The Firefighter in the Snow by Leska Beikircher

Author:Leska Beikircher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay
Publisher: JMS Books LLC

Chapter 8

Cleaning the rest of the house filled Cody with dread, until Candy suggested to simply start in the attic and work their way down. It took them a full day, with small breaks in between, but at the end of it, the attic looked spic and span. Cody enjoyed working with Candy; they seemed to harmonize well. They talked about this and that, nothing deep or too personal, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

“Wow,” exclaimed Cody in awe as he looked around the attic space at the end of the day. His parents’ and his own belongings were neatly tucked away in boxes, the cobwebs were gone, the mouse droppings cleaned up. Cody had exchanged the light bulb, and Candy had put up a framed picture of Lake Muffin his father had taken with a delayed action release. It showed the three of them; Cody had been seven, on the lake’s beach in the summer. They looked happy. With surprise he realized that he could look at the photo, even think about that day, without feeling nauseous or depressed. The ghosts were vanishing slowly. The house was becoming a house again, rather than a haunted place.

Candy held on to him when he made his way down the ladder and almost took a tumble at the same spot he had slipped the first night. There was the rough patch of splintered wood he’d stepped in before. On close inspection, he saw an electrical cord that belonged to a floor lamp, winding its way across the trap door opening. He must have tripped over it that night. This time, Candy’s grip stopped him before he could fall again. His fingers felt soft and firm on his arm. On the way down, Cody made sure they didn’t lose contact; it felt too good. Perhaps they were only to share their lives for a few days, and in that moment, it hit him that he might as well enjoy it fully.

Dinner consisted of glances and touches. For dessert—hot chocolate, with real milk this time—they decided to relocate to the couch. They sat shoulder to shoulder, sipping the sweet, spicy brew. Candy reminded him, maybe for lack of more meaningful things to say, that he had an invitation for Saturday: tea with Terence and Gladys. Cody gave a tormented groan. The mood that had lingered in the air, that had tasted almost of romance, evaporated in a flash.

Candy looked at him with curiosity. “They seem like nice people. Why do you hate it here so much?”

“They are nice people. It’s a long story,” sighed Cody, hoping Candy would get the hint and not ask further.

“Were you ever planning on coming back here?” Candy wanted to know. “If the house wasn’t going to get sold, I mean. Would you have come back at all?” He sounded careful but determined. They were sitting so close to each other that Cody could feel the other man’s body heat radiating out, wafting towards him. Of all the conversations they could have in this moment, this particular one was on the bottom of his list.

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