Wholehearted (16 page)

“Ah,” Lucas acknowledged. “It’s all much clearer now.”

“Yup. It doesn’t stop Ms. Libbey from prancing around in spandex and a sports bra in the summer, though.”

Lucas cringed.

“Oh yeah. It’s something to see, for sure.”

They reached the other side of the park, and Maggie’s bakery stood across the street, the brick building accented by large navy awnings. “Maggie’s” was scrawled in curly script across the window.

They ducked in through the door. Oliver was standing behind the counter talking animatedly with Haydn. They both looked up when the door opened beneath the bells; the tinkling sound rose in the air.

“Hey guys!” Oliver greeted.

“Hey Oliver,” Declan said warmly. “Oliver, you remember Lucas from the other day, and Lucas, this is Haydn, Oliver’s partner.”

Lucas raised one eyebrow, and offered a meek hello.

“Oh sweetie, no,” Haydn interjected. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t hesitate to grab this man and ravish him on the sacks of flour in the back room, but alas, he is taken.”

Oliver’s cheeks pinked, and Lucas looked mighty uncomfortable.

“Haydn,” Declan chastised, “stop scaring the man. I promised him a quiet dinner in town. If I’d known you’d be here, I would have taken him to Mario’s for more pizza.” The teasing in his voice was evident, but Lucas seemed to relax next to him.

“Oh, you’re no fun. If you’re worried about it, I’d offer either of you the courtesy of a romp in the storage room. All you have to do is ask.” Haydn winked at them. “Besides, everyone knows that Marcus’s pizza dough has nothing on any of the delicious pastries we make here. He just doesn’t have the same wrist abilities… not enough beating… of the eggs.”

Lucas didn’t say anything, just took half a step back.

“Oh Haydn, shut up,” Oliver said before turning back to Declan and Lucas. “You’re here for dinner?”

“Well, that was the plan….” Declan trailed off. “But if you can’t seem to get your shop boy under control, we’ll have to go.” The tone in Declan’s voice was still teasing but he meant the words. It had been enough that Lucas agreed to come out with him, and after what he had been through, being confronted with flamboyant homosexuality wasn’t likely to make him too comfortable.

Declan loved Oliver and Haydn both. He was happy that they had decided to keep the business open after Maggie’s death. They worked well together. Declan was a little jealous of them both: of Oliver for being in such a loving relationship with a man he couldn’t seem to get enough of, and of Haydn for being so comfortable in his own skin. Everyone in town knew that he was gay, and he didn’t seem to give a flying fuck. In fact, he went out of his way to let people know. He wore it like a badge of honor, and Declan admired him for that.

Even though, after struggling with his own sexual identity, he had decided not to be ashamed and to come out to whomever asked, he still wasn’t all that comfortable talking about it, and would never have the balls Haydn had when it came to being vocal about his preferences.

“Haydn will behave himself, won’t you, Haydn?” Oliver said, his voice singsongy like he was talking to a child.

“Fine. I’ll behave.” Haydn lifted his right hand and held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“You were a scout?” Lucas asked quietly.

Haydn winked. “Nope.”

“Maybe we should just sit down,” Declan suggested.

He placed his hand on the small of Lucas’s back to guide him to a table, but quickly pulled it back, not sure if Lucas would be okay with public touching. Lucas hadn’t seemed to notice.

They chose one of the tables in the corner; the one with the large overstuffed chairs and a heavy oak table between them. Oliver ducked underneath the counter next to the cash register and came to stand next to their table.

“What would you like for dinner?”

“Uh,” Lucas said, “can I look at the menu?”

Oliver chuckled, the sound low and musical.

Declan looked at Lucas. “Oliver doesn’t have menus. There are the things that are premade in the case you can order if you want, but those are mostly pastries and desserts. You tell Oliver what you feel like, and as long as he has the ingredients in the back, he’ll make it for you.

