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Joel held out his hand. “Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in it, and if you need me tomorrow, just text me.”
Nick swallowed hard. “Okay.”
He escaped from Joel’s front gate as quickly as possible, wondering if he was being weird or rude or both, but he really did need to get back and catch up with Fergus. And spending so much time around Joel was stirring some emotions inside him that he really didn’t need stirring.
When Nick got back to the war memorial, where Fergus had been coordinating volunteers, it was quiet and empty apart from a dusting of snow. Nick detoured around the corner to Fergus’s house and rapped on the door.
“Any signs?” Nick asked hopefully when Fergus answered, a cup of tea cradled to his broad chest.
Fergus shook his head, his wiry, gingery beard bouncing with the movement.
“Not a thing. The wee rascals move quicker than I gave them credit for.”
“Okay.” Nick blew out a hard breath. “I guess we just keep going tomorrow.”
“Aye. I’ve got a couple of lads coming down to help out in the morning. They owe me a favour.”
“Thanks, Fergus.”
The light was falling fast now, and Nick made the executive decision to finish off his work at home, rather than going into the office. Even though he’d been outside for most of the day, he didn’t mind the hike back up Burner Hill to get home. The route took him past Joel’s little cottage again, where the windows were now glowing from the warm light of a fire inside.
He wrestled with the temptation to stop, to knock on Joel’s door and invite himself inside. But a combination of embarrassment and awkwardness stopped him. Nick rarely felt confident enough to make the first move, and trying his luck with another man hadn’t always worked out well for him.
No, it was best to leave it alone. Joel was a neighbour, after all. He didn’t want to make things difficult.
The next morning, Joel dragged himself out of bed at a reasonable time to shower and shave and do something with his hair. He needed to get it cut before he saw his mum over Christmas, or he’d get hell for being an untidy homosexual layabout, and only one of those things was true.
His mum liked to nag, but only because she cared. She always worried, no matter what Joel was doing, so he’d given up on trying to do things that were less worrying. Sometimes he thought worrying was like a hobby for his mum. It would be almost cruel to make her stop.
He also took a little more time selecting good jeans to go with his hiking boots, and a long sleeve T-shirt to go under a thick plaid shirt. The rich brown and grey checks looked good with his hair colour—which was why Joel had bought it.
When Nick’s text came, saying they were heading back out again at 8:30am, Joel was ready.
By hovering in the living room, he could make out Nick’s tall figure as he walked down the hill, and timed his exit from the cottage perfectly.
“Good morning,” Nick called, and he was right, it was. Crisp blue skies and biting cold air had taken the place of heavy snow clouds. The sun was low in the sky and it would stay there for a few more months, until daffodils and snowdrops started poking through the ground.
“Morning,” Joel said. He locked the door while juggling the two insulated mugs he’d filled, pleased when Nick waited for him. “This is for you.”
Nick took one of the mugs and took a deep breath of rich, chocolatey steam.
“You made hot chocolate?”
“I figured we could use the energy this morning.”
Nick’s smile was blinding. “Thank you.”
Joel’s stomach flipped over. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.
They walked in comfortable silence down to the meeting spot, where it seemed like even more people than yesterday had turned up to join in the search. Joel had always felt like Dunmuir had a nice little community, and it was good to see so many people out who wanted to help.
Now that the school holidays had started, parents were probably desperate to get their kids out and doing something productive on a nice day, but Joel would still chalk their presence up to altruism. And maybe a dash of Christmas spirit. After all, going on a reindeer hunt a few days before the Big Day had to be something of an adventure.
Joel wasn’t counting on being picked for Nick’s search team for a second day in a row, but he was certainly hoping. Fergus was coordinating again. Joel wondered whether that was because Fergus was such a natural leader, or if Nick didn’t want to take the spotlight. He had a feeling it might be a bit more to do with the latter than the former.
Joel cradled his travel mug to his chest and watched as Nick greeted a few people who had gathered, exchanging waves or hugs, depending on the recipient.
Nick really was ridiculously handsome and didn’t seem to be particularly aware of it. Joel watched the eyes of young women as they watched Nick, longing perfectly written over their faces. It was good to know Joel wasn’t the only one who saw it. He just didn’t know if the pretty girls were his competition or not.
