Should Old Acquaintance

Chapter 7

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Brian walked along the street with Gus. It was Friday and Gus was coming for the weekend to the cottage. Brian had taken his son out of school early and was meeting Justin and Bree in the park not far from Kinnetik for a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day and Brian was looking forward to spending some time with his children, and with Justin. They didn't do this kind of thing often enough.

They turned into the park while Gus was telling his father about his plans for the summer. He wanted to go to swim camp which was the first two weeks in July. Brian thought that was a great idea. He also asked Gus if he'd like to work at the cottage for the rest of the time. There would be a lot of odd jobs that would need doing when John and Bobby's cottage was moved there, and also a lot to do in preparation for that. Gus liked the idea of earning some money and being around his father's family more.

"Dada!" a little voice screeched and Bree came running across the park and threw herself into her father's arms.

"Hello, Squirt," Brian grinned giving her cheek a quick peck. She giggled happily. "Aren't you going to say hello to your brother?"

"Hi, Gus," Bree said and held out her arms for Gus to take her. When he did, she kissed all over his face making him giggle.

"Hey, Brian," Justin said finally having caught up with his rambunctious daughter. "I couldn't hold her back when she saw you."

Brian kissed Justin softly and smiled at his little family. Justin was carrying a thermal bag that contained fried chicken, rolls and drinks. They headed for one of the empty picnic benches.

Joan Kinney had just pulled her car into a parking space across from the park when she saw Brian walking with a young man. It took her a minute to realize that the boy had to be her grandson, Gus. But he was hardly a boy anymore. He would soon be as tall as his father, and he seemed so grown up. She had missed his whole childhood.

She felt a sudden wave of sadness pass over her. Everyone shut her out of their life, even though she had done her best to correct their deviant ways.

She watched in fascination as the little blond girl ran to Brian and he scooped her up and kissed her. She felt a clench in her heart at the sight. Then Brian handed her to his son and the little girl kissed him too. And then Brian's partner arrived and they kissed - all so natural and loving. But, it wasn't natural. It was all wrong. It went against God's laws.

Joan shook her head. How could they be so happy living lives of sin, when she was so careful to follow God's doctrines and ended up alone and sad? This was just not right.

She sat in her car watching them as they spread out their lunch. The little girl got a piece of chicken and tried to feed each of them. They all laughed and pretended to take a bite. Then she would eat some herself. They all seemed so happy.

Joan had the greatest urge to get out of the car and go over to them. She wanted to pick up the little one, whose name she didn't even know, and kiss her rosy little cheek. She was her granddaughter and she should have that right. But, they had cut her off, hadn't even told her of the existence of the beautiful little child. They were so cruel to her.

A stray tear escaped and Joan wiped at it in annoyance. She refused to cry. Some day they would get their just desserts. She had to believe that. And some day she would get hers. It was just that she wanted what she deserved right now, and that was to hug that beautiful little girl who didn't even know that she had a grandmother.

With a final look at the family and a swipe at another tear, Joan started the car and drove away. Her errand would have to wait for another day. She needed a good stiff drink.

"Bree, here's your sippy cup," Justin said handing his daughter her cup of apple juice.

Gus popped the tab on a can of soda as Bree watched him. She held out her hand indicating that she wanted some of Gus' Coke.

"No, Squirt," Brian said firmly. "You and Dada are having juice. See." Brian took a sip of his guava juice and Bree decided to have some of her apple juice. "Good," Brian said rubbing his tummy.

"Good," Bree replied rubbing her tummy in imitation of her father.

Gus laughed. "You have her trained to do everything you do."

"God, I hope not," Justin said feigning great displeasure.

"Hey, I've been on my best behavior for years now," Brian told them.

Justin and Gus laughed and Bree looked at them like they were crazy. She didn't see anything funny and they seemed to be laughing at her Dada.

"C'mon, Bree, let's walk off some of this food." Brian took Bree's hand and they walked along the path.

Justin and Gus watched. "Where's your bag for the weekend?"

"It's in Dad's car over at Kinnetik."

"Let's gather all this up. Can I get you to take it to the car? I have to go meet Lacy. We're starting work on the documents Edna left us."

"Sure," Gus said helping Justin pack everything back into the bag. "Is there a lot to go through?"

