Chapter 24
It was their last day of volunteering, unfortunately Julian was working alone, taking inventory. There was some talk of having him help hang up banners, but then Lara decided he was better suited for counting the cardboard leaves, and acorn and pumpkin shaped lanterns that were going up on the morning of the festival. While he was noting down what they had in stock and missing Rob, he saw Sam and Rico coming over. They told him they had just finished a shift at the café, and it fell to Julian to tell Rico why he was there working by himself.
"Rob was recruited to help Mitch."
Of course this set Rico off. "Excuse me. I have to go kill something blond."
Luckily Sam restrained and then distracted him with talk about Thanksgiving at his grandmother's.
"I was looking forward to a real, family Thanksgiving, but this will be more fun for the kids," Sam said.
Agreeing with that, Julian nodded. He had pictured just him, Rob and Danny. Now Rob's sister would be joining them, so why not go where the rest of the town was gathering.
"Kids are sure to love the turkey jamboree." Off Julian's look, Rico denied responsibility. "That's what Grandma calls it. My parents are going to be there. They already know and love Mitch, now the rest of you guys need to show them what awesome friends I have. Don't let me down." He looked sternly at both Sam and Julian.
"Speaking of impressing people. Rob and I are going out on a date, but I'm not sure where. I would love to whisk him away, but I want to stay close by in case Danny has a bad night," Julian told them. It felt strange to discuss something like that. Being so closed off until now, he didn't have anyone he wanted to date or anyone to talk to about things like that.
"I'm on the case," Rico said stepping up. "This is a beautiful thing between a man and his manny, and I want to make it happen."
"Can you be serious?" Sam asked him. He looked like he might have a suggestion, but Rico jumped in ahead of him.
"What about Raffinger's?" Rico asked.
"That's a bar and grill, right?" Julian said. That wasn't really his kind of thing.
Rico objected to his tone. "Don't say it like that. Mitch and I had our first date there."
"Sorry," Julian said, then he realized he shouldn't be so negative in case Rob would want to go there. For Rob's sake, he changed his tune. "I'll consider it."
In truth, no place seemed good enough to him. He had the urge to take Danny along and fly Rob somewhere exclusive and expensive, but he knew it wasn't about that. What Julian wanted was to show him that he was serious and to find out just how serious Rob was about him.
"The place isn't that important, really," Sam said echoing his thoughts. "You don't have to be doing anything special. It's just about being together."
"What BS is this?" Rico snapped at them. "You need to step up your game, woo that man."
"Like you're not happy just to get to sit in Mitch's lap," Sam accused him.
"You're getting indecent," Rico said wickedly.
"That is not what I meant," Sam claimed then he changed his mind. "Or maybe I did."
"You guys are being really helpful," Julian said to them.
"You wanted helpful? You're talking to the wrong guys," Rico said while Sam gave him a speak for yourself look.
"So you'll need babysitting when you go on your date, right?" Sam said.
"Rob's sister will be here. She offered to babysit," Julian told him.
"Your place isn't ready to be shown to the in-laws yet," Rico said jumping way ahead. "But it is looking more like a hillside villa and less like the house of the undead. Just picture it in the spring with everything green and the peach trees in bloom, and you with your man by your side."
Julian had to smile at that image. "Sounds good."
"Aha, don't screw up this date," Rico said.
"Stop pressuring him," Sam told him then he had some advice for Julian too. "Just have fun on this date. That's all you need to do."
That was a lot like the attitude Rob had about it, but Julian felt that there was a lot more to it. He needed to win Rob, make him never want to leave.
