Page 37 of Highway To Destiny

“Merry belated Christmas,” he said cheerfully. “When you called this morning and said you were heading down this way and wanted to check on your place, I could have easily done that for you so you wouldn’t have to make a trip into town.” I appreciated his offer, but there was more I needed to talk to him about, and I wanted to do it in person.

“Well, I had an ulterior motive than just checking on my condo,” I replied. “I wanted the chance to talk with you, so I’m glad you hung around for the holidays. I know you always like to hit a beach somewhere during the winter.” I gave his shoulder a light punch as I winked at him.

He laughed. “Your timing worked out great. I’m headed for Mexico in a couple of weeks for about ten days. Perfect time of year in Puerto Vallarta.”

We headed to the main building in the middle of the unpaved lot where Eli’s home was. When I walked in behind him, I was surprised he’d put up Christmas decor in his living room. He’d been divorced for years, and his daughter and son-in-law lived in New York. I knew they had come out last Christmas to stay with him, but with the severe weather back east this year, Eli didn’t want to deal with delayed or canceled flights. He’d decided to stay and work at the bar over the holidays.

I noticed the tree right away and gave him a surprised look. “You put a tree up, and your family didn’t even come out this year?”

“Yeah, I wanted it to feel like Christmas in the house. Even though we have the bar decorated, I didn’t want an absent sense of Christmas at home. It just felt right,” he replied.

Suddenly, I felt a bump against my lower leg. I looked down and was greeted by a gentle meow and big blue eyes. “Hey there, Rooboo,” I said as I bent down to scratch his head. Eli was a cat lover and had always owned one or two over the years. The gorgeous, long-haired feline had to be my favorite. Rooboo was extremely social and could be quite vocal if ignored. His coloring was Siamese, with tips of chocolate brown on his face and paws. His behavior was more like that of a dog since he’d follow you around, and he had the inane ability to play fetch.

Eli motioned for me into the kitchen—Rooboo followed and made his presence known. He jumped up on the stool next to me and gave me a vocal warning to be petted. I obliged. Once he was satisfied with the attention, he jumped down and strutted off, tail held high.

I watched him retreat. “I love that cat of yours,” I said.

“I know you do…and I know Rooboo senses it,” Eli replied, moving toward his refrigerator.

It was almost lunchtime, and Eli whipped us up some sandwiches with a couple of beers. We sat at his large kitchen counter to eat and catch up. I wasn’t sure how Eli was going to react to what I had to share with him, so I ate slowly as he caught me up on the local news.

Sandwiches finished, we took the beers into the living room to chat. Eli turned on the gas fireplace, which immediately made it feel homey. Rooboo came back in and settled on the fleece pad, taking in the warmth from the hearth. Eli then sat down and gave me a questionable look.

“What’s up?” he asked after taking a swig of beer. “I can tell something is on your mind, but I sense you’re not quite sure how to tell me. I could hear you thinking in the kitchen.” One thing about Eli was his ability to read people.

I pulled at the label on my beer bottle. “An unexpected thing happened, and I wanted to bounce it off you since you’re my closest friend.” He gave me a concerned eye as I continued. “Remember the last time I was in town and came into the bar?” He nodded. “I told you about the college student I’d given a lift to?”

“Yes, and I think you told me his name was Connor,” he replied. “His eye color distracted you, or something like that.”

I nodded. "That’s right. I saw him again the last time I drove through the college town in early November. I’d ordered lunch at a diner by the university, and he walked in, much to my surprise. I invited him to join me.”

Eli kept a neutral expression but didn’t say anything as he took another swig of his beer. It was my cue to keep going.

“After we ate, he invited me to a fraternity kegger that night.” Again, Eli didn’t say anything but raised his brow. “I decided why not, so I met up with him and his friend Spencer. I’d planned to spend the night in town in my truck anyway.”

Eli leaned forward. “What happened?”

I hesitated and looked back down at my almost empty beer bottle. “We met up, and his friend left us to mingle with the college crowd. It gave Connor and me a chance to chat more. Well… his questions led me to tell him I was a widower. He was sympathetic.” I took a moment before continuing. “I don’t really know what came over us, but we ended up kissing.” I looked back up at Eli.

“Whoa, what?” he exclaimed with a look of utter surprise. “I did not expect that.”

“It was an unexpected move, but he drew me in, Eli. I couldn’t help it when I looked into his eyes. He did say he and his friend were gay when he invited me, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time. That fact didn’t bother me.”

Eli tapped the side of his head and pointed his finger at me. “Now I remember—it was his green eyes, just like Claudia’s, right?”

“Yeah. I know this sounds odd since you’ve only known me to occasionally date women after having been with Claudia. But there’s something about Connor that had me over a barrel.”

Eli stood up, took my beer bottle, and said he’d be right back with fresh ones. It gave me time to think about what else I was going to say. I was also sure he was pondering what more he was going to say or ask. It didn’t take long for him to return and hand me a fresh, ice-cold bottle.

There was no judgmental look from Eli, only a friendly face I could spill my upturned life to. “Keep going,” he said as he sat back down.

“We had sex,” I said flatly. At that point, Eli almost spat his beer.

After he recovered, he asked, “Wh… what? Where?”

“In my sleeper cab. And he spent the night with me.” I figured I might as well be upfront with him, but I’d spare him the details. “In the morning, he invited me to have Christmas dinner with his family in Portland. It worked with my route, so I did. He also took me back to my hotel, and then…you know.”

He shook his head in disbelief yet smiled. “Well, you’re just full of surprises.” He laughed softly, and I knew his reaction wasn’t disgust, which helped my nerves settle.

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