Dust of Snow (18 page)

Jane disappeared back into the kitchen with
Myrna following, her eyes on the floor. I heard a soft conversation
going between the two of them but couldn’t make out what was being
said. In the uncomfortable silence I met Ash’s gaze. He stood by
the fireplace, conveniently between Frank and me, arms crossed over
his chest. He lifted an eyebrow, and I gave him a single nod.

You know what’s happening?

Yes, I’ve been informed
.

That we read each other so well already made
me smile, but Frank hissed something under his breath. Probably
best I couldn’t hear it.

Frank sank back into his seat, not sparing a
glance to Phoebe or the tired twins. Tony cleared his throat, and I
could tell he was going to try and smooth things over a bit. I
glanced at the chair by the fireplace. Pete had his book open
again, but he wasn’t doing any reading. No, he was staring
unflinchingly at Frank, and I thought he was daring the man to do
something wrong. It made
me
shiver, and I wasn’t even in his
line of sight. Had Pete been in the army? He’d have made a good
drill sergeant.

Ashley sank down on the love seat and
inclined his head, inviting me to sit with him, but I didn’t want
to pour oil on the fire. I took the other single seat by the
hearth. Outside a still darkness held, the kind following fresh
snowfall.

“So,” Tony began. “You still work at the
garage, Frank?”

Strained but polite conversation followed,
sweetened with strong coffee and tasty cookies. I’d eaten so much
already I felt like exploding, but the nervous tension was setting
me on edge, and I didn’t want to make waves by being impolite. Jane
had taken a seat beside Ashley, and for some reason Myrna had
sidled up to me. It certainly didn’t warm Frank’s heart, but he
kept quiet about it for now.

Myrna snorted when I bit into my fifth
cookie. Surprised to hear it, I looked at her, and she pointed at
her chin. I wiped at mine, and a chunk of pink icing came off.

I winked at her. “Saving it for later,” I
confided. “‘Cause you never know when you’ll get hungry in the
middle of the night, do you? That’s why Santa needs all those
cookies left out for him.”

A rigid silence fell. In the open fireplace,
flames crackled as Frank shot to his feet, moving quickly for such
a big man.

“I don’t want your faggot boyfriend talking
to my kid,” Frank snapped at Ashley. So much for the fragile
peace.

I’d never liked confrontations, and I’d do
practically anything to avoid one, but something about the way
Frank turned on Ashley instead of me had me on my feet too. I had
no idea what I’d say or do, but by God would I say or do it. Nobody
was going to talk to my Ash that way.
My Ash?
But when I
opened my mouth, Pete beat me to it.

“Phoebs, get the kids out of here.” Then with
a jerk of his head toward Jane, he added, “You help her, love.”
Without a word the women complied and hustled the kids into the
kitchen. I couldn’t help noticing the relief on Myrna’s face. I
hoped if this turned ugly, and this oaf fought for custody, the
judge would be astute enough to listen to the kid.

“Frank,” Pete began when the room fell silent
and the doors closed. “You are no longer welcome in this house. If
I ever see you here again, I will call the police. You very nearly
ruined my daughter’s life, and I’ll be damned if I let you do the
same to my granddaughter. Get your hate out of here, and don’t come
back.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, old man. You
let these perverts in your house, near kids.” I gasped, but the
stony-faced silence told me this wasn’t the first time he’d made a
disgusting allegation like that. “There’s something wrong with
you.”

“How dare you,” I said, my voice low and
hoarse. I was so mad I was literally shaking. I repeated myself,
louder this time, because Frank was staring at me like he couldn’t
believe the
pervert
had a voice. “How fucking
dare
you.”

Frank smirked. “What are you going to do,
faggot? Cry at me?”

“Out,” Pete barked, taking a threatening step
forward, and whoa. He seemed ten inches taller than he had a minute
ago. Even hooligan Frank shrank back a little.

