Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish

Author:Roan Parrish
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2020-12-17T13:27:40+00:00

* * *

The next day they left the construction to Bob and Marie and several of Marie’s friends who’d volunteered to help, and Charlie drove them to an architectural salvage store two towns over.

“Seeing some options might give you a better idea of what you want the house to be,” Charlie said. “I know it’s hard to make it up out of nothing, especially if you never considered what you might want your house to look like.”

Rye goggled at the enormous space broken into sections by type of merchandise. Kitchen cabinets in a Tetris against the left-hand wall, sinks and toilets of all shapes and sizes creating a maze to get to shelves packed with light fixtures. Bathtubs bloomed like upside-down mushrooms in the back right corner and steel girders held myriad pieces of wood, from molding to flooring. The entire middle of the space was long tables crammed with crates of doorknobs, drawer pulls, brackets, hinges, faucets, and every other decorative piece of hardware imaginable.

“Wow,” Rye breathed.

Charlie, usually so practical and down-to-earth, was looking around them like he had stumbled upon a dragon’s treasure trove.

“Heya, Charlie,” a man called from the open barn doors in the back of the space.

“Hey, Lloyd.”

“What can I find ya?”

“Just looking around for now. This is my friend Rye.” Charlie put a hand on Rye’s shoulder. “We’re fixing up Granger Janssen’s old place. Rye’s his grandson.”

Lloyd’s bushy gray eyebrows rose over blueberry eyes and he nodded.

“Nice to meet you, son. Anything you boys need, just holler.”

He tipped his hat.

“So, what do we do?”

“Thought we could just walk around first, see if anything jumps out at you.”

Before Rye could say anything ridiculous, like, “boo,” Charlie took his hand and led him over to the cabinets.

He was pointing at them saying words like Shaker and modern and Rye wasn’t registering a single one because Charlie’s hand was warm and rough in his. He squeezed Charlie’s hand and Charlie squeezed his back, talking all the while.

“Sorry, what?” Rye said, when Charlie looked at him expectantly.

Charlie’s brow furrowed and Rye cringed sheepishly.

“I got distracted by you holding my hand,” Rye grumbled.

Charlie’s eyes widened and a silly, delighted smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“Thought I was the one who’d never been in a relationship before?” he teased.

“Are we? In a relationship?”

“Well I...” Charlie began, then bit his lip. “I guess we never said that, no. I apologize.”

He ran the hand not holding Rye’s through his hair in a nervous gesture.

“Do you want to be?” Rye asked. And he realized that this was what all the mushiness had been leading up to. He didn’t just want Charlie, he wanted Charlie for his own.

Charlie ran his hand over the lip of a cabinet, a casual assessment. Then he turned to Rye and ducked his head.

“Yes.”

He said it like it was an admission, not a desire. Like it was a finally, not a now. And the soft, mushy place inside Rye grew softer and mushier still.

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