Henry's End (33 page)

“We’re here.”

Turning back to Seth, he cocked his head to the side as he took in the neon script in the restaurant’s window that read,
Henry’s End.

“Henry’s End? We’re eating at a place called Henry’s End?”

Smiling as if he’d been holding onto the biggest secret, he nodded. “We are,” and opened the door for Henry.

Entering the cozy brick-walled restaurant with its heady aroma of grilled meats and exotic spices, Henry turned back to Seth with a smile, “I love this.”

“I thought you might.” Seth was pleased seeing Henry’s delight at the experience.

“I love the ambience and how warm and cozy it is in here and the way the windows are fogged up from the cold, and we’re like in our own little cocoon. I didn’t even realize how cold it was out there until we came in here.”

Perusing the menu, “Want to share some small plates to start?” Seth asked.

“Sounds good.” Henry’s smile had not left his face since they’d walked out of Seth’s apartment

When the waitress arrived, Seth ordered some house specialties. “And we’ll take a bottle of the Silver Oak, Alexander Valley.”

“That’s becoming our thing, huh?”

“I like that we have things.” Seth reached out for Henry’s hand.

“Seth, we have more than things. We have something really special.” Henry watched Seth’s dark eyes widen, as if he were quickly searching for a place to hide. “Don’t look so scared.”

“I’m not scared.” He gulped down a glass of water too quickly.

“Hey, pass me the business section.” Henry pointed to the Times. Sitting back, he opened the paper, folding it properly to read the columns.

As they picked at plates of charcuterie and cheese, crab cakes and wild mushroom salad, Seth googled information on how to care for his new baby, his bonsai lilac tree. It was the second link he hit that caused him to sit up straight in his chair.

Sliding his phone across the table to Henry, “Were you aware of this?”

Picking up the phone to read what had caught Seth’s attention, he looked up, locked eyes with him and nodded. “Yes,” was all he said.

“Was that a part of it? A part of why you gave it to me as a gift?”

Sliding the phone back to Seth, Henry picked up his wine glass.

“It’s why I thought it was perfect for you and wanted it to be yours, Seth,” he paused. “I want to be your first love.”

Seth began to speak and stopped, clearing his throat with a sip of wine to compose himself first. “I think you’ve already accomplished that.”

“Yeah?” Henry’s eyes were imploring.

“Yeah,” Seth confirmed.

It was three hours and a second bottle of Silver Oak before they got up to leave the warmth of the restaurant and brave the cold.

“Look out the window.” Henry was beaming. “You called it. It’s snowing.”

Wrapping his scarf around his neck perfectly, Henry was out of the restaurant and on the sidewalk, looking up and letting snowflakes fall on his face.

“This is just perfect,” he said, as Seth stepped out of
Henry’s End. “
C’mere
,”
he pulled Seth to him by his scarf, which was hanging open around Seth’s neck. With a swoop of his arm, Henry wrapped it around him perfectly.

“You just zuzhed me,” Seth looked at him incredulously.

“Damn right I did. I can’t be seen on the streets of Brooklyn with someone that’s not zuzhed properly.” Henry smiled, pulling Seth in closer by his scarf, “You do realize what just happened this afternoon?”

Seth looked at him, quizzically.

Henry went on, “You spent hours over brunch with your lover, hanging out and reading the New York Times.”

“Ah, but you and I are not lovers,” Seth protested.

“We’re not lovers?” Henry shook his head, “You’ve got that all wrong.” Reaching out, he let his fore and middle fingers slide slowly down Seth’s cheek, as Seth melted into his touch. “We’re not lovers, yet.” And he allowed his hand to slide behind Seth’s neck as he pulled him in for a long, soul-binding kiss, acquainting himself intimately with his new lover, and fully capturing the elusive dream he had thought would never be his again.

Pulling his lips away with a final soft kiss, Henry searched Seth’s face, enjoying the myriad of wanting and emotion his dark eyes could no longer hide. Slowly, he slid his hand from Seth’s neck down his arm, until they were hand-in-hand, fingers intertwined and smiled at him, “Now, let’s go home.”

Tokyo Tea at The Hole. The bartender thought someone was a hottie!

Sometimes you just need a sign.

Thank you for taking the
time to read Henry’s story.

For those of you new to my work, although HENRY’S END was written as a stand-alone novel, the characters of Henry Clark, Seth Shapiro, Schooner Moore, Mia Silver, CJ MacAllister, Holly Moore, Zac Moore, and Kami Townes first appear in SEARCHING FOR MOORE, the first book in the NEEDING MOORE SERIES trilogy. To learn more about the journeys of these other characters, please check out the series.

To those of you who have read the NEEDING MOORE SERIES and BAD SON RISING, I hope you enjoyed seeing old friends again and learning about different portions of their lives not previously visited.

Special thanks to the Lambda
Archives of San Diego and their detailed recaps of significant events by year. It was truly fascinating to read the history of San Diego’s LGBT community and its growth and growing pains, triumphs and losses. The information I was able to source, that became part of the fabric of this book, was truly a godsend.

A special shout-out to Auntie Helen’s Fluff and Fold. The organization mentioned in this book that began in Gary Cheatham’s garage is a real non-profit and is still in existence today.

Heartfelt thanks and love to …

Kristen and Cleida, thank you for your ongoing love and support, for sharing my work with so many people, for making me snort and laugh and cry, for joining me on the road and teasers and casting and sanity and insanity and helping me fling open the cage to unleash the flying monkeys and Fireball guzzling and for everything you do to make my life more wonderful every single day. Love you, BBCs!

Vi and Penelope, you are my rocks, my sounding boards, my reality check, my blurb queens. You’ll tell me when the baby’s ugly and I learn so much from the two of you daily. We’ve chosen a crazy path that makes an E ticket roller coaster ride seem like an emotional walk in the park, and I don’t even want to imagine being on that roller coaster without the two of you. My sleep patterns might be slightly better though without joining in on the daybreak chats before I shop and roll back over. But so much good stuff is going on at that hour. Who knew?

Mindy, for always being there … always … and for being my first reader when the panic sets in (always) … and I need you to read it NOW … Someday I’ll write our story (What are the statutes of limitations again… just kidding). Love you, Rosie!

OJG3, you’re my Henry and that’s why this book is for you. I learned very early on that love is love. Thank you for that. (And thank goodness we didn’t have $19).

Mom… I don’t have the words. But I don’t need them. Because you know.

Mark and Max, thank you for learning to live with this and making it the new norm. I know it’s not easy to live with someone who has other people living in their head. I hope it makes life more interesting.

And lastly, to Patricia Nell Warren … thank you for writing “The Front Runner” (check out this book, people!) You paved the way. Decades later and that book is still in my soul. Highest compliment I can pay.

And to everyone who has had the courage to be themselves … and to be proud … no matter how different or unpopular it may have been … this one is for you.

Till we meet again …

~ Julie A. Richman

Author Julie A. Richman is
a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas. A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion. Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations. She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust. Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.