster.”
Alex sat back in his chair until it rested only on the back two legs. “I am not. And I will not accept this disapprobation from the pretty, rich boy voted best dressed and most handsome of our class.”
“Rich boy?” He straightened. Alex arched an eyebrow. The old dig worked, and David sighed. “It was a small class. So, what do you do in NYC?”
Alex’s eyes dropped and he adjusted his jacket. “I’m in catering.”
“Catering? What happened to your writing? You were going to set the world on fire.”
Swirling the ice in his glass, Alex grunted. “Real life happened. Being a starving artist was fine in my early twenties, but it doesn’t age well.”
There was pain and regret in Alex’s face. And though it pulled at him, David resisted the urge to sympathize too much with him. He chose to leave, he reminded himself. “So, what is it that brings you back to our small town?”
“My aunt and uncle are retiring,” Alex whispered. “They’re looking to sell the restaurant and asked me to help.”
“What? They’re selling?” David nearly shouted. Looking around, he found the eyes of the dining room on them. He continued softly, “I’m sorry to hear that. This town won’t be the same without this place. We spent so much time here as kids.”
“That’s true.” Alex pointed at Eric following Mama through the dining room. “Seeing him running around here, it’s like watching ourselves.” Alex quickly changed the subject. “How’s your mom? And your sister?”
“Mom is good, as she always is,” David said. That earned a broad smile from Alex. He knew his mother well. “Rachel still asks about you, but I never know what to say.” As soon as the words came out, his friend’s face fell.
Alex’s phone rang, and after glancing at it, he stood. “I have to take this.”
“Of course.” David bristled at the interruption. Fucking cellphones. “And you’re walking away. Some things never change.” Thinking he spoke under his breath, he was surprised when Alex spun on him.
“That’s not fair. This is work. I have to take it.” He pointed at the screen and stormed away.
David screwed his eyes tight in mortification. Again he felt the eyes on him. Nothing quite like a scene in a restaurant to get the neighbors talking.
A chill crept up his body, followed by a flash of anger. No, maybe he wasn’t being fair, but it was how he felt and he had a right to his feelings. Especially after everything that happened between them. When Alex ran off, he not only left town, he left him.
Damn Alex and his knack for pushing his buttons. David watched him retreat into the kitchen, and despite his hurt feelings, he couldn’t help but appreciate the view. He definitely grew into his looks.
After dinner, there was a brief battle with Papa over the bill—the older man refused to let them pay. David and Eric collected their coats and stepped out into the cold night. The air was crisp, with more snow expected overnight. Eric was happy, all but skipping on their way back to the car.
He wagged a finger at his son. “There’s no more sliding on the sidewalk.” The boy grumbled.
With a groan, David realized he didn’t thank Mama and Papa for the work they were doing for the CYA Christmas party. Running into Alex completely derailed him.
As he debated going back in, the kitchen door banged open, making him jump. A shaft of yellow light flooded the small parking lot.
Alex trotted up to them, a to-go bag in his hand. “Here you go, buddy. More psghetti.”
The boy took the bag, smiling. “Thanks.”
“That wasn’t necessary,” David said, “but thank you.”
“We can’t have the nugget missing out on Mama Capili’s psghetti because . . .” His face turned dark. “Because of me. You can’t not come in here.”
“How long are you visiting? Are you just visiting?” David was suddenly desperate to know.
“Yes, I’m just visiting,” Alex said. “I mean, I’ll be here at least until the new year, though if Mama had her way, I’d be taking over the restaurant.”
“Would that be bad?”
Alex dipped his head. “My life is in New York.”
“So, you’ll be here for Christmas?” He arched an eyebrow. Alex stared at him, and the word hung in the air for a moment.
David’s eyes clouded. It was Christmas when Alex ran off to the Big Apple. He pushed the thought away and studied the snow falling to the ground between them.
“I will be here,” Alex agreed with forced cheer.
“Will we see you around?” David sniffed and took Eric’s hand. He wanted to get away from this conversation. Standing here talking to him was too familiar and too painful.
“It is a small town. Hard to avoid it.”
He stopped. “It’s not so small anymore. I didn’t even know you were back. And you know, we have a SuperStore and everything.”
“Big-city life comes to Edgedale.” Alex backed away.
David tried to read his face, but it was difficult in the dim lights. He thought he heard sarcasm in his tone. Alex’s sense of humor had always been dry. It was easy to misread a simple sentence for a caustic one, and he was out of practice.
“Well, I hope a big-city guy like you won’t get too bored.” The bitterness in his own voice surprised him. They were halfway to the street, with Alex near the kitchen door, yet a chasm yawned between them.
What am I going to do about you?
