Little Cabin on the Lane

Chapter 3

“Brian, your car’s here,” Brian heard over the intercom.

“Okay, thank you, Cynthia,” Brian replied as he shut down his computer and placed a few files in his briefcase then shut it. As he put on his sport coat and shouldered his overnight bag, Ted walked in with a guest in tow. “Father Tom! Long time no sermon,” Brian teased. “Theodore, my car is waiting,” Brian growled.

“I know but I think this is important,” Ted whispered as he leaned into Brian and pleaded with his eyes. Brian nodded.

“Why don’t you walk me out, Padre,” Brian suggested. “I’ll call you when I get to N’rgy,” Brian told Ted as he left with Tom. “Now, what’s up with you? I thought I already sent you a donation for your church.”

“You did, a very generous one, and thank you. Brian, I really need to talk,” Tom said seriously.

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” Brian snarked as he led Tom down the alley toward the waiting limo. “Tom, I don’t mean to be rude but I’m heading for the airport. My shuttle leaves in a couple of hours,” Brian explained.

“I understand but I don’t know who to talk to about this,” Tom said, disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to unburden himself.

“Come on, take a ride with me,” Brian said as the driver opened the passenger door then grabbed Brian’s bag to place it in the trunk. Brian ushered Tom into the car then turned to the driver. “Benny, are you coming back into the city after dropping me off?”

“Yes, sir,” the driver replied.

“Please drop the good friar off at his church.” Brian handed the man an extra tip.

“Very good, Mr. Kinney,” Benny said as he made sure Brian was comfortable before he closed the car door then got into the driver’s seat.

“What’s up?” Brian asked Tom handing him a bottle of water from the small bar.

“Water?” Tom asked incredulously.

“Yes, water. I’m working, and believe it or not, my getting piss blind drunk days are long over,” Brian said as he opened his own bottle.

“Admirable.” Tom took a long drink.

“You’re stalling,” Brian observed.

“You’re right, I am.” Something in Tom’s voice concerned Brian.

“Are you sick?” Brian thought the worst. He reached out to pat Tom’s arm.

“No, physically I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”

“Well, something’s got your knickers in a bunch and you’ve got about forty-five minutes to spill unless you want a free ride to New York.”

Tom took a deep breath. “I’m thinking of leaving the church,” Tom blurted out then hung his head.

“Excuse me?” Brian asked not quite believing what he was hearing.

“You heard me.”

“You love the church.”

“I love God, but lately...”

“What happened?”

“Lots of things. Little things. Lots of little things that have me questioning my devotion, not to God but to the church.”

“And that automatically translates into you leaving? Don’t you guys take sabbaticals?”

“Yes.”

“So then take one. Get away, take off that collar, go get laid. I do recall you don’t subscribe to that celibacy thing,” Brian said in a low tone.

“A moment of weakness, and a very long time ago.” Tom became silent. Brian could sense the war going on in him.

“There are other churches that don’t require a vow of celibacy.”

“I am well aware of them,” Tom said as he watched the traffic go by. They were soon approaching the airport.

“I have a favor to ask you,” Brian said as an idea popped into his head.

“What?”

“I really can’t postpone my trip and I would like to discuss this further with you. Are you due any time off?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then take it. Spend it on the lane. We missed you over the holiday. We have a very large cottage with several rooms that are currently empty. You’ll have the run of the place. I can’t promise you quiet, because John is building Michael and Ben a log cabin.” Tom’s eyebrows rose into his hairline. “Yeah, I know, I’ve added martyrdom to my repertoire. But I can offer you a peaceful place for you to think things through. I don’t want you to make rash decisions.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very,” Brian said as the driver pulled up to the curb near the terminal. “Tom, I have to go, but after I check in I’m calling Justin, John and Bobby to tell them to expect you. You’ve been a good friend to me and my family. Especially to my mother,” Brian said softly. “Please let me do this for you.”

Benny opened the door; he had Brian’s bag in his hand. Before Brian got out of the car, Tom shook Brian’s hand and nodded.

“We good?” Brian asked before he left.

“Yeah,” Tom said with a shy smile.

“Then I’ll see you when I get back,” Brian said as he shouldered his bag and walked toward the terminal.

“Yeah,” Tom murmured as Benny shut the door, got back in the car and began to drive back to the city.

 

*****
 

“Hey.”

“Hey, where are you?” Justin asked.

“At the airport. We should be boarding soon.”

“I miss you already.”

“Ditto.”

Justin smiled. That ditto meant a lot. He was sure Brian was thinking of him, and this phone call merely reinforced that belief. It felt good to know they were missing each other, and that once again they were on the same wavelength.

