Danny stayed hidden behind Julian but felt brave enough to wave at Mitch, and got a smile in return.
"I have a daughter who's a little older than you. I'm sure you'll get to meet her one of these days," Mitch said.
Julian tried not to let on that he wasn't eager to set up any play dates for Danny. His experiences with other kids at day care weren't encouraging. The little guy just got scared too easily, and other kids didn't understand so they teased him.
"Let's show Mitch around," Julian said to Danny and they started with the living room. "I'd like to do something about those shutters."
Mitch looked them over. "The wood on some of these is faded and cracked. I can replace it and stain it to match."
"Actually I'd like all the shutters painted white," Julian said and Mitch looked surprised.
"That's really going to change the look of the house," Mitch said.
"I hope it will brighten up this place," Julian said.
"It will," Mitch assured him and made notes on his clipboard.
To free up Julian, Rob offered Danny his hand. "You want to go see if there are any books for kids in the library?"
Julian wasn't sure he would go, but after getting a nod from him, Danny let go of his hand and took Rob's. The two of them went off, and Julian and Mitch discussed what else needed to be done. Mitch seemed very efficient and not very talkative. Just as well since Julian was still preoccupied by doubts about being there.
With the plans for the work finalized, they met up with Rob at the front door. "Danny is reading in the library," he said before Julian could ask.
"Reading?" Julian said, but he was more surprised that Danny didn't mind being left alone.
"Looking at pictures in a book called theAmphibians of Africa," Rob said.
"I remember that book," Julian said. It was funny to think of Danny looking at it now. "Mitch and I were just finishing up."
As they stepped out in front of the house, Mitch looked all around and smiled. "The last time I was up here was for the wedding this summer." He turned to Julian. "I heard you changed the rules so Sam and Wyatt could get married up here like they wanted. That was really nice of you."
"Are they guys?" Rob wondered. He probably wondered if Sam was short for Samantha.
"They are," Mitch said and Rob turned to Julian with an approving smile. Then Mitch waved and went off toward his SUV.
His blond hair shining in the sun, Rob stared after him, and Julian wondered if Mitch might be his type then did his best to dismiss the thought. That kind of thing was none of his business.
As they were going back inside, Rob had a pleased expression on his face. Thinking it was because of Mitch, Julian felt another pang of jealousy.
"It's cool that a small town like this is gay friendly," Rob said.
"Is it?" Julian said vaguely. He was still preoccupied with unseemly worry that Rob might be attracted to Mitch.
"It seems like it is. That handyman wasn't homophobic," Rob noticed.
"I would hope not. He's gay too," Julian informed him.
"Oh, OK," Rob said but he didn't seem especially pleased to hear it.
"He and his fiancé want to get married in the orchard as well." As Julian told him about that, he watched for signs of disappointment from Rob, but he didn't see any.
Instead Rob gave him an inquisitive look. "And you said yes to all these weddings?" Rob asked like that surprised him.
"It's allowed as long as they're residents of the town," Julian explained. He had changed the rule mostly because he knew his grandfather would have hated it, but it was still nice to see that it made some people happy.
"That's great," Rob said with a smile. He seemed to really like the idea. If it put a smile on his face, it was the right decision.
Lying on the library floor, Danny seemed pretty well occupied with his reading, so they left him to it. "We can go look at the offices," Julian said as they went next door.