“I’m going,” he grumbled. “I don’t want to
spend another minute with this filth.”

“That’s it.” Tony stalked into the hallway,
grabbed Frank’s things, and tossed them out the front door into the
snow. “You can kindly fuck off.”

We watched as Frank stumbled into the snow,
and for the first time that night I wondered if he was drunk. He
gathered up his things, and it looked like he was going to go and
the crisis had been more or less averted. But then he rallied, as
some mistaken sense of pride or whatever reared its ugly head.

“You disgust me!” Frank returned to the porch
and spat at our feet. He turned away, but then he veered around,
his fist flying in Ashley’s direction.

I’m a small guy. I know that. I don’t like
confrontations, but I hadn’t played hockey for years without
learning a thing or two. When David had accosted me I’d been too
shocked to do anything. Not this time. I jumped between them,
blocking Frank’s blow. Grabbing his collar, I hauled him down and
neatly head-butted him. The crunch under my forehead was
disgustingly satisfying. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but not as
much as it hurt Frank. He crashed on his butt, howling and
clutching his nose.

“That’s assault,” he cried, eyes watering.
“I’m calling the police!”

“Yeah?” Tony said, drawing me back. “Because
there are four people here who saw you throw the first punch,
asshole.”

I couldn’t look at Ashley as we traipsed back
into the house, leaving Frank to bleed on the snow. Phoebe was
crying, and Ashley hurried to her, leading her away into another
room with his arm around her. A heavy hand fell on my shoulder, and
I heard Pete’s voice in my ear.

“You and I are going to get along just fine,
son.” His brown eyes crinkled when I looked up at him.

This was not how I’d hoped to impress
Ashley’s family tonight, but I supposed it could have been
worse.

Ashley was suspiciously quiet on the ride
home. In fact, he’d said the bare minimum to me ever since Frank
left. Not that we’d stayed much longer. I offered to help with the
rest of the clearing up, but Pete had bustled me into the living
room, planted me in his chair, and pushed a snifter of cognac in my
hands. I guessed that was his way of saying,
welcome to the
family
.

A bit premature if Ashley’s steel-jawed
expression was anything to go by.

“Do you want me to drop you off at home?” was
the first thing he asked.

My heart plummeted like a lead weight. My
head began to hurt, and a cold dread made goose bumps rise on my
arms. I had to swallow and look away before I could answer him. I
decided to keep my eyes on the side window, even though all I could
see was my own reflection and snow melting against the glass.

I hadn’t shown my best side tonight, had I?
I’d turned into a violent, overprotecting boor, and I’d thumped
somebody on his ass in front of Ashley’s parents’ house. Oh God. My
stomach churned.

“I guess,” I croaked and cleared my throat.
“If that’s what you want.”

Ashley said nothing, so it came as a complete
surprise when he turned down his street instead of mine. He drove
right into his garage and switched off the engine, but he remained
where he was with his hands on the steering wheel, firmly planted
at ten and two.

“I don’t want you to go home.” His eyes were
fixed on a snow shovel hanging off a hook on the wall in front of
us. “It’s not that late.”

I blinked in surprise and glanced at the
dashboard. It was only ten thirty. I rubbed at my forehead and
regretted it when a dull ache throbbed from my fingertips all the
way to the back of my skull. “It feels so much later.”

“I know.” At last he fixed his dark eyes on
me. Of course the cab light went out right that second. It wasn’t
completely dark, but enough to make him hard to read. “You scared
the crap out of me, Gregory,” he whispered. “Frank’s a brute. He’s
twice the size of you. He could have picked you up and thrown you
off the porch. He could’ve—He could’ve seriously hurt you.”

