The Naked Truth

Chapter 6

With quiet feet, Justin rounded the spiral staircase and stopped just at the top of the stairs. For several moments he watched the handsome brunet working, thoroughly engrossed in his task. Justin smiled at the furrowed lines of concentration creasing the man’s brow. The piercing hazel eyes were focused solely on the materials before him.

Justin softly coughed to get the man’s attention without startling him.

“Hey,” the brunet greeted Justin with a pleasant smile.

“What are you working on?” Justin asked as he walked closer to the desk to peer at the plans laid out on it.

“The Village reclamation has been so successful that the Mayor of Pittsburgh asked us to look into other rundown buildings and neighborhoods. But he doesn’t want huge areas torn down and replaced. He’d like us to go neighborhood by neighborhood to see what types of building would fit.”

“Fit?”

“For example, not all neighborhoods need a diner or an apartment building. Maybe the neighborhood can use a few one or two family homes instead. It depends on what’s more appropriate to the area,” John explained.

“Oh. Fits,” Justin agreed with a flirty smile. John arched a brow in a familiar way making Justin chuckle.

“Justin, you didn’t come up here,” John leaned to the side and spied Justin’s messenger bag, “with your sketch pad, to discuss my next project. Did you?”

“Nope. I came up here to draw you.”

“Draw me.”

“Yes.”

“Justin, I am not going to drop trou in my office.”

“Why not? There’s no one home and I know exactly how I want you.”

“Want. Me?”

“Yes. Right here at your drafting table,” Justin said as he pointed to the table. He pulled out his sketch pad and pencil then made himself comfortable on the sofa, waiting for John to take off his clothes.

“Where are the kids?” John asked with suspicion. He gazed toward the balcony railing and down at the sun porch floor below.

“Brian took them to the garden center then he’ll take them for ice cream. We have plenty of time.”

“And Bobby?”

“Surely you’re not embarrassed in front of your partner?”

“I’m not like Brian. I prefer walking around in more than just my birthday suit. Even if I am all by myself.”

“Fine with me, but I have seen you naked. I can do this from memory but it was a while ago. I’ll only need a couple of hours. You don’t have to be totally naked for all of it. And Bobby’s in Pittsburgh strategizing with Melanie.”

“Oh, well I guess I can handle that,” John said as he stood up. He stood behind his desk contemplating the situation. John didn’t know why he was feeling uncomfortable about posing naked for Justin. Justin was right, they had all gone skinny dipping together plus spent weeks living together when the traveled to South America. There was no reason for John to feel embarrassed.

“John, you have an incredible body,” Justin said as if reading John’s mind. “And not because you look like Brian.”

“Brian looks like me,” John deadpanned. “I am the older brother. As he’s so fond of reminding me,” John mumbled. “I’m curious, what differences do you see between us?” John finally removed all his clothes then sat at his drafting table. He picked up a pencil and began a rough plan for a thatched cottage.

“You’re kidding, right?” Justin asked, looking up at his brother-in-law.

“No, I’m not. We could be twins. Everyone says so.”

“And yet I’m sure Bobby and I could tell the differences blindfolded.” Justin’s hand began to fly across the page. The tip of his tongue was peeking out of his mouth as he worked. John smiled, he was so glad to see Justin back to his ‘bad as new’ self again.

“‘Splain to me,” John said in his best Ricky Ricardo voice. Justin laughed.

“Okay. I won’t repeat the similarities because they are obvious.”

“Obviously,” John snarked without looking up from his table.

“Brian has the best thigh muscles. Yours are very firm but his are more defined. I’m sure a lot of it is due to the fact that he did play soccer but he’s also obsessed with his treadmill. Your upper body is heavier; your muscles are more pronounced. That makes sense too. You’re always lifting something or using heavy equipment. It stands to reason that your arms would be more muscular. And there’s one more thing,” Justin said with a slight blush tinting his cheeks.

“What’s that?” John asked finally looking up from his table. The clear sharp hazel eyes met the deep blue eyes. Justin’s blush deepened.

“You smell different,” Justin whispered. John’s eyes widened thinking his natural body odor was somehow offensive. “That’s not what I mean. Brian smells almost spicy where you smell more earthy. Both are very...pleasant.” Justin was going to say sexy but he was making good progress on his sketch and he didn’t want to spook his model.

“Oh,” John said with a shrug of his shoulders. He bowed his head as he went back to his plans.

“Are you designing a new building?” Justin asked after a while. He had been concentrating on his sketch, trying to get the lines right when he felt a slight cramp in his hand. Justin needed to take a break before his hand totally cramped up. He put his pencil down and began to flex his hand.

“Sort of. There’s room for another house on the other side of Molly’s cottage. I always wanted to construct a thatched cottage,” John said absentmindedly.

“Wow! That’s ambitious. Who’s it for?”

“I’m not sure. I guess it could be a guest cottage or maybe for Lindsay since...”

“I think she might like that idea.”

“I might not be obsessed with a treadmill but...”

“But you are passionate about cottages.” Justin looked up and smiled brilliantly at John. John’s handsome face shone back at him. Justin gasped for a second. John was as beautiful as his brother but in his own way.