Chapter Five
A Place We Knew
Alex climbed out of his truck on the side of the road nearest to the entrance to the Parkway Athletic Center. The site of an old amusement park, it lay on the outskirts of town.
Abandoned in the eighties, the park was torn down and repurposed as a municipal sports facility. It held basketball, racquetball, and tennis courts, jogging tracks, a hockey rink, and even skateboard ramps. It was all done with relatively little expense, as these things went. The existing foundations adapted for their new purpose.
He walked along the shoulder to the large wooden sign that read, Leaving Edgedale, Come Again! Gawking at the bright lights of the Parkway, he marveled that none of this was here when he left.
Now, as then, he came out here to think. Back in his day, the amusement park lay derelict, boarded up and fenced in. A source of mystery and fascination to his group of friends. Sometimes they sneaked in and explored.
There were all the requisite tales of teenagers gone
missing and escaped convicts. None of it true, but it didn’t matter to them. It was magical.
Staring into the distance, he was back in high school again, scared and alone. One time, one horrible day, he came out here alone. His father, Emil Capili the town drunk, had been especially brutal. The bruises he gave him lasted days. Broken and alone, he blamed himself. He always blamed himself.
While his father slept it off, Alex stole his shotgun and drove out here, his eyes stinging with tears the whole way. The gun never made it off the floorboard. Bonnie and Coop found him. Their presence alone talked him down. They never even knew he brought the gun.
They also didn’t know his father was more than just verbally abusive; he beat him. He never shared that detail, anytime it happened. He was too ashamed. They knew he was upset, and that was enough. It was everything he could do to keep David from going after his father. They despised each other.
The last time his father beat him was different. Alex did not stop here and David did not follow.
Seeing him again was a punch to the gut. Alex left home almost fifteen years ago, and David moved to Chicago when his hockey career took off. A lot happened in those years, but seeing him brought it all back.
A car approached and parked behind his own. Bonnie got out and joined him.
“Mama sent you after me?”
“When you ran out, she got concerned. I think she’s afraid you’ll bolt . . . again.” Her voice was stiff. She turned and looked away from the Parkway and him. “It’s still a great view, even if the new lights obscure some of the stars.”
They faced Route 9 West. It ran out of town between two hills, paralleling the creek.
“How did you know where to find me?” He climbed backward onto the hood, his legs hanging off the side.
“You always came here when you were frustrated.” She crossed her arms. “I guess that last time you kept driving?”
“More or less. Seeing David was difficult.” That was an understatement; his head was swimming. David’s here—at Christmas! Of course he is. You knew he was back in town.
She cocked her head to one side and shook it. “Considering how you left, that’s certainly not a surprise.”
He felt the jab but ignored it. She’s right. “Do you remember the old house of mirrors we used to sneak into?” He loved it. Nearly all the mirrors were broken, and pieces and shards littered the floor. It made the place even more surreal, odd reflections cast in every direction. Images of himself broken. His outsides matched his insides in there.
The toe of her boot traced a circle in the snow. “It was very appropriate for teenage revelations.”
“It’s where I first heard you call yourself Bonnie.” He remembered it vividly and considered it a singular honor.
“And it’s where you came out to us.”
He shook his head in amusement. “Neither of you batted an eye. It was quite humbling.”
“It was pretty obvious, at least to me. David loved you, no matter what.”
“When did he come out?” He heard that bit of news on one of his sporadic phone calls home. Bonnie mentioned it to Mama, who told him.
“As bi? It was after his divorce.” She hugged herself in the cold air.
Alex narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you know? I didn’t. I mean, I hoped. I dreamed . . .” Tilting his head to one side, he remembered all the hours spent obsessing over David Cooper. I was so in love with him. He shuddered to dislodge the thought.
She walked along the shoulder. “Certainly, he was way too attached to you.”
That made him chuckle. “If only that were true.”
She gave him a scowl over her shoulder. “Of course it’s true. You were just too self-involved to notice.”
He put a hand to his heart. “Self-involved? Moi?”
“What are you going to do about it? David is out and bi and single. You’re gay and single . . .”
“I am not going to do anything.” He slid off the hood of the truck. “I’m just here to help my aunt and uncle sell the restaurant and then I’m back to New York, ASAP.”
“But—”
“That ship sailed a long time ago, and there’s too much water under the bridge.”
She played with the keys in her hand. “Do you always talk in clichés?”
“No one likes you,” he snapped.
That made her guffaw. “Now that is more like the Alex I remember.”
“Want to go exploring?” Gesturing to the park, he waggled his eyebrows.
Bonnie waved it off with a flick of her wrist. “Nothing’s left of what we knew but the foundations.”
