Chapter 19

The next couple of days were like a Hallmark card. We made meals together, we worked in the yards, and we made love. Zed ended up having to leave for a few days, but Marcus didn’t go back over to his house, and I didn’t blame him. Two men had been gunned down in his living room, and it wasn’t something I would want to remember if I lived there. I was curious to see how the cleanup had gone and assumed the carpet would need to be pulled up and some work done to the walls. My brain was in remodel mode constantly.

Marcus helped me take my cabinets down and strip the old finish off of them. We worked for hours, day and night, to get just the right layering done so I could start the new finish. He seemed very comfortable working with his hands and looked damn good while he worked.

I often found myself staring at his body as he sanded the wood and built up a sweat. His shirtless torso was something any woman would be distracted by. It didn’t matter that Marcus only had one working arm; he was amazing at helping me with the remodeling stuff.

“I’m going to go take some pictures if you don’t mind. The clouds are looking incredible today,” I said as I grabbed my camera and started to head out the door.

I kissed Marcus and left him sanding the wooden doors while I went to snap a couple pictures.

Since my art show, I had taken a break from the picture taking for a little bit. It had been such a great night, and all my photos sold. The validation I felt from that event was huge. I finally felt that I could call myself a photographer.

I headed the couple of blocks into town so I could get a nice picture of the city with the clouds behind it. My eyes stayed focused on the sky as I searched for just the right moment to take my picture.

Looking through my lens was one of my favorite things to do, and I could do it every day and never get bored. I felt empowered by my camera.

As I walked through the city, I got a weird feeling that someone was following me. I looked back, and there was no one there, though. The feeling continued as I got to the other end of town, and I started to get scared. I wished that I would have invited Marcus to walk with me; when he was with me, I always felt safe.

I found the perfect picture and took a few from each side of the street. I loved how the clouds looked like cotton balls swimming on top of the little town of Bain.

Bain, Missouri was one of the quaint little towns that you drove through on your way to nowhere. There was a small pharmacy, liquor store, and a few other local companies. It didn’t have a mayor and instead used a city manager. There was no police department, but the county sheriff patrolled the area as needed.

The streets of Bain only lasted about four blocks, and it was stuck in the picturesque history of the 1950’s. I took a couple more pictures of the town and then started to head back home. Again, I felt the pang of someone following me or watching me. I looked up and down the street and thought I saw someone go into the hardware store.

I walked quickly down to the store and was about to walk inside when I saw Marcus standing in front of their door.

“Were you following me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To make sure nothing bad happened to you.”

“What? I thought we were safe. I thought those guys that came after you were dead, and there was nothing else to worry about?”

I could feel my anger growing. He had made it seem like things were safe. He had made it seem like he was staying with me because he wanted to spend time with me, not because he was protecting me from someone.

“You are safe. I’m here.”

“No! You don’t lie to me like that. I thought you wanted to spend time with me, and that was why you were at my house.”

“I do want to spend time with you.”

He flashed me that smile, and I couldn’t help calming down a bit. It was hard to stay mad at him when he was smiling like that. But he wasn’t telling me the whole story. I wasn’t safe unless he was there with me, then that meant someone was still after Marcus.

“Do you have a gun right now?”

I reached around and tried to feel behind his back, but his skills at defensiveness far outweighed my curiosity.

“Yes,” he said as he held me back with one hand.

“Marcus, what are we going to do? I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

He just smiled at me and grabbed my hand. We started to walk back to my house. He didn’t look worried at all by my concern over the situation.

“I’m not going to get hurt. My guys are taking care of the rest of their team. I’ll just relax with you and get myself feeling better.”

He seemed so calm and relaxed; I had no other option but to believe him. But certainly something was going on. He wouldn’t have followed me all the way through town if he wasn’t worried about something.

We had plans to have dinner with all the guys that night. Marcus was the one who had suggested it, and I was so nervous. I’d been in touch with Stanley and Rob, but I hadn’t talked to Zed since he left after our crazy night together.

Plus, this was going to be the first time that I had all four guys in the same room, and that was always difficult to manage. When we got back to the house, Marcus and I prepared dinner, and Zed showed up early to help. Being with the two of them did feel comfortable. They were friends, and after what we had done together, there wasn’t much shyness between us.

It wasn’t until Rob showed up that things felt more uncomfortable. Rob was new to this whole thing, and he had barely understood that I had Stanley and Marcus around, so I was worried at how he would react to Zed joining the dinner.

“So it’s going to be a party tonight, eh?” Rob asked.

“No, just a chill night with all of us,” I tried to reassure him.

I introduced Rob to Zed and Marcus, and he made himself comfortable at the table. Stanley and Rob got along well, and obviously Zed and Marcus got along well; the trick was going to be seeing if all four men could get along. I really had no idea how we were going to move forward or what this relationship would look like, but no matter what, these guys needed to meet one another.

As the pasta was dished out to everyone, I quickly realized that these men were going to get along just fine. I was the odd one out, and I didn’t mind it at all. Each of the guys was engrossed in a conversation with one another. They were laughing and joking together and otherwise getting along perfectly.

“So I do have some more photos I need to get finished today,” I said as I interrupted their conversations.

“How about I walk with you, and you can take pictures without worrying?” Marcus said as he looked at the other guys for their approval. “I’m going to need to leave town again for work soon.”

“Me too,” Zed added.

I looked at Rob and Stanley, and they nodded their heads in approval of me and Marcus heading back out so I could finish my pictures. I actually wanted Marcus to meet someone, so it was good that he wanted to come.

“Alright, I did want to go out by the dairy farm and take some photos out there. The rest of you guys will be okay if Marcus and I ditch dinner?”

“No worries with us,” Rob said quickly. “We are going to watch the game.”