“What are you up to?” Brian asked when Justin didn’t reply immediately.

“I’m going out with John to look at cabins,” Justin informed his husband.

“Cabins? Are you moving out on me?” Brian asked with some trepidation that he hoped wouldn’t be evident in his voice. He did his best to make it sound flippant, but he wasn’t quite sure that his voice had had the desired effect.

“You wish,” Justin laughed, seeming not to have picked up on Brian’s tone.

Brian breathed a silent sigh of relief. Everything was okay, he hoped. “No, I don’t wish that you’d move out. You know that, don’t you?” he asked. He hated that he sounded needy, even to himself.

“I was joking,” Justin assured his husband. He didn’t want Brian to worry before he left for his trip. They were going to be apart long enough, and the last thing he wanted was for either of them to worry.

“After the last couple of days, I…”

“Brian, relax. We worked that all out. Everything’s fine.”

“You’re sure,” Brian said. He felt the need for reassurance.

“Brian, have a great trip, and I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that promise,” Brian finally agreed as he relaxed. “So why are you going looking at cabins?”

Justin chuckled. “I walked down the lane and saw John and his men starting Michael’s log cabin. It struck me that some of the older cabins and cottages might have character that would translate onto canvas.”

“Character, huh?”

“Yes, character. I’m … kind of excited about what John will show me.”

“As long as it’s just cabins,” Brian snarked.

“You are so bad,” Justin replied. “Of course it will be just cabins.”

“Never hurts to check.”

Justin chuckled. “Don’t you have a plane to catch?”

“Yes, in a few minutes. Oh, by the way, I sent a visitor out to the lane to spend some time in the B&B.”

“You did? Who?”

“I’ll let him explain when he gets there.”

“Brian?”

“Oops, gotta go. Love ya.”

The line went dead.

“That man!” Justin muttered aloud, but a smile also flickered across his lips. Brian Kinney was nothing if not interesting … always.

 

*****
 

“John,” a voice called as John was observing the expansion of the new foundation of Michael’s log cabin.

“Yes?” John said as he turned around. “Danny! What are you doing here?”

“Checking up on you,” Danny joked.

“Well thanks a bunch,” John said. He wasn’t exactly pleased by Danny’s statement.

“I just wanted to get an idea of what you’re building for my son,” Danny explained.

“There’s not much to see at the moment.”

“You must have plans.”

“Of course I have plans.”

“So can I see them?”

“I suppose that could be arranged,” John said.

“Good. I know that with Michael’s illness and … everything, money might be a little tight for him and Ben. If there are any things that need to be added to the cabin, and they don’t think they can afford them, well, I want to contribute.” Danny blew out a breath. That had been a hard thing to say to John Anderson, but Danny wanted to make sure Michael had the cabin of his dreams.

“Danny,” John said, his voice softening. “It’s all taken care of.”

“Then let me see the plans, so I know for myself,” Danny insisted. He was glad to hear that money was not going to be a problem. He just wanted Michael and Ben to be happy and healthy.

John pulled out the plans and the two of them looked them over.

*****

Some time later in the day another vehicle pulled up to the construction site. John looked over and wondered who might be pestering him to see the plans for Michael’s cottage this time. To his surprise Emmett got out of the SUV.

“Hey,” Emmett called. “How do you like my new wheels?”

“When did you get this?” John asked as he walked over to the car and eyed the SUV from one end to the other.

“Picked it up today,” Emmett replied with his toothy grin. “I got it to do double duty hauling stuff to events and toodling me around town.”

“This isn’t around town,” John observed.

“No, it isn’t. I wanted to show off my new baby,” Emmett said patting the hood of his new vehicle.

“And the first person you thought of to show it to was me?”

Emmett laughed. “Not exactly, but I also wanted to see what you are going to place across the lane from my place.”

“Don’t you trust me?” John asked. He was starting to get a little paranoid about all the people checking up on him.

“Of course I do, but Drewsie and me have gotten used to an unobstructed view, so adding a building here will interfere with that. I wanted to see what you’re putting up.”

“Well, everyone else has been here to see the plans, so I guess you have a right to see them too, maybe even more than the others, since you will be looking out your windows at Michael’s cottage.”

“I heard he asked for a log cabin,” Emmett said as they walked over to John’s truck so he could haul out the plans once again.

“This is the preliminary drawing I started with, but I’m going to have to add a little more to this side and quite a bit more to the back of the house.”

“Ooh, I like it,” Emmett said with a toothy grin. “And it will be only one storey?”

“Yeah, I thought about adding a second storey when Ben wanted the place to be a little bigger, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought a single storey would work better for a log cabin, and for the look of the lane,” John explained.

“I totally agree.”