I looked away. The walls of the garage
offered me no escape. “I’m sorry.” The words hurt my insides
because this conversation could be the beginning of the end, and I
would’ve liked to put it off for a little while—maybe have at least
this night with him still. But it needed to be said. “I behaved
appallingly. I embarrassed you, and I normally—” I bit back the
excuse. There was none. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Ashley turned in his seat and gripped
my shoulder, so I looked at him. “You can’t—I’m not mad at you. The
way you went at him like a tiny ferocious tiger was…
inappropriately hot. I was just too damned scared for you to
appreciate it. I’m not kidding when I say he’s a brute, and he’s
got some awful friends. If he sets his sights on you—” Ashley
chewed his thumbnail, a nervous habit I hadn’t seen from him
before. “Just watch your back for a while, okay? They think beating
up a gay guy is a good way to work up an appetite.”

“He doesn’t even know my name, Ashley. If
anything, you’ll have to watch your back.”

“I guess you’re right.” He exhaled, and a
world of burdens seemed to slide off his shoulders. “And don’t
worry about me. Frank is terrified of Dad.”

“Yeah, what’s with your dad? Was he in the
army?”

Ashley sent me a sly glance. “If I told you,
I’d have to kill you.”

For a second I didn’t get it. Then my mouth
fell open, completely slack-jawed. “
No
,” I breathed.
“CIA?”

“Yup. Us kids didn’t even know until he
retired. We thought he was in sales.”

“Oh my God. You’re shitting me.”

“I’m not. He’s probably doing a background
check on you as we speak. He might even tell you some stories if
you stick around. That is, if he doesn’t dig up something sordid
from your past and you suddenly find yourself with a job in
Siberia.”

“He wouldn’t,” I said, only half joking.

Ashley laughed, popping the locks and opening
his door. “Of course not. Although I never did find out what
happened to my roommate from college.” And with that he went into
the house, leaving me scrambling to follow. We took off our coats
and shoes, and I followed him into the kitchen.

“Do you want some coffee?”

My stomach churned at the thought. “Actually,
I’ll just have a glass of water if that’s okay. I don’t think I can
eat or drink anything else.”

“Sure.” Ashley smiled and poured water from
the fridge. He leaned against the counter as we drank. “So, did you
enjoy tonight? Apart from the required holiday drama, that is.”

“Yes. You have a lovely family. Your mother
is very nice.”

Ashley looked pleased. “Yeah, she is.”

“I’m just… sorry about, you know. Punching
Frank.” After being on the receiving end of it with David recently,
what I’d done made me feel so bad. Not that David had head-butted
me, of course. I rubbed my forehead.

Ashley set his glass on the counter. “Will
you come over here?”

My heart began to bang against my ribcage. I
went to him, and he took my glass away. “Hey,” I said when he
pulled me closer.

He smiled. “Hey.” His fingertips gently
traced the lapels of my suit jacket. He touched my tie, tugged at
it, and then ran his fingers over the back of my neck. He caressed
my forehead. “Frank got what he deserved and no one is thinking
badly of you because of it.” He softly kissed my temple. “You look
so handsome,” he murmured. “I wanted to kiss you all evening. God,
this suit.” He bit his lip but looked oddly shy, not lascivious.
“What you do to me, Gregory.”

He ran his fingers into my hair and pulled me
closer, and I went willingly, unbuttoning his jacket so I could get
my hands inside. His mouth brushed mine lightly. Our eyes were
open, and my insides tightened in delicious agony. I was falling
for him hard, and while it frightened me, in this moment I couldn’t
care less. I kissed him harder. His mouth opened for mine on a
moan, and I watched as his eyelids fluttered and closed. He wrapped
his arms around me and I could feel his heart beating fast against
my chest.

For long minutes we kissed. I was getting
hard and flushed, but not with an urgency that had to be dealt with
right away. It was nice to take our time.

“Does Curly have enough food?” Ash’s breath
tickled my ear as he kissed behind it.

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

“Then let’s go to bed.” I could only nod and
take Ash’s hand as he led me upstairs. Even though we’d slept
together the night before, I hadn’t allowed myself time to think.
Now my brain was in overdrive and my nerves were hopping.