"Yeah, it's going to take a while."

"When will you be home?"

"I'll come home with John at the end of the day. See if you can get your father to barbecue and make a salad for dinner."

"He'll do it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'll tell him I want to barbecue and he'll be right out there protecting his lovely machine." Gus gave a wicked laugh and stuck his tongue in his cheek.

"You look so much like your father when you do that," Justin observed.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should. Your father's the handsomest man I've ever seen."

"You still love him, don't you?"

"More than anything."

"And he loves you."

"I know," Justin said with a smile. "Well, enough sentimentality. I better get going. Tell Brian I'll see him at home."

Justin walked out of the park and Gus sat at the table waiting for his father and sister to return. He always knew how much Brian and Justin loved each other. He wondered if he'd ever find someone like that. The only problem was that he was beginning to think she'd have to be a girl. He wasn't sure how his parents would feel about that.

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Justin hurried down Tremont. He hoped Lacy didn't have to wait too long for him. He had enjoyed his lunch with Brian and the children so much that he was running a little behind. He saw Lacy standing in front of the loft building. He waved and hurried to join her.

"Ready for some work?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Then let's go." Justin unlocked the front door and they made their way up to the loft. When Justin slid back the heavy door and Lacy stepped inside, all she could say was, "Wow!"

Justin chuckled. "That's the usual reaction, but quite often it has more to do with Brian than with the actual loft."

"Doesn't it bother you that Brian has kept this place?" Lacy asked.

"No, it doesn't," Justin said thoughtfully. "This is where Brian and I first … fucked, and where we first made love and where so many things happened to us. I wouldn't want him to get rid of this place."

"He still doesn't … you know?"

"No, he doesn't, but we use the loft sometimes if we don't want to drive all the way out to the country. It has its uses, just like right now." Justin pointed to the pile of papers on the dining room table. There was another box on the floor beside it.

"You weren't kidding about how much you had to weed through."

"Well, let's get started," Justin said as he walked over to the table. He leaned over and lifted a pile of papers out of the box.

Lacy couldn't help but admire the view.

"Ready?" Justin asked as he turned around.

She hoped Justin couldn't see the flush of color in her cheeks. "Um … yeah," she replied.

After a few hours they had to take a break. Their eyes were getting tired from trying to read Kinney's journal, and Edna's tiny scrawl was almost as bad. Justin stood up to stretch his legs and then get a couple of bottles of water. Spying the nearly bare refrigerator and empty cupboards, Justin made a mental note to buy snacks for Monday. Wouldn't do well to pass out from hunger while they were working.

"Lacy, were you able to change your shift for next week? Another pair of eyes is making this a lot easier."

"Yeah, no problem. Debbie wants to train a new waiter so the lunch shift is perfect. I don't mind the dinner shift and I get good tips."

"Cool. A new waiter?"

"Yes. Debbie doesn't work that much and Kiki's been hinting that she wants to hang up her apron for good so we need more help. Hunter brought Andy in about a week ago. He's an older kid and tired of living on the street." Justin smiled. Hunter was having great results with his program.

"Andy couldn't be in better hands than Hunter and Debbie." Sitting back down at the table, Justin started to review what they had organized thus far. "Okay, so what do we have so far?"

"From what I've read in your research, the stuff that Edna found must have happened when Kinney and Patrick were still looking for a permanent home. It looks like they were in Panama for more than five years but something happened and they had to leave. There's so much stuff here. How did you organize things the first time?"

"I had help. John's mother, Claire, and I put all the Kinney letters in chronological order then I did the same thing with the Kinney journal and then there's my journal notes that I took while we were on our trip."

"That's a lot of work."

"Tell me about it. The letters alone took us weeks to read. We had to be careful with them. We didn't want to damage them. All the originals are in a safety deposit box at the bank. What's in these books are copies. I'd die if anything happened to the originals; they're too delicate to handle."

"So that means you have one book for Kinney's journal, one for your own and one for the letters and then there's all the notes and photos that Sidney made and Edna's notes and pictures."

"That about sums it up. It's all over the place. I don't know what book to look in anymore." Justin's voice rang with frustration. They sat back in their seats, quietly looking at all the data amassed.

