“However,” Jonathan insisted, “cookies aren’t real food, so how about we stop by the kitchen? But let’s not let my folks know about it. They’re very strict about having meals on a schedule, but you two have come a long way, and I don’t want to be a bad host.”
“I don’t need any food when I have you,” Maddox declared but right at that moment, as if to contradict him, his belly rumbled loudly.
Jonathan laughed and wrapped his arm tightly around Maddox’s waist. “Let’s see if Mrs. Day has something lying around that counts as food.”
“What if she tells on us to your mom?” Rusty asked.
“I’ll plead guilty,” Jonathan assured him.
***
Maddox didn’t want to let Jonathan know how impressed he was with everything around, but Rusty didn’t have the same problem at all. “Are those real paintings? Is that like, crystal, or something? I bet the electricity bill is huge.”
Jonathan politely offered answers to everything and looked at Maddox from time to time with a big smile on his face. They didn’t even have to talk to know that they were all right with each other.
They walked into a modern kitchen that appeared to belong more in a high-class restaurant than a normal house, but they weren’t in some normal house, to begin with. The old lady watching over some steaming pots turned to look at them with a surprised expression on her face. “Jonathan,” she said, “what are you doing here? Dinner is hours away.”
“I know, Mrs. Day, but my friends are really hungry, so I was wondering if there’s something around here so that I can make some sandwiches for them.”
“I’ll see to it,” the old lady said, but Jonathan stopped her.
“Just tell me where I can find some ham and cheese, and I’ll take it from there,” Jonathan said.
She looked even more surprised. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. College life taught me some real-life skills lately.”
She nodded thoughtfully. Her manner toward Jonathan seemed more reserved than the butler’s, but Maddox had an inkling that Simmons had a soft spot for Jonathan, and the other way around too. Mrs. Day pointed Jonathan to where he could find what he needed and observed him from the corner of one eye as he began making sandwiches for everyone. By how she quirked her eyebrows now and then, Maddox could tell that her surprise was only growing with each passing moment.
“Let’s take these with us,” Maddox said as he grabbed a sandwich, “and you can show us around.”
Jonathan nodded, and Rusty was more than happy to take two and stare with a forlorn expression at the last one left. Maddox took it to save the poor man from the pangs of indecision. “I’ll keep this one for you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Day,” Jonathan said politely. “And please forgive us for intruding on you like this.”
“No worries, Jonathan,” Mrs. Day replied as she turned toward her pots. “It’s not every day I see a Hamilton making his own sandwiches.” She said the last words a lot more quietly.
“It looks like you shocked your cook,” Maddox said as soon as they were outside, munching on their sandwiches.
“She’s my parents’ cook,” Jonathan took care to point out. “I bet you guys now think that I’m some snotty, uptight jerk, seeing how my family lives.”
“Nah,” Rusty hurried to contradict him, “that’s what we thought when we didn’t know you.”
“Oh,” Jonathan said in feigned surprise. “Was that true for you, as well, Maddox?”
“No, of course not. I fell for you at first sight, don’t you remember?”
“Nah,” Rusty interjected again, “he hated your guts at first sight. Then, he changed his mind. By the way, how did that happen?”
“None of your business, asshole,” Maddox said with good humor.
“One day, you’ll have to tell me. Or I’ll just ask Jonathan. Yo, Hamilton, do you have like a magic stick or something to turn dudes gay?”
“Rusty, I don’t show my magic stick to just anyone,” Jonathan again played along with the joke.
“Ah, but you did. You showed it to me for like a second. If I turn gay, it’s all your fault,” Rusty said.
“Just eat your sandwiches,” Maddox scolded his friend and pushed his shoulder. “And stop reminding me that you saw Jonathan’s junk. If you were less of a friend to me, I would have had to take serious measures, like challenge you to a fight or something.”
“What do you guys want to see first? Maddox, you’ve seen the stables–”
“Stables? Like with horses? Real horses?” Rusty jumped into the conversation.
“Yes, very real horses.”
“Let’s go there first,” Rusty declared. “Oh, sorry, Maddie, did you want to go see something boring, like a museum?” he drawled in a phony accent.
“Rusty, there’s no museum here,” Jonathan said. “And stop teasing Maddox. As his boyfriend, I might have to take his side and think of a proper punishment for you.”
“As long as it’s kinky, I’ll take it,” Rusty said.
They all laughed. Maddox didn’t regret for a moment bringing Rusty along. Jonathan looked so happy right now.
***
After half a day spent showing Maddox and Rusty the grounds, Jonathan felt more alive and free than he had ever remembered feeling at his parents’ home. Mr. Simmons had proven very efficient in preparing two rooms for the guests and had insisted on repeating what room Maddox was in so often that Jonathan had to assure him that he understood that bit very well.
Now, that everyone was supposedly heading to their rooms to sleep, and the household was getting quiet, there was only one thing he wanted to do. The door to his dad’s study was slightly ajar, which meant that they could share a word before bedtime.
His mom’s voice stopped him before he could reach the door. “It is his choice.”
“Francine, it must be merely a fling. I’m not blind. The boy is very handsome, and Jonathan appears to have a soft spot for handsome boys like that. The thing with Andrew Kincaid wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”
Even though he knew that eavesdropping wasn’t a good idea in general, he just couldn’t stop.
“You know I rarely contradict you, but I beg to differ this time. I haven’t seen Jonathan smile like that in a very long time.”
“And is smiling important?” his dad asked with a scoff.
“Yes, it is,” his mom said sharply. “Throughout Jonathan’s life, we’ve made decisions for him, decisions we believed to be for his own good. But he left home, George, and that means we failed. Not only that we failed, but that we failed him.”
“I don’t understand why he would prefer this boy over Andrew,” his dad continued, although by the way his voice became defensive, Jonathan could tell he wasn’t as sure of his opinions as he usually presented himself to be.
“Because Andrew is, pardon my French, George, what people call an asshole.”
The short silence that followed confirmed to Jonathan that his dad was just as shocked to hear his mom say something like that as he was.
“Not even a blind man would think that his apology was genuine. He was just annoyed to be here, doing what he should have been doing a long time ago. And aren’t we forgetting something?” his mom continued. “Andrew has a drug problem. Is that something you look for in a son-in-law?”
“Son-in-law? Aren’t we getting a little bit ahead of ourselves?”
“If Maddox Kingsley is the one my son wants, I don’t have a problem with it. The boy has a spine, obviously. I know that it must be difficult to hear about old history, but I recall very well that the first Hamilton who set foot in these parts was a bricklayer. As for my family, you know that they weren’t wealthy, either, when they left their old homes behind in search of a better life.”