Chapter 22

 

Wyatt and the boys had gone home a while ago, and now Sam was doing his work like a zombie. He shouldn't have been surprised at what he overheard. Of course Wyatt was going to be moving back to Europe. Sam was stupid to think otherwise.

"What's worrying you, sweetheart?" Mrs. Del Rio asked him suddenly.

Sam hadn't noticed her there. Clearly he couldn't hide his state of mind from her, but he didn't want to talk about the main thing that was on his mind. But there was something else that had worried him earlier today when he was at the school.

"Sandra was taking pictures. I think she might put them online," he told Mrs. Del Rio. "I know there is only a slim chance of Brian seeing them. But..."

Mrs. Del Rio nodded with understanding. "No use taking chances," she said.

"I want to help with the work for the festival, but now I don't know." The truth was he was trying to keep his distance from Wyatt, and not volunteering to work with him was one way to do that. He didn't want to go back on his commitment to help out though, so he thought about how he could still pitch in. "I can volunteer to clean up after everyone is done. That way they'll all be gone and I won't have to worry about any photos."

"That's too drastic by half," Mrs. Del Rio told him with a shake of her head. "I'll take care of it. The pictures will never see the light of day, and I'll make sure you can do your work with no trouble. Don't you worry."

As she patted his arm, Sam told her he was grateful. He wanted to tell her that he already had a solution, and she didn't need to do anything, but she was already leaving to deal with something else. Sam sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be able to avoid working with Wyatt.

That didn't mean he couldn't keep his distance in other ways. All he had to do was stop feeling everything he felt for Wyatt. Like that was even possible. But somehow he had to lock away his heart to keep it safe. He had to.

 

Sam had a bad night plagued by nightmares about abandonment and dark empty places that had no end. He woke up in darkness, drenched in a cold sweat, fighting for every breath. There was no sleeping after that. Dawn arrived to find him shaky and tired of being in that little room alone.

Since he was up early anyway, Sam went into the café to help with breakfast prep. He wanted to make it up to Mrs. Del Rio for giving him all the time off so he could volunteer.

He wasn't the only one who was there to help out. Rico was there at the dishwashing station. He greeted Sam with a grimace. "Did you party too hard or what?"

"No. Just had trouble sleeping," Sam told him as he got to work.

"Don't you have a boyfriend who should be keeping you up all night?" Rico asked and Sam flinched.

"Not a boyfriend," Sam said and he felt like he would choke on those words.

"Didn't mean to pry," Rico said, lowering his voice.

Sam wasn't doing a good job hiding how wretched he felt. "Don't worry about it. And thanks for filling in for me."

"It's no problem. I'm kind of looking forward to the festival. I used to love it when I was a kid, but then this other kid at school told me I wasn't supposed to like flowers because I was a boy. It took me a few years to get sick of people telling me everything I wanted and everything I liked was wrong. That's why I'm fighting with my dad now," Rico said, and Sam was reminded of Wyatt and his family.

"Because you're gay?" Sam asked him then realized maybe he shouldn't have.

"No. It's about what I want to be when I grow up. My dad is a dentist. I figured, what the heck, I'll follow in his footsteps then changed my mind. I'm a big disappointment all around. Grandma always wanted me to be a singer, an actor, any kind of performer. She wants to see someone in the family do something exciting with their life, but we're all a bunch of boring fucks," Rico said.

"Boring is good," Sam said and Rico groaned.

He then frowned deeply at Sam and said, "You must have had it rough to think that way." After a pause, he reconsidered. "I'm not prying or anything. Sorry if I put my foot in it again."

"No, you're right," Sam admitted. He didn't really want Rico to censor himself around him. His directness reminded Sam of his grandmother, and he knew Rico was a good guy.

Sam found that working in the kitchen while Rico was chattering next to him soothed his nerves, but then there wasn't any more for him to do. Once he was out of there, Sam wondered how he would keep himself from obsessing about Wyatt leaving.

 

As he came out from the back, he saw that Lara had come into the cafe and went over to her. "Good morning."

"Good morning. You know about the special assignment for you and Wyatt?" Lara said.

Sam shook his head and wondered if that was something Mrs. Del Rio had arranged.

