AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My gosh you should see the size of the bear claws they put into the box for you,” Tony announced, yanking open the rear passenger door to place several boxes of baked goods into the rear. “I told the young miss when I called that you’d probably be a bear the next few weeks, so we needed a baked treat to match your growly temper. She laughed.”
“Yeah, that’s funny.”
I wiggled around to look into the back, the stitches in my shoulder tugging to remind me—as if I needed a reminder—that I couldn’t spin around like I could before. Fucking Clint. I hoped he enjoyed his time in the prison infirmary where he’d been moved to a few days ago. He’d declined an attorney and was pleading guilty to all charges. And there were many. None of us in Rockmount were sure if he was doing so to try to show Louise he was trying to atone for his sins or if he just hated lawyers. It was hard to say, but whatever the outcome, I’d be paying close attention and would happily testify at his trial.
“Are you in pain?” Tony asked, looking around the headrest at me.
“Thinking about Clint,” I confessed.
“Try not to. He’ll be in prison for a long, long time. Attempted murder is a serious charge, as is a felony assault on a law enforcement officer. And that’s the tip of the iceberg as those are some of the charges on your behalf. Mine will be added. I hope he rots in that cell.”
Another burst of Italian took place and then my suave lover spat on the ground as he cussed out Clint.
“Did I ever tell you that you’re super sexy when you get riled up?” I asked and got a sheepish sort of look as he fiddled with four boxes of tarts, doughnuts, and, of course, bear claws.
“A few times. If you weren’t bandaged and convalescing, I would show you just how riled up I get when someone hurts the man I love.” He closed the door soundly and then hustled around the rear of the car to get behind the wheel.
His words warmed me inside. I leaned over the console just to where it hurt, then cleared my throat. He looked over from unwrapping the hand-knitted scarf from Lily and Lila Winetoast and the Knit Happens group.
“I’m so glad you came back into my life,” I whispered.
He reached over to touch my cheek and stole a soft, sweet kiss. “I am too. Thank you for taking me back into your heart, you brave man.” He stared at me for a long time. I liked looking at him so I just stared back. “We had better get home before you get chilled. I have a pot of minestrone soup ready to warm up for dinner. Then you’re going to stretch out on the sofa and we’re going to watch holiday movies.”
“What kind of holiday movie is there for New Years?” I enquired and got a wink.
That night the three of us—Ellery curled up on my lap for the first time in forever—sat in the twinkling glow of our tree, stuffed with Mama Gugliotti’s famous minestrone soup and bear claws, watchingMamma Mia 2.
I mean, it only made sense. New beginnings, moving on after a loss, and the one you loved at your side. Our love seemed to fit the script perfectly.
One Year Later
“Are you sure that the bishop moves that way?”
I looked up from the rather brazen move our housekeeper, Ioannis, had made. Granted, I was new to this game, and therefore, the man who cleaned the five rooms at Gayle’s Getaway in the morning and cooked the meals for us and our guests at night was probably cheating.
“Yes, yes, of course,” he replied in a thick Greek accent that was slowly becoming second nature to my ears. “You look it up if you wish.”
“No, it’s good.” I leaned back in my chair, the winds off the sea sweeping over the patio, the sun on my shoulder joint easing the ache that lived there since the shooting a year ago.
“No, I insist. You look.” He gathered up the old print copy ofChess for Dummiesand passed it to me. I sighed and took it. “You see. You lose because you are looking for Tony and Delia to come back from the sea with dinner.”
“Okay, firstly, no.” I eased up, rolling my shoulder as I did so, and forced myself to flip pages as I pretended to read. “I’m not waiting for Tony to come home. I’m wondering where the cat is.”
“Ellery is under the chair my ass rests in.” I flipped faster. “Stillman, it is okay to worry over your love. I do every day. But today is a special day. Today they have decorated the boat. Today we have a feast made by my hands. Then we drink a little, have a taste of St. Basil cake, drink a little more, and then watch the movie that brought you and Tony together in loving bliss.”
I glanced up from the book, and the rules about how bishops could move, which said Ioannis had indeed moved legally, and stared at the big, bearded man seated across from me. He and I were of the same size, same looks, same ages, and same grizzled temperament. Several of our guests here on the tiny island of Thalassa had thought we were brothers. To be honest, I had grown close to our cook/housekeeper as well as his tiny wife who ran a fishing trawler. They weren’t Atticus and his wife as Tony had joked about last year, but that was fine. We were known to be a little different here at Gayle’s Getaway, what with being gay American hotel owners who knew nothing about chess, fishing, or how potent fucking Kitro liquor was. How could something that was a liquor drop a man of my size so fast? Ioannis teased me every time we had cocktails after dinner. Still, we loved it here in Greece. So much so that I sometimes had to remind myself of the lives we left behind in the States.
“I’m sure Tony is just fine. He and Delia have been sailing for months now as he scopes out sites for his gay western miniseries,” I replied, laid the book on the warm tan tiles under my feet, and slid my knight in a L pattern to intercept his bishop. “Of course they’re fine,” I reassured myself and then watched as my housekeeper got to checkmate in one slick move. When I glanced up from the carnage on the chessboard, Ioannis was sitting back in his wrought iron chair, smiling like Ellery when he gets into the cream. “Huh.”
He tapped his bald head, his smile pulling up the thick black beard that he wore. “You are too distracted today.”
“What’s my problem every other day?” I asked, my sight leaving my chess teacher to search the tiny port for Delia’s boat. Tony and she had been gone for two weeks, sailing along the coasts of various small islands, stopping in to visit the towns and scout for those perfect settings for his nearly completed script.
“You suck at chess?” I peeked over at Ioannis.
“Don’t you have rooms to dust?” I asked, and he chortled deeply then rose to his feet, his hips popping like my shoulder did every damn day, before sauntering off humming “Shake It” by Sakis Rouvas.
Tidying up the pieces for tomorrow’s slaughter, I sighed as gulls soared overhead. My shoulder had healed, yes, but it was never going to be the same. The physical therapist back in the States had suggested getting out of the cold to ease the steady aches in my shoulder after numerous sessions and visits to pain specialists had gotten me nowhere. The bullet had done some irreparable damage to the ligaments and muscles. She’d said it jokingly, I was sure, but after several months of dillydallying about, watching Teddy step into the position that I’d held down for years with more grace and competence than I’d have thought possible, I’d made a decision. I’d gone home, found Tony working on his western movie script, and told him I wanted to go to Greece.