He put both hands together as if in prayer and bowed his head. “Our foundation was strong, grasshopper.”
Bonnie ignored the Kung-Fu reference. It didn’t surprise him. Unlike Coop, she never played that game.
“Did you get what you needed out here?”
“No, like you said, what we knew of it is gone.” Frowning, he wondered if the old dog shelter was still open. That was his other go-to spot. “It’s just a parking lot and buildings now. The magic and mystery dissipated with the passing years.”
She thought about that and nodded. “That was good.”
“Thank you. I used that in a play.”
“All good writers steal from themselves,” Bonnie said.
“And all hacks.”
“What-ever, Alex. Now, come on.” She walked back to her car. “Chef Lutian has Family Meal waiting, and your aunt will be mad if I return without the young prince.”
The Young Prince? That sounded bitter. “Will your friend Justin be there?” He smirked.
“The server? You’re interested in him?” She eyed him as she opened her car door.
“I meant for you.” He opened the driver’s side door of his SUV. “He knows your tea, doesn’t he?”
“Everyone knows my tea.”
He leaned against the side of the vehicle. “I watched him flirt with you tonight.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s way too young.”
“So what?” Alex shrugged. “He’s adorable. A blond, blue-eyed surfer with a nice physique? Yum.”
“He’s in college, and he’s twenty-two.”
“Young, dumb, and full of—”
“No!” She climbed into her car and peeled out down the street.
Chapter Six
Walking
David exited a patient’s room and jumped as Zooey appeared beside him.
“Hey, don’t do that,” he scolded. She had a knack for sneaking up on people, and he suspected it was deliberate.
“So, this guy was your best friend?” Zooey picked up the thread of their conversation from an hour ago. It took him a beat to catch on.
“Yes, we met when we were kids and went our separate ways in college.” That was the Readers Digest condensed version and all he wanted to get into at work.
As they rounded the corner, she stopped him with a hand to his arm. “And what happened?”
He eyed her. Why was she interested in this? “Nothing happened. Alex ran off to New York. He left and never said goodbye.” He cringed as he said that out loud.
“That must’ve hurt.” Zooey tilted her head. Was she digging out of sympathy or curiosity?
“No, it’s water under the bridge.” He wanted to change the subject and turned away. He looked up and stopped in his tracks. His mother was standing at the nurses’ station. She never came up to the ward. “Mom, what brings you here?”
“We have an appointment to inspect the space for the Christmas party.” Tandi put a well-manicured hand on her hip. “Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“Right . . . Of course.” David felt his face flush. He did forget. “I’ll be off in a few minutes, okay?”
“Perfect, I’ll wait in the car.”
Zooey coughed, making them both turn to her.
“Oh, Zooey Chandler, this is my mother, Tandi Cooper.” David indicated each with a wave of his free hand. “Mom, this is Zooey
.”
“Mrs. Cooper.” Zooey was wide-eyed.
Tandi held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Zooey blushed, which was something David had never seen before, and shook her hand. Giving them a tight smile, his mother walked away.
Scant minutes later, bundled up for the cold, he exited the building just as Claire “Mama” Capili walked in with Papa.
“Hey!” He gave them a wave. He noticed Papa had her arm, helping her walk. He stared at them in shock. What happened?
He jumped to the side and fell into step with them. “Mama, are you all right?”
“David, this is a nice surprise.” She brightened to see him and stood a little straighter.
“Do you need some help?” He reached to take her hand, but she shooed it away.
“I’m fine. Papa worries over me.” She patted her husband’s hand and he gave her a smile.
“Why are you here?” He noted that Papa never let go of her.
She touched David’s arm but kept moving. “I’m here for a checkup. I am an old lady, after all.”
With his free hand Papa gave a little salute, and the pair continued into the building under David’s watchful eye. Some distance in, her posture slumped, as though she had been holding it together for him. He hoped it was nothing serious. She was the same age as his own mother, so her passing it off as age-related didn’t sit easy.
Is that why they’re retiring? That was why Alex said he was back in town. Was she ill? That would make sense; she looked thin. Frail. In all his life, he never thought of her as frail. It scared him.
Trudging out into the parking lot, he wondered what it could be and decided to keep his ear to the ground.
David and his mother made their way to the appointment. It was on the second floor of a building in Midtown and not far from her office. I should have just met her there.
It was little more than a meeting room. Generic. The word left a bad taste in his mouth. A pit formed in his stomach as they walked around the large empty room. This would not do.
“It is new.” Tandi walked in a circle around the room.
From the tone in her voice he knew this wasn’t what she expected either. The pictures they saw in the brochure from the event planner had the room fully functional with furniture. Real furniture, not these folding meeting tables and stackable, hard plastic chairs.