I had to laugh at the sports enthusiasm that Stanley had as he was nodding his head in agreement. I never knew Stanley was a fan of sports at all. At least when we had lived together before he didn’t show much interest in those things, but perhaps he was just trying to find a connection with Zed and Rob.

“Let’s do it,” Marcus said with an unusual amount of enthusiasm.

I couldn’t help laughing. I doubt taking pictures was at all interesting to him, but his willingness to be enthusiastic about it was cute for sure. And he was making an effort to spend time alone with me which I appreciated. As much fun as our night with Zed was, I wanted individual relationships with these guys. Each of them different and unique with their pluses and minuses.

The diary farm was almost two miles out of town, but it was a beautiful day, so it was well worth the time it took to get out there. The mid seventy-degree weather offered a slight breeze to cool us without dropping the temperature too much. I reached out for Marcus’s hand to hold it as we walked.

He smiled and gripped me firmly, but I could tell that this type of intimacy was not something he was comfortable with. His whole arm tightened up, and he held his hand almost motionless. I tried not to laugh out loud at his awkwardness.

It was interesting how Marcus was relaxed and able to enjoy our lovemaking with his friend Zed there. Yet as the two of us walked intimately down the street, he appeared more uncomfortable than ever.

Every now and then, I noticed him looking around either to the side of us or behind us. Certainly not instilling confidence in his notion that we were not in danger. I thought I even noticed his jaw tensing as we got farther and farther away from the town. We really were sitting ducks if anyone was trying to get us.

As we walked down the dirt road, there was no place to hide and no escape if someone happened to come down this dirt road with wrongdoing on their mind.

At the dairy farm, I stopped to visit with the owner real quick. He seemed a little leery of Marcus but warmed up to him when I said he was an ex-Navy Seal. Mr. Reynolds had been in the Navy also, many years before Marcus, though.

The two men shook hands, and Mr. Reynolds took us out to where the cows were grazing. He had a four-wheeler with two seats in the back and drove us quickly out to the top of the hill where the cows were.

“I’ve already let them into the field; I hope that works alright.”

“Yes, that will be great.”

“Just make sure the gate is closed when you head back to town. Have fun.”

Mr. Reynolds took his four-wheeler back toward his house and left us at the top of the hill with about a hundred cows grazing all around us. I started taking pictures immediately.

When I looked over at Marcus, he seemed to be in protection mode and was eyeing a large cow that was walking slowly in our direction. He looked like he was ready to take the cow down if he needed to.

“You don’t have to be afraid of them; they won’t hurt us,” I said with a smile.

“I’m not afraid,” he said as he tried to play off his uncomfortable stance.

I could tell he was at least uncomfortable with the number of cows around us. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who spent a lot of time on a farm. Especially this close to the animals of the farm.

A young calf made her way toward us, and I got down on my knees to take some pictures. She kept coming toward us with an interest that was very charming. Marcus grabbed some grass and held it out in his hand.

I snapped some pictures of the two of them.

Marcus and his tall, muscular frame feeding the small baby calf, with the sun setting right behind them, it was perfect. I hoped that the lighting didn’t wash out Marcus and the calf when I tried to develop the pictures.

“That was adorable,” Marcus said as he looked at me.

I was concerned he was going to get mad at me for taking his picture again. I really hoped he didn’t force me to delete the photo, it was so perfect.

He looked at me and then at the camera. I felt him trying to decide if it was alright that I took his picture. He seemed to be going through some sort of internal struggle. But he was silent and did not force me to delete the picture.

“Yes, that was very adorable. Should we head back to town?”

I got up off the ground, and Marcus leaned over and wiped the grass off of my knees. He grabbed me close and kissed me. The spontaneous gesture was just another reason I was starting to fall for this guy. The softness of his lips was so opposite of his hard body that I instantly got turned on anytime I kissed Marcus. There was no way to stop my body and how it reacted to him.

He grabbed my hand and held it in his as he led the way back into town. His grip seemed more comfortable this time, and he was much more relaxed. He was getting a hold of this whole boyfriend thing.

Wait, boyfriend … was that what he was?

I didn’t know the answer and wasn’t about to ask him. I felt like we were a couple now, but I wasn’t really sure. Maybe my perception of things was different than his. It wasn’t the right time to talk about things; we had had enough deep conversations for today.

The term boyfriend was a simple one to most, but in my life, it could get complex. In the mainstream world, I couldn’t go around calling four guys my boyfriend, so I typically didn’t call any of them my boyfriend in public. The guys were my roommates or friends, and that was it. But when I was out with only one of them, I sometimes found myself referring to them as boyfriends because the moment called for it. We were now officially in this confusing stage of the relationship as I contemplated how I would navigate the public version of this when I was living in such a small town.

We continued into town and turned down the street toward my house. When we got close enough, I could see that the front door was open. I turned and looked at Marcus, who instantly went into his protector mode. He brought us down the alley behind the house to see if there were any cars or anything. Then he opened the garage and did a quick look through my darkroom.

“Get in your darkroom and lock the door. You understand me?”

I nodded my head yes and quickly went into the room. There was no movement in the house, and all I could think about was that Zed, Rob, and Stanley had been hurt. Although Zed was obviously good at his job working side by side with Marcus, he could have been caught off guard really easily. I was terrified as I hid in the garage and watched Marcus look toward the house.

Marcus had his gun drawn and took the sling off his hurt arm. He seemed to be able to move it slightly, but I could only imagine how much pain he was in.

“Marcus,” I said as my eyes started to well up with tears.

“I’ll be fine. Lock the door. I’ll be right back.”

My brain raced with thoughts of what was going on. Why would someone try to break into my house? I could hardly breathe because of how scared I was. I tried over and over to take a deep breath, and nothing seemed to help.