"There's a float that's ready to be painted. I estimate that's a two-man job, just right for you and Wyatt," she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "The Smiths' kid is an art student. She did the drawing, but she didn't have time to paint it in. There is a color chart and you'll pick up the paints over at the school. We stashed the float at the Lubbock's old barn. You know where that is?"

"No, sorry," Sam said.

"I already told Wyatt all about it. He has the directions. He'll be by to pick you up. He was happy to hear about it. You can take the boys over there and you can have the dogs with you too," she said and looked at him questioningly since he wasn't reacting the way she expected. "Something wrong?"

"No. Sounds good," Sam said with a vague smile. Honestly, he didn't know how he felt about this. All he knew was that his heart hurt.

He would get to be with Wyatt today and for a little while longer until he was gone. That was something, but it wasn't enough. He would just have to make the best of it and make sure he didn't get in too deep.

Oh fuck. That thought made him want to laugh, and it made him feel sick at the same time. He was already in too deep and this was hopeless.

 

Pulling up in front of the café, Wyatt arrived with a car full of kids and dogs and they all headed for the school to pick up supplies. Sam was glad for the distraction of kids chattering and the dogs poking their heads out the windows. Being alone with Wyatt right now would have been agony.

"You feeling OK?" Wyatt asked him as they arrived to park on the side of a dirt road that led to the barn.

Sam told him the truth or at least a part of it. "Just didn't sleep well."

Walking the rest of the way with the supplies, they arrived at the barn where the float was. The barn was huge, like an airplane hangar with big doors on both sides to give them plenty of light. In there, they saw the peach blossom honey float with drawings of the usual peach flowers but also bees, beehives and jars of honey.

"They've marked off the colors for us. We just have to slap on some paint," Wyatt said as he set down the box with the paint canisters.

"Slap on some paint? You mean color it in precisely," Sam told him as he went over and looked at the drawings. They were good, skillfully done but not too serious.

"Ouch. I didn't realize it would be so detailed," Wyatt said as he took a closer look at the drawings.

"We can do it. This is nice work. We have to do it justice," Sam told him.

"We will, as long as you don't distract me with your hotness," Wyatt said and he grinned at Sam.

Under Wyatt's teasing gaze, Sam did feel hot, as in overheated. He had no idea how he was going to manage working with him and staying aloof at the same time. He was sure to fail. But then he saw some hope when the kids and the dogs came in.

"We'll need to keep the dogs away from the paint. OK, guys?" Wyatt told them.

"Are we gonna paint?" DJ asked.

"No, sorry," Wyatt told the boys.

Seeing that they looked disappointed, Sam told them "This is painting for grown-ups. It's not going to be a lot of fun."

"What are me and Ry gonna do?" DJ wondered.

"We wanna volunteer," Riley told them.

"You two can supervise us and make sure we don't slack off and that we do a really good job," Wyatt told them.

After they got to work with the kids watching them closely, Riley figured out what they were doing and he exclaimed, "You're coloring!"

"That kid knows coloring when he sees it," Wyatt said and grinned at Sam.

"We are coloring," Sam confirmed.

"Coloring is not for grown-ups," DJ pointed out and frowned at him.

"We wanna help," Riley insisted.

"You help by staying away from these paint buckets and keeping the dogs from knocking them over. I don't want paint flying everywhere," Wyatt told them.

The boys grumbled but stayed back.

"I'll let you use the brush when I'm doing the big middle part. But first I have to go around the edge," Sam said. He then held each of the boys' hands while they held the brush. "See, it's boring."

"It is boring," Riley agreed.

"Why don't you go play outside? Don't let the dogs eat anything weird," Wyatt told them. Once the kids were gone, he turned to Sam. "Maybe you want to hold my hand and show me how to paint. I'm having trouble with this part here."

Sam refused to even look at him. He knew how seductive his eyes were as well as the rest of him. "Is that why you sent the kids out of here?" he asked Wyatt in his most accusing tone.

"Like we can get up to anything serious in here," Wyatt said, making it clear that he would if only the kids weren't right outside. "Want to come over tonight? Or we can go out to that burger place then you can come over. What do you say?"