Lucas looked confused. Oliver explained, “I love cooking, and I love
experimenting. Originally, I threw out the menus because when I was
working at restaurants in the city I had gotten tired of making the same things over and over again. I figured I would try it out for a few weeks, and if I was running around too much, I would draft up a menu. After a few weeks it became pretty clear, though, that this town is nothing without routine. Everyone always orders the same two or three things. I have most people’s ‘usual’ memorized and always have the ingredients stocked in the kitchen.”

Lucas nodded, finally seeming to understand this bizarre move away from convention.

“I’m actually really excited that you’re here. Maybe you’ll give me something new to try out.”

Lucas thought for a minute before he asked, “Can you make a lobster roll?”

Oliver looked at him dubiously. “This is
Maine
. You’re not allowed to live here if you can’t make a lobster roll.”

Lucas looked slightly terrified, but nodded anyway and gave Oliver a weak smile. “I’ll have that then, please.”

“You got it!”

Oliver redirected his attention back to Declan. “Mac and cheese for you?”

“You know it,” Declan replied, and Oliver walked to the kitchen to start on their meal.

T
HEY
WATCHED
Oliver hurry off before Lucas turned back to Declan. “So if Oliver and Haydn own this place, why is it called Maggie’s?”

“Maggie was Oliver’s sister. She died last year, and Mack flew to Seattle to let Oliver know she had died.”

“That’s terrible.”

“What’s worse is that Oliver hadn’t known he had a sister. Maggie was adopted and Oliver was in foster care until he aged out. Mack wasn’t too keen on the idea of Oliver at first, but Maggie had wanted to know her brother, and as her only living relative, everything that was hers became his. Mack flew to Seattle even though he was against it, to tell Oliver what had happened.”

“And he moved here?”

“Not right away. At first he just came to learn about Maggie. It turns out he wasn’t the asshole Mack thought he was, and Mack ended up falling in love with him. It was tough for them at first because Oliver was the first guy Mack had ever been attracted to, so on top of the heavy loss they had both suffered, there was the small identity crisis that added additional stress to the situation.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, Oliver discovered shortly after he got here that he had the same health issues that caused his sister’s death. There’s nothing like nearly losing someone you care about to put some perspective on things….” Declan let his words fade out, aware of the similarities between his situation with Lucas and Mack’s with Oliver. Oliver and Lucas had both nearly died; Oliver from a heart attack and Lucas from another kind of attack altogether. Declan and Mack had both come close to losing someone they loved.

Declan’s thoughts bounced around his head, ricocheting off each side at the unconscious mention of love. Fuck. He knew he had been falling for Lucas, but he hadn’t anticipated having his feelings morph so quickly into something so strong.

He looked across the table at Lucas, who was digesting the information Declan had given him thoughtfully. Lucas’s mouth was tight, his lips almost pursed as he mulled it over in his head. Eyebrows knit together, he looked so concerned. Declan wondered exactly what was going on in his head, if Lucas had caught the way Declan’s voice had cracked when he spoke about Mack and Oliver, or if he was just sorry about what the couple had been through to end up together.

He didn’t have much time to give it any more thought, because there was Oliver, depositing their dishes proudly in front of them. Oliver was happiest when he was in one of two places, in the kitchen or in Mack’s arms. Declan had once been privy to seeing the combination, and the look of pure, unadulterated bliss that had painted Oliver’s face had been borderline devastating for Declan. He was so happy for his friend, but it made his chest ache at what was missing in his life.

“This looks fucking amazing, Oliver,” Lucas said, the hunger in his voice almost tangible.

“Yeah, man. You’ve outdone yourself tonight, I think.”

“Forget about it. It was nothing.”

“Are you kidding? I haven’t seen food that looked this good… well… ever,” Lucas said. Oliver visibly puffed out, pride written on his features.

“Well, bon appétit! And let me know if you need anything else, but, Declan,” he said, pausing for dramatic effect, “if you dare to ask me for ketchup, I’m going to punch you in the teeth.” He stalked off, satisfied that he had gotten his point across.