“Glad to hear it,” John said.

“Do I get the impression you’ve had quite a few people checking on what you’re doing here?” Emmett asked in his usual perceptive way.

“I’ve had a few … visitors,” John admitted.

“Well, I thought you would know exactly what to do,” Emmett informed his friend.

“But you wanted to see for yourself.”

Emmett grinned sheepishly. “Well, I will be looking at it every day that I’m here.”

“Then I’m glad it meets with your approval.”

“It most certainly does,” Emmett said. “Um, could I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you know why Michael wanted a log cabin?”

“Not really,” John admitted. “It did seem a little strange since Michael isn’t exactly the outdoors type … or the rustic type for that matter.”

“Hm,” Emmett said.

“What?”

“Just thinking.”

“Come on, Emmett, what are you thinking?” John asked. “I showed you the plans so the least you can do is tell me what that ‘hm’ was all about.”

“Well, you probably never heard about Michael’s boyfriend way back in the day,” Emmett began.

“Ben?”

“No, BB … Before Ben,” Emmett laughed. “Michael got himself involved with a chiropractor.”

“A chiropractor?”

“Yeah, they lived together for a while. Michael even moved to Portland to be with the doc.”

“Wow, I never knew.”

“Nobody much talks about Dr. Dave,” Emmett said thoughtfully. “Anyway, as you said, Michael isn’t your outdoorsy, camping type person, but Dr. Dave was. He took Michael away to the country one weekend to show him nature, and let nature take its course.”

“Oh, sounds … romantic,” John said.

“It could have been, but Michael was scared shitless that he’d do something wrong or be shown up for the city kid he was. He so wanted to fit into Dr. Dave’s world. Anyway, Dr. Dave’s cottage was a sort of log cabin that he built himself. I listened to hours of Michael telling me how wonderful it all was. I just have to wonder if that’s where the idea for this cottage came from.”

“You could be right,” John observed. “Whatever happened to Dr. Dave?”

“Michael came back from Portland after a couple of months. Dr. Dave liked to have things his way. He had very definite ideas about what he wanted and what he expected of Michael. I don’t think Michael was ready to be the little wifey who did as he was told.”

“Oh,” John said with a chuckle. “I can see why that might rub a little thin.”

“It sure did, and Brian had a hand in waking Michael up to that fact.”

“Brian screwed it up for them?” John asked surprised that his brother would do such a thing to his best friend.

“Don’t get me wrong, there was no love lost between Brian and Dr. Dave. But Brian actually made sure they got together. That seemed to be what Michael wanted at the time. And Brian always lets people make their own decisions, even if they are disastrous. Michael had to figure it out for himself.”

“And Michael did?”

“Yep, eventually.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s more to this story,” John said.

“Much more, but ask Michael or Brian. I’ve probably said too much already.”

“The more I find out about that brother of mine, the more there is to learn,” John said shaking his head.

“You’ve got that right. Brian Kinney is nothing if not multi-layered,” Emmett replied. “Well, I better get back into my lovely new vehicle and get back to Pittsburgh. I have clients to see and bucks to earn.”

“See ya, Emmett,” John said as he watched Emmett walk over to his car.

 

*****
 

John was just locking up the temporary fence around the construction site when he heard another vehicle come through the main gate. He hoped if he didn’t turn around, the car might just keep on going up the lane to Rachel’s house, or somewhere that didn’t involve him. He didn’t want to have to deal with someone else checking up on him. He was getting a little sick of the people on the lane, and their related friends and family, questioning every move he made. He snapped the lock shut and gave the fence a shake to make sure it was solid.

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m not showing any more plans today,” John grumbled without turning around. “Come back tomorrow and I’ll consider showing you what’s happening here.”

“I already know,” a familiar voice said.

“Bobby,” John said with relief evident in his voice. He pulled his husband into a warm hug. “I thought you were someone else come to criticize what I’m doing with this cabin.”

“I’d never criticize you, and nobody else better be criticizing you either,” Bobby said with a big smile as John released him. “Who’s been pestering you? Tell me and I’ll beat the shit out of them for you.”

John laughed out loud. “God, it’s good to talk to someone sane and sensible.”

“Hey, you forgot sexy in that sentence.”

“Soooo, so sexy,” John whispered.

“Let’s go home, big guy.”

“That’s the best suggestion I’ve heard all day.”

Bobby chuckled. “My chariot awaits. Climb aboard and I’ll drive us to our bedroom.”

“Shouldn’t we have dinner first?” John asked as he got into Bobby’s car.

“Love is all the food I need,” Bobby declared starting up the car.

“I knew there was a good reason I married you,” John laughed as they made their way up the lane.
 

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