Justin stood up then circled his model. John went back to his drafting as Justin stood behind him. John could hear the sounds of Justin’s pencil as it scratched across the pad. Justin studied the strong lines of John’s back as it met the top of his firm buttocks. John was a beautiful man.

Beauty.

Justin surrounded himself with the beauties of the world but the world wasn’t always a beautiful place. He began to realize that he needed the ugliness to remind himself just how lucky he really was. Maybe he should be painting the ugliness as well. Maybe that was the truth he needed to show.

“Justin? Justin, are you all right?” John asked carefully when the sounds of Justin’s pencil stopped behind him.

“I’m fine, John. And I’m done.”

“Already? I was beginning to like working in the nude,” John remarked with a gleam in his eyes.

“Well I won’t stop you,” Justin replied with a devilish smile and a mischievous waggle of his eyebrows.

“No, I don’t suppose you would,” John chuckled. “Perhaps it’s better if I got dressed. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I have more work to do on my other sketches but I think I’ll go down to visit Michael for a while.”

“I’m in the mood for barbecue tonight. Let them know they’re invited. Gerry and Todd too.”

“Will do!” Justin said as he packed up his pad and pencil before going down the spiral staircase. “John, your reclamation project? Some of the areas you go into aren’t very pretty, are they?”

“No, they’re not but I’d like to think that they’ll look a hell of a lot better when we’re done.”

“Do you think I could come with you? I’d like to take some pictures.”

John pulled up his pants then reached for his shirt, fascinating Justin with the rippling of his muscles. “I don’t have a problem with it. I’ll let you know when I’m scheduled for a ‘look-see.’ Okay?”

Justin stopped staring when John finally donned his shirt. He nodded then began to descend the stairs. “I’m on to you, Anderson!” Justin shouted up to John, getting a Kinney-like giggle in response.

“They are waaay too much alike,” Justin mumbled to himself as he walked down to the new cottage.

 

*****
 

“Dada, I want these for the Wendy house,” Bree said decisively.

Brian walked over to where his daughter was looking at a pot of kale. It was pale pink and mauve and purple with deep green leaves.

“You already have mums. Remember, you had Taylor help you plant them.”

“But these are real pretty. I think they would look good with the mums.” The mums they had bought for the Wendy house were a deep burgundy. They were almost purple, so the kale would look striking with them.

“Fall flowers?” he asked.

“Yes, Dada. We have to go back to school, so it must be Fall.”

“Have you heard of the autumnal equinox?” Brian asked. Bree shook her head. She didn’t like it when she should know something and didn’t.

“I know what it is, Uncle Bri,” Patrick volunteered.

Bree scowled at her cousin. She wanted to know as much as he did, but she never seemed to be able to catch up.

“Perhaps you could tell Bree about it,” Brian suggested.

“Sure,” Patrick agreed. “It’s still summer until around the twenty-first of September. That’s the day when the hours of daylight and dark are the same length,” he explained. “After that it will be Fall. The days start getting much shorter.”

“Very good, young man,” Brian said squeezing Patrick’s shoulder. “Do you understand, Bree?”

“Yes,” she whispered. She understood more than she wanted to. She hated being the only one who didn’t know.

“So,” Brian said, “maybe we should wait a couple of weeks before we get these fall flowers.”

“Will they die if we take them now?” Bree asked. She stared at Patrick daring him to answer that one. He kept silent.

“No, I don’t suppose they would,” Brian admitted.

“I want them for the flower boxes on the Wendy house,” Bree said. “The mums that are there need…” Bree didn’t know how to finish that sentence, but she knew she wanted more flowers for her boxes.

“Accompaniment,” Brian supplied.

“Yes,” Bree said happy that her father understood.

“Then perhaps we should get the kale, autumnal equinox or not.”

“Yes, please, Dada.”

“How many pots do you think we need?” Brian asked. He wanted Bree to figure this out for herself.

“Can we cut them up, Dada?” Bree asked with a frown.

“That doesn’t work with kale,” Brian replied.

“Then we should get four – two for each box on the Wendy house.”

“Excellent,” Brian replied, pleased with Bree’s calculations. “Donald, could you put four of the kale in the SUV for us?” he asked the man who was rearranging some of the displays for the fall flowers that were coming to the garden center.

“Sure, Mr. Kinney.” Donald grabbed a cart and wheeled it over to the kale.

“Mind if the kids stay with you? I want a word with Todd,” Brian added.

“No problem.” Donald loaded the pots of kale that Bree picked out onto the flat cart.

“Oh, and throw in a couple of bags of mulch,” Brian said before he disappeared into the store.

“Mr. Donald,” Bree said as she watched him load the cart.

“Yes, young lady.”

“How come Hope never comes to my piano lessons no more?”

“She stays with me when Faith is giving her lessons.”

“But, don’t you have to work?” Bree asked.

“Sometimes Hope comes here. She sits over there and reads,” Donald said.

Bree looked at the picnic table that Mr. Donald had pointed to. “She reads a lot.” Donald nodded in agreement.