"Justin, this might sound like a crazy idea but what if we collate all the notes and letters into one big book. A very large book or maybe two large books."

"What do you mean?"

"See here," Lacy pointed to a picture of one of the paintings found up at the farm. It was of a beautiful garden with row after row of sunflowers. "There's a date visible in the corner. Now I know I saw something about it. Here! Kinney wrote about it."

I miss our home and our extensive gardens. While others of our class preferred roses, my darling wife preferred sunflowers. Some grew taller than she. Whenever I see a sunflower, I am reminded of home and of the life we left behind us. My beloved Patrick has promised me that when we find a home, he shall plant sunflowers.

"Now I get what you mean! That's a great idea and it might make things go a lot faster. We can start with the letters then collate the journal then add my notes and Edna's. This way we'll have more of a complete picture. Thank you, Lacy." Justin got up and swept the lithe girl out of her chair to give her a hug. Lacy blushed a deep crimson. "Let's see how far we get today before John comes to get me. I can have Gus help me over the weekend and then we can tackle more on Monday."

"Gus?"

"You remember Gus, Brian's son."

"Oh, yeah. I remember him from the Rage opening. He looks a lot like his dad."

"Big time! He'll be just as tall as Brian real soon."

"Mmm. How much time do we have before John shows up?"

"A couple more hours. That should be enough time to put the journal into the letters. Let's get cracking."

By the time John showed up at the loft, Lacy and Justin had combined Kinney's letters with his journal. Since most of Justin's notes were interspersed with the journal, they were also included, and all the pictures they took of Kinney and Patrick's art as well. It was a great start. John knocked as he rolled back the door.

"Hi kids! Whoa, what is all this?" John spied all of the stacks of papers and photos."

"Um, we're organizing?" Lacy ventured. There was a method to their madness.

"Uh huh. Justin, do you want to leave this stuff here or take it home with us?"

"Home. I can't leave it, not when Lacy figured out the best way to put this all together." Justin smiled broadly at the girl. "Lacy, help me put this stuff in the box and then we can put the binders on top. I want to keep on working when I get home. Are you working tonight or going home?"

"Home," Lacy said with a happy sigh. It was nice to have some place to call home. Debbie and Carl had made her feel so welcome.

"Then we'll drop you off, little lady," John said with a handsome smile. Lacy couldn't help but notice just how beautiful John was, almost as beautiful as Brian.

With the Kinney treasure packed up, the loft secured, John loaded the box onto the elevator. It was time to call it a night.

That night Justin instructed Gus about what they were doing with the papers. Gus agreed to help. He liked being treated like an adult, like he was really worth something. While Brian played with Bree, the other two got to reading through the pages of Kinney's journal.

"Um, Justin, did Kinney and Patrick have a child?"

"What? Did you find another reference to that?" Justin asked suddenly excited.

"I just read this," Gus said handing Justin a photocopied page of Kinney's journal.

Justin greedily grabbed it and started reading.

I have begun a painting of Patrick and our darling Katherine. She is such a beautiful little girl. No one could ask for a more beautiful daughter. Even though I miss my children back home, Katherine has taken a very special place in my heart. She and Patrick will be so beautiful together in the painting. He is all blond and sunlight and she is dark and radiant. I love them so much. I hope I can finish the painting before we must move on, and it seems that won't be too long from now.

"Holy shit!" Justin crowed. "Brian, come see this. Kinney and Patrick had a daughter."

"No shit," Brian replied as he walked over. Bree followed her father watching him as he used that special word.

Justin handed the page to Brian who read through it quickly. "That man is just full of surprises," Brian observed as he handed the page back to Justin.

"I wonder why they had to move on," Justin asked.

"Maybe after they conceived or adopted their daughter, the locals weren't too fond of them. You know that people think we're all pedophiles."

"That's sick, Dad," Gus protested.

"I know, Sonny Boy, but this was a long time ago, and people weren't very enlightened. Although, it hasn't seemed to have helped much in this day and age where people have access to all the best information. They continue to believe what they want to believe."

"Like your mother," Justin observed.

Gus was about to say something about his grandmother that he had barely ever seen, but then decided that it was best not to pursue it.

Bree watched what was going on and wondered who they were talking about.

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