“I…Wills, I…” In spite of the fact that I’d told him I loved him on his birthday, I still found it almost impossible to say the words. Even now, I couldn’t get them past my lips, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“I know, Theo. I love you too.”
After we’d both come and were lying there trying to get our breathing under control, he shifted under me.
“Am I too heavy for you, babe?”
“Never. But this floor is freaking hard.”
I rolled off him, knotting the condom and tossing it aside.
“Hey, I didn’t want you to move!”
“Come on, tough guy.” I kicked off my jeans, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet. “We can continue this on the couch.”
Something else went on my list for him. A thick, plush, faux fur rug for right in front of his fireplace.
This was going to be an awesome Christmas.
* * * *
The next day he came home from work to tell me he had to go out of town again. “I’m sorry, Theo. You’ll have to get the tree without me.”
“Where do you have to go this time?” So far he’d been to Houston, Seattle, and Bangor, Maine.
“St. Paul.”
“Minnesota?” I’d gotten a little better at geography. “Huntingdon has an office in Minnesota?”
“Huntingdon has an affiliate in Minnesota.”
“They’re sending in the first string.” I was proud that he was going, in spite of the fact that I hated he was going.
He gave me that smile and hunched a shoulder, and pulled out his suitcase and a garment bag. While he went to the closet to get his suits, I pulled out his thermal underwear. I’d had a john who’d been from Minnesota, and Minnesota in December was cold.
“Will you be back for Christmas?” I did my brave little soldier act. I was pretty proud of myself for hiding how much I hated it when he went out of town. I knew he wouldn’t cheat on me…well I was fairly certain he wouldn’t, but he was used to having sex every night, and there were just so many fucking temptations out there…
“I should only be gone about a week. I’ll be back, babe.”
And maybe I wasn’t as good as hiding my feelings as I’d thought. He spent the night making love to me, and as a result we overslept.
“Mr. Vincent is gonna be so pissed…” He scrambled into his shirt and pants, stepped into his shoes, and sat on the bed to tie them.
“I’ll get you to Dulles on time.” I pulled on sweats and a hoodie. “Get your suitcase; I’ll get the garment bag and the keys to the Corvair.”
He held his hand out. “I’ll drive.”
“Babe…”
“Theo.”
“Okay.” He actually was a better driver than I was.
I didn’t know how he did it, but he made every single light, although some just barely. He pulled up at Departures, brushed a kiss across my mouth, and got out. I slid over to the driver’s seat and buckled up—the Corvair hadn’t originally come with seatbelts, but I’d had them installed after we’d been stopped and ticketed by a cop who didn’t want to hear they weren’t in use when the car first rolled off the assembly line—then rolled down the window to offer some last minute advice.
“Eat your veggies. Don’t get your feet wet. Get to bed early—”
“I promise I’ll take good care of myself.” He took his suitcase, garment bag, and overcoat from the backseat and shoved the door shut. “I’ve gotta run, babe.”
I sighed. I wanted to kiss him, but this was a public place, even if it was so early that the area was almost deserted.
Wills leaned down and kissed me one last time through the open window.
This time my sigh was a contented one. I watched as he jogged toward the terminal, but just before he entered the building, he glanced back over his shoulder, pursed his lips, and blew me a kiss.
The big lug.
Once he was out of sight, I put the car in gear and drove home.
Almost walking on air, I contacted the architect. “You can say, ‘I told you so.’ I want the fireplace in the living room opened up.”
He came over, practically salivating, and measured and took notes. “I can have it done in…”
“You’ve got five days. Seven if you factor in the weekend.”
“I’ll do the best I can.”
“It will be better than your best, because if you finish on time, I’ll give you the cost of the job as a bonus.”
“It’ll be done!”
The newly re-opened and refurbished fireplace had a fire screen, solid brass and black tool set, wood basket, and andirons. Bricks more than a hundred years old were given a coat of white paint. The new mantel was a rich, golden oak, and the surround was granite with hints of red. The old, pitted firebox had been replaced with a new one, and the chimney was cleaned and repaired.