“She doesn’t like me so much,” Bree stated.

“Really?” Donald was surprised that this little girl would tell him that, and that his daughter made it evident that she didn’t like someone. “I’m sure she just gets bored waiting around for her mother.”

“Maybe,” Bree said, but she knew Hope really didn’t like her. She was pretty glad that Hope rarely came with her mother to Edna’s Treasures anymore.

“Ready to go, kids?” Brian called as he came out of the garden center.

“Yes, Dada.”

“Yes, Uncle Bri,” Patrick replied. “Are we going for ice cream?”

“That would be a yes,” Brian said with a smile.

“Yay!” both children yelled.

 

*****
 

“What flavor do you want, Patrick?” Brian asked.

The red-haired boy was reading all the names of the ice cream flavors and staring into the freezers trying to make a decision. “I don’t know yet.”

Brian had decided to drive into Harrisburg to try out a new ice cream parlor that had opened there. They were now in that parlor, but neither child seemed to be able to make a decision about what they wanted.

“Bree,” Brian said, “have you decided?”

“I want … pralines and cream.”

“Good,” Brian said with relief.

“Or pistachio,” she added.

Brian groaned inwardly. He’d have to wait till they decided. Why had he chosen a new place? If they had gone to the general store, the choice of flavors was much more limited. They would have been home by now. Brian continued to wait.

“Rocky road,” Patrick said after a couple of minutes.

“Are you sure?” Brian asked.

“Yes, Uncle Bri, rocky road.”

“One scoop or two?”

“Um…”

Why did he never learn, Brian wondered. He should have just said one scoop and been done with it.

“My Dad says I should only have one, but I could eat two,” Patrick said hopefully.

“Let’s live dangerously,” Brian replied. “Two scoops of rocky road,” he told the pock faced kid behind the counter.

“Bree?” Brian said making it clear that a decision was required.

“Pralines and cream,” his daughter responded.

“Finally. One scoop of pralines and cream,” Brian ordered.

The kid handed Brian Patrick’s ice cream cone and began making Bree’s.

“What are you going to have, Dada?” Bree asked.

“Nothing.”

“You should have some ice cream,” Bree informed him. “It’s good for you.”

“Good for me?”

“Yes, it will make you feel good.”

Brian took Bree’s cone and handed it to her. “You two sit down at that table while I pay for the cones.”

The children went to the table and sat down, licking their cones and commenting about how good the ice cream was. Brian paid the kid behind the counter.

“Are we going now, Dada?” Bree asked when Brian came over to the table.

“I think we’ll just sit here until you’re done with your cones. That way we won’t have to clean the SUV when we get home.”

“Good thinking, Uncle Bri,” Patrick said with approval.

Brian chuckled. “Thanks.”

“Dada, have a bite of my ice cream. It’s real good. I like it.”

Brian looked at the cone calculating how many calories would be in a little nibble. He was about to say no.

“You can have some of mine too,” Patrick said. “Two scoops is a lot of ice cream.”

“You don’t have to eat it all,” Brian advised. “If it’s too much, you can throw it away.”

“I don’t want to waste it,” Patrick admonished. He took another bite.

“And I don’t want to hear your fathers lambasting me if you get a stomach ache.”

“Here, Dada,” Bree said handing him her mostly eaten cone. “I’m full.”

“Me too,” Patrick said following suit.

Brian smiled at his daughter. She was a smart little cookie. He tossed the remainder of the cones in the trash bin and they left the shop.

 

*****
 

On the way back to Edna’s Treasures, Bree had a question for her father. “Dada, is Unca Mikey getting better?”

“What made you think about that?” Brian asked looking in the rearview mirror at his daughter.

“I want him to be better.”

“We all do.”

“So is he getting better?”

“I think so, but maybe we could ask Gerry. He should have a good idea how Michael’s doing.”

“Is Mr. Gerry in love with Mr. Todd?”

Brian groaned. How did a simple conversation always turn to something he’d rather not be talking about? “Todd told me he and Gerry are coming to dinner tonight, you could ask them,” he suggested.

“Okay,” Bree said happily.

Brian smirked at how easy that one had been.

“I think they should get married like my dads,” Patrick said with great wisdom.

“You do, huh?”

“Yep, I can tell they really like each other. Maybe they could come live on our lane, and then if anybody got hurt Mr. Gerry would be there to help them. And Mr. Todd could help with the gardens.”

“Sounds like you have their whole lives planned out for them,” Brian observed.

“I’m really good at planning. My dad says so.”

“I wouldn’t be telling Todd and Gerry about your plans though,” Brian warned.

“Why not?” Patrick asked with a frown.

“People like to make their own plans. They don’t like to be told what to do.”

“But Dad says that sometimes people need a push in the right direction.”

“I could give them a push,” Bree volunteered. She agreed with what Patrick had said, but she didn’t like being left out of the conversation.

“Maybe you both should keep your plans to yourselves,” Brian advised.

“Why?” Bree asked.

‘Here we go again,’ Brian thought to himself. He stepped down on the gas pedal. Maybe he could get home before he had to answer any more difficult questions.
 

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