Sam felt crushed as he realized how hard it was to say no to Wyatt. "I'm working late to make up the time I'm losing on volunteering. Sorry."

"You can come over afterward. Any time," Wyatt said.

"I'll be tired. I'll just want to crash," Sam said, but he didn't dare even glance in Wyatt's direction or he wouldn't be able to hide from him that there was more to it than that.

 

Later, around midmorning, they took a break. Stepping through the big barn opening, they both stretched and took in the view. There was a small, overgrown field and some woods beyond it. The day was sunny and the kids and the dogs were running around chasing each other.

"We can sit on that log," Wyatt said and pointed it out. The log looked like it had been trimmed off and placed next to the barn for just that reason. As they went out there, Wyatt called out to DJ and Riley. "We're taking a break. Can you guys grab us all some drinks. The dogs too."

"The drinks are in the car," DJ told him as the boys ran over.

"Oh, right," Wyatt said. They had a lot to carry and had left the cooler to bring in later. "Then we better go get them. Volunteering is thirsty work."

"We forgot the dishes for Barney and Brownie in the car. They are volunteers too," Riley claimed.

"I can see them hard at work over there, sniffing things," Wyatt said then he and Riley went to the car to get the cooler with their drinks.

That left Sam and DJ to go and sit on the log and watch the dogs hard at work.

"It's a dog's job to sniff things, and bark at things, and sit next to you when you're sad," DJ said to Sam.

"That's right." Sam was kind of amazed at this little guy but a little worried too. "Do the dogs sit with you when you're sad?"

"Brownie did, and she leaned her head on my foot," DJ said and pointed at his foot.

"I'm sorry you were sad," Sam told him. "Whenever you're sad, you can always go and talk to your uncle and maybe get a hug from him."

DJ looked like he would consider it.

"Trust me. Wyatt would like that. He wants to be a good uncle to you and your brother," Sam assured him. "So make sure you talk to him any time something is bothering you."

"OK," DJ said. "He is a good uncle."

"Did I just hear someone praise me?" Wyatt asked as he came back with the cooler while Riley carried the water dishes for the dogs.

"Sam did," DJ said and pointed an accusing finger at him.

As Wyatt came over and handed him a bottle of water, Sam blushed. It was the way Wyatt was looking at him with insinuating eyes like Sam had praised him as a stud, not as a good uncle.

The boys were pouring water for the dogs, who drank greedily. DJ and Riley then came over to sit with Wyatt and Sam, and he was glad to have their company so he wouldn't have to be alone with Wyatt. DJ sat next to Wyatt, but Riley wedged himself between Sam and Wyatt then laughed.

"Is that the best seat, right there?" Wyatt asked him.

"Yes!" Riley said like he was celebrating some victory while DJ leaned over and made a face at him.

"This is a really nice place. It's so hidden away, I didn't come across it before," Sam said as he took in all the green and a sense of happy neglect of the place.

"The only thing is we can't see Peach Tree Hill from here," Wyatt said. The woods blocked the view of it.

"That hill is why I moved here," Sam said to the kids. "When she was a young girl, my great-grandmother saw Peach Tree Hill. That was a long time ago when she was taking a car trip with her family. She saw the hill with all the peach trees in bloom, and she always remember it as a beautiful place. After she told me about it, I thought it sounded so nice, I decided to come here."

"Yay!" Riley said cheering Sam's decision.

"Where is your great-grandma? Does she live far away?" DJ asked.

"She's gone. She died," Sam told him. He didn't mean to make the boys sad, but he could see that he had. "But she lived for a very long time."

With his head down, DJ came over and sat next to Sam. After whispering "sorry" in a small, shaky voice, DJ put his arms around him and leaned his head on Sam's arm.

"Thank you," Sam told him then felt Riley do the same thing from the other side.

Leaning over, Wyatt put his arms around all of them. He kissed the top of Riley's head then he said, "Look at us slacking off. Let's get to work."

The kids jumped up, and Wyatt stood up and turned to Sam. Silently, he offered Sam his hand. Sam knew he shouldn't take it, but his hand went up anyway. He clasped Wyatt's hand, felt all his strength and warmth and wanted to beg him not to leave.