Declan laughed. He didn’t need the reminder. He had only made that mistake once before, the first time being a week after Oliver’s grand reopening of Maggie’s, after the renovations. Declan hadn’t been in town long and had been mostly living off pizza and Chinese takeout. He’d actually been surviving on those for most of his adult life, and when he was young, his mom hadn’t exactly been a stellar chef. Gourmet in his household was grating pepper jack cheese for tacos rather than plain cheddar. He’d relied on ketchup at home to make most of what his mom cooked edible. He hadn’t thought twice about asking for a side when Oliver had placed the perfectly grilled steak in front of him.

Oliver’s face had contorted and become red, like he was trying to hold back the yelling. He couldn’t keep it contained, though, and ended up swiping Declan over the back of the head with an open palm. Not hard enough to hurt, but it stung enough that Oliver got his point across. “My food does not need ketchup. Ever,” he had hissed.

“Okay, man,” Declan had said, holding his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t know. Sorry.”

“Better be,” he had muttered as he walked away.

Declan and Lucas ate in relative silence; the only sounds passing between them were moans of enjoyment at their food. Oliver really was an amazing chef.

“How’s your sandwich?” Declan asked, eyeing the roll stuffed full of lobster and some sort of orange sauce.

Lucas picked up half of his sandwich and held it up, offering Declan a bite. “It’s good. I’ve never had one before.”

Declan looked at him incredulously as he reached for the sandwich. “Really?”

“Actually, I’ve never had lobster, period.”

Declan almost spat out the bite he had just taken. “You’re fucking kidding me. You worked on a goddamn lobster boat.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t like we were cooking up what we were catching. I lived off frozen Hungry-Man meals for the entire time I was at sea.”

“That’s insane.”

Lucas just shrugged and crammed the last bite of sandwich into his mouth, mumbling his appreciation around the tender pieces of lobster.

Oliver sauntered over to their table a few minutes later. “How is everything, guys?” he asked, then glanced down at their plates. Lucas had almost consumed the entire sandwich in the few minutes Oliver had been gone. Declan’s plate looked almost the same, having eaten most of his mac and cheese just as quickly. “I guess you liked it?” he said sardonically.

“Mmm hmm,” Lucas moaned around his full mouth.

“I’m glad. There’s almost nothing I love more than making food that people enjoy.”

Right on cue, the door opened, the bells tinkling to signal a customer’s arrival, except this was no ordinary customer.

“Speak of the devil,” Declan said, waving hello to Mack as he entered the cafe.

“Hey, babe,” Mack said as he crossed the room and pulled Oliver into a quick kiss.

Lucas’s mouth hung open, thankfully devoid of food.

“Lucas, I don’t know if you remember, but you’ve met Mack.”

He remembered his manners, extending his left hand for an awkward handshake, “Yes, I think so. You were at the hospital. I don’t think we formally met, but I remember you being there.”

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling a bit better.”

“Yes sir. Thank you.”

“Just Mack. Even my deputies don’t bother with honorifics. Too stuffy. In a town as small as Hope Cove, we’re all neighbors and treat one another as such.”

“Yes—Mack. Got it,” Lucas said with a weak smile.

“Looks like you’ve devoured another bowl of mac and cheese, Dec,” Mack remarked. “Not that I blame you. Oliver makes the best mac and cheese on the planet. He won’t even tell me his secret.”

“There’s two reasons for that. One, you would fuck it up. You can’t cook for shit. And two, if you had the recipe you wouldn’t need me anymore, and I’m not letting that happen for anything.”

The two of them continued to make googly eyes at each other as Lucas looked away uncomfortably. Declan was used to seeing it, but the sting of loneliness that usually accompanied witnessing a scene like that was stronger than ever. He wanted to pull Lucas into his lap and snuggle him close, nuzzle into him like Oliver was doing to Mack, but he couldn’t. He would have to be happy sitting with Lucas, and maybe getting up close and personal again when they got home. The thought made his cock harden in his jeans, and he almost grabbed Lucas and dragged him from the restaurant, his want suddenly stronger than ever.