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He nodded. “For the last few years I’ve been working with various nonprofits, and I’ll still be able to do that no matter where we end up. Like this summer, Will’s filming on location in Mississippi, and I already contacted a local organization that works with indigenous wildlife.”
Harper asked, “What kind of indigenous wildlife can be found in Mississippi?”
Will let his usually contained North Louisiana accent slip out as he said, “Oh, you know—skunks, opossums, raccoons, all kinds of exotic critters.”
“Opossums need love, too,” Lorenzo said with a grin.
“You two really seem to have figured out the whole career-life balance thing,” Harper said. “That’s something we’ve been working on, too.”
Will said, “Speaking of careers, I keep seeing your videos popping up everywhere, Phoenix. It looks like your musical career is going well.”
“It is,” I said. “Harper had a state-of-the-art studio built in our house, and I’ve started recording songs that make me happy, on my own schedule. We’re also still making videos and posting them online whenever we feel like it, because that’s fun for us. That’s about all I’m shooting for right now, and it’s been the best decision. Without having to worry about record deals or anything else, it took the pressure off and put the joy back into making music.”
“I decided to follow Phoenix’s lead,” Harper said. “I’ve cut back to one film a year, and I’m choosing projects that mean something to me. So, three months from now, I’ll be starring in an independent film about two gay college athletes falling in love. Get this, it even has a happy ending! Way too many LGBT films don’t.”
“That’s amazing,” Will said. “I’m happy for both of you.”
“Right back at you,” I said. “You have so many great things to look forward to, including marrying the love of your life tomorrow, a romantic honeymoon, and then a starring role in a great film this summer. I’m looking forward to watching your career reach the stratosphere.”
My friend smiled at me, and he was about to say something when the music volume suddenly cranked up. About a dozen go-go boys dressed in nothing but short-shorts rushed into the room, followed by a tiny little old lady and Will’s mom. The women wore belts around their waists, and jutting from the front of them were three-foot-long inflatable dicks. Nana yelled something about party games, and she and her companion started tossing hoops onto each other’s big, blow-up willies.
Harper and I burst out laughing. Amid all the mayhem, he grabbed my hand, and we snuck out a side door. “It’s true what they say,” he said, once we were outside. “Nobody parties like an octogenarian.”
“Oh yeah. That’s an undisputed fact.” His phone beeped, and he pulled it from his pocket, tapped the screen, and grinned. Then he turned it to show me the photo Kel had sent us of Loco and our dogs, all sitting poolside on their own lounge chairs. I said, “That’s adorable.”
He asked, “You know what I see in this picture?”
“What?”
“Three empty lounge chairs, there in the background. We should stop by the shelter on the way home on Sunday and get some more dogs.”
“Or a cat,” I said. “A big one, like a Maine coon, so Pepe can’t boss her around.”
“I’d be down with a cat. Hey, and a foul-mouthed parrot, maybe one that used to belong to a crotchety old sailor. Can we get a cussing bird, pretty please?”
“Sure, but if we also get a cat, didn’t we just create a food chain?”
“Not if we get a big enough bird,” he said.
“Okay, so a Maine coon, and—what type of bird is bigger than that?”
“An ostrich.”
“It won’t swear, though.”
Harper grinned at me. “We can teach it to hold up signs like the roadrunner in those Wile E. Coyote cartoons, and we’ll put swear words on them.”
“Excellent.” We were following a path along the edge of a drop-off, and way below us was the town of Avalon and a pretty little harbor. After a few moments, I said, “It’s so nice here.”
“It is, and I’m glad we’re spending all weekend on Catalina.” When we reached a bench, we sat down together, and Harper kissed me. Then he said, “You know, life’s about to get hectic again, because we’re just days away from the promotion tour for another movie I made last year.”
“Yeah, but we got this,” I said. “We’ll just tackle it as a team and get through it.”
“We should get matching team sweatshirts. All the dogs and chickens need one, too. So does our soon-to-be-adopted ostrich. She may necessitate moving to a farm, by the way, but I’m totally down with that. What about you?”
I chuckled and told him, “It seems inevitable. We can call it Phee and Harper’s Misfit Acres.”
