Page 42 of Raise Up, Heart
“Good news, sweetheart,” Damon says. “Your dreams can now come true. Next week, we can see any movie you want at whatever theater we can find in whatever place we end up in. And the rest of our lives will be a vacation far away from po’dunk Maryville, Tennessee.”
“Yeah,” Cole says again, but he’s still sad. “But that’s not all. I mean, there are other things too that I always wanted with you. Sexy things like to take you to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Knoxville, or to have you at our family Thanksgiving, to see you carve the turkey—”
“Carve the turkey?” Damon repeats slowly. “Is that sexy? It doesn’t sound sexy.”
Cole laughs and kisses his chest, moves up to press another kiss to his neck. “It’s okay that I’ll never have those things, though,” Cole says.
“Yeah?”
“Because we’ll see the sunrise on the ocean together, and we’ll fuck our days away for our vacations, and—”
“Fuck? Not make love?” Damon puts his hand on Cole’s forehead like he’s taking his temperature. “What’s happened? Are you okay? Where’s the sweet, romantic boy I fell for?”
Cole pinches Damon’s side. “Dr. Black, you’re obnoxious.”
“Come on, it’d be kind of scary if I wasn’t.”
“True,” Cole yawns, and he snuggles in close, tugging the soft sheets around them. “Two more days and we’ll be gone.”
“Good riddance,” Damon says, rubbing his hand up and down Cole’s back in a soothing rhythm.
Cole hums sleepily and after very little time, drops into a dream of sunshine and beaches, and a Damon who doesn’t fade away when the morning comes.
Cole shuts thedoor to Michael’s office and sits down across from him. Michael looks up from his work and says, “I’ve been expecting this, boss kid.”
Cole nods. “Tomorrow is the day. I haven’t told my family yet because I wanted to avoid a big scene. And I haven’t told Emily, either.” Cole pulls a note from his pocket. “This is my goodbye note to her. Please make sure she gets it after I’ve left town.”
Michael nods slowly fingering the small white envelope, and then sticks it into his pocket. “I will.”
“So,” Cole says. “I need a favor from you, Michael. It’s not comfortable, and it’s not pretty. It’s something that you’ll have to keep to yourself for the rest of your life. You can’t tell Emily, or my father, or my sister, or anyone at all. There’s a life at stake. My life and everything that’s most important to me. If you can’t promise this, I understand, but I need you to tell me now.”
Michael sighs and runs his hands through his hair. “Boss kid, I don’t know what to say. I think the world of you, and I believe in you. But this…keeping secrets…”
“I understand,” Cole says, and he’s disappointed because this will complicate things, but he can figure something else out. He stands to go, but Michael puts out a hand.
“Wait. Okay, I’m in. Whatever you need.”
“Why?” Cole asks. “You don’t have to do this. Your job here, taking over for me? That’s secure.”
“No. That’s not why. I’ve never seen you like this,” Michael says. “You’re—different. And I don’t understand why, but you seem like you know exactly what you’re doing, and where you’re going with your life now. Even though I have no idea what you’re up to, I…I completely believe in you.”
Cole smiles and he knows it’s a sad smile. It’s not his usual faked joy, just the truth. “Michael, before you met Emily—what would you have done, what would you have given up for your wife to not be dead?”
Michael’s eyes go sharp and worried. “Cole—”
“I’m not crazy, I promise. The thing is I feel like I’ve got a second chance, you see. Michael, I’ve fallen love.”
Michael’s face changes to bewilderment. “In love? So fast?”
“Yes. Here’s the thing—we have to leave the country. Tomorrow. I can promise you this: this man, the one I’m in love with, he’s not dangerous, and he’s not wanted. But we can’t stay here. And no one can ever know that I left with him. As far as Emily goes, as far as my family goes, I am alone.”
Michael stares at him.
“It’s a matter of life and death, Michael.”
“Say I agree to this. Why do you need me to know the truth?”
“As my man on this side, the one who protects me and mine, who lets me know what’s happening in Maryville, and keeps me abreast of potential surprises in my life—either visits from family, or gossip, or worried friends like Emily. I need you to be my mouthpiece here, the one who keeps it all as legitimate as possible. Can you do that?”
