Page 44 of Christmas Home

“I don’t take it back. Let people get some work done and stop your yammering,” Millie said, her lips curving into a smile.

He just shook his head and walked on, causing Millie to laugh out loud. “We’re first cousins, in case you didn’t already know, and the guy has always been long-winded. Come on, I’ll show you where to start.”

I loved working alongside Millie. She talked about her life, including graduating from law school only to find she didn’t feel the calling to work in a courtroom. “I’m lucky there are plenty of other legal jobs out there,” she said.

She’d taken a job with the former judge in Mayville and was even doing some real estate work in Crawford City. I immediately wondered if she’d met Ruther, but I didn’t ask.

Everything seemed to come back to Ruther these days. I’d been talking to my counselor about allowing myself to have another relationship, and she’d been encouraging. “Just watch for the signs,” she’d cautioned.

The group had said the same but were much more pessimistic about it. I guess living the life was different from helping others process it.

Harvesting took less energy than I thought. My uncle James used to rent land from his neighbor and do what he used to call truck patching, which involved a hell of a lot of work that, more often than not, I got recruited for. Free labor and all.

This wasn’t anything like that. Sure, the chiggers could get you, but as long as you sprayed really well, they seemed to leave you alone.

I loved watching the grapes go through all the fancy machinery at the end of the day, prepping them for the…I couldn’t remember everything Logan said. I lost interest when he started getting into the details.

Eventually, I wandered out and plopped down on the bench out front to eat some of the sandwiches Mrs. Cole sent over for the occasion.

“So, what’s goin’ on?” Amos asked and sat down next to me, digging into his own sandwich. I’d ridden to the winery with him and his husband.

“Oh, nothin’ much, just enjoying the scenery.”

“Must be different from running around the café all hours of the day and night, huh?”

I just laughed. “Different kind of work, but still work. I love it, though—the café, that is, not the farm work.”

Amos laughed too. “Takes a special kind of person to want to spend their lives working the ground. I never felt the calling, but I’m glad our boy Logan has.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know much about wine, although it’s interesting. I grew up with beer drinkers, with the occasional moonshine thrown in.”

Amos looked up at the fields. “My parents and grandparents were from the islands and loved their rum. My mom and grandmother were the fruity drink types. I don’t know why, but I didn’t get into any of it. If it weren’t for Emanual, I don’t think I’d drink much at all, other than a nice cold beer after a hot day’s work.”

“Nothing wrong with a cold beer. How long have you and Doc been together?” I asked, referring to the mayor by his nickname, as nearly everyone else in town did.

“Oh, since we were kids. Off and on. Took us a long time to make it permanent, though.”

I let that seep in—two men in a relationship that’d lasted a lifetime. “So, what’s the secret of staying together that long?”

Amos laughed. “Ain’t no secret except you got to keep trying and apologizing, and don’t let your pride and anger keep you from working through things. At the end of the day, what’sworked for us, I think, has been friendship and the fact I can’t imagine my life without Emanual in it.”

“I reckon I never really thought lovin’ someone my entire life was possible. My mom stayed with my dad even though he was abusive, until he left her for someone else. My sisters got divorced shortly after getting married. Not even my grandparents lasted, so I don’t have a lot of role models.”

Amos sighed. “Ain’t that many gay role models. More than there used to be, but society’s been pushing us apart since the Middle Ages. Listen, if you find someone you love, you dig in, work hard. Don’t let nobody knock you around, that’s no good, but if someone treats you right, and you treat them right in return, there ain’t nothing better. Take it from me. I pushed Emanual and everyone else away for years, then when I finally let him in, let my family in, my life changed for the better. And that’s a fact.”

I wanted to ask more questions, but mostly because I wanted to hear the full story about the mayor and him. Logan called us back into the barn, though, to show us the next step in the process after the grapes got washed.

Despite being bone-tired, I lay awake that night thinking about what Amos had said. The world did seem to be pushing men who love each other apart. The entire LGBTQ+ community, in fact, but some had survived.

This town was full of men who’d overcome the hatred the world threw at us. Images of Ruther came back to mind, and this time I smiled. If he was coming to town, I was going to enjoy getting to know him again, and this time, there would be no running away.

thirty-seven

Ruther

Ididn’t want togo to the café yet. I just wasn’t ready when I had so many other things going on. Corey and I were working with Justin, a local attorney, to formalize our business arrangement. Lance, Jake, the mayor, and Amos needed to meet with us to propose the project to the town council for approval.

I met Randy and Cliff Richards, the brothers working under Amos and Todd as our builders, and liked them right away. They were big, tall, rough construction workers who had a great sense of humor and constantly made us laugh.

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