Chapter 29

 

Work on the Peach Festival was in full swing now and the whole town was like a beehive. Lara had plenty of work for Mitch with Enrico as his volunteer assistant. Mitch should have been used to working alongside him, but he found he got distracted by his nearness all the time. Maybe it was because Enrico wasn't sleeping over at the house any more.

He still came by the house since the work there wasn't finished yet. While the painting still needed to be done downstairs, Mrs. Del Rio roped Mitch into hosting a housewarming party so she could show off the Dunbar place. Mitch was going to put in some extra time and finish the painting, but Mrs. Del Rio wouldn't hear of it. She told him to put it off and focus on the festival.

 

When it came to the menu, Mrs. Del Rio told him to keep it casual and she meant it. On the day of the party, she sent Enrico over to deliver some packages of chicken legs to the house. He then stayed to help Mitch with the food. Mitch was glad he was there whatever the reason.

"You're too good to my grandma. I can't believe she dumped all this cooking on you," Enrico said.

"She didn't. I told her I'd take care of a few things and she'll be bringing the rest," Mitch told him.

Sammy was beyond excited, bouncing all over the house and the back yard. She kept reminding the kittens, "We're having a party."

Good thing Enrico found some creative ways to keep her busy, like drawing a picture of the kittens for Noreen.

"If she wants to see the kittens, you just show her your drawing," Enrico told her.

Sammy agreed. "I'll give the scary teacher my drawing, but not my kitties."

Mitch looked over at Enrico and he shrugged. Then he sneaked a kiss when Sammy wasn't looking.

 

As the first of the guests started trickling in, the two of them were still busy in the kitchen. Wyatt and the boys were outside with their two dogs, who were also invited to the party. Sam came into the kitchen to see if he could help.

"Thanks. We have it covered," Mitch told him.

"So you're cooking?" Sam asked Enrico who was turning over the chicken legs in the sauce one last time.

"I'm just supervising the food. Mitch made it," Enrico said.

"Chicken legs in barbeque sauce," Sam said as he looked into the pan and nodded with approval.

"There's coleslaw and potato salad on the side. Mrs. Del Rio said to keep it simple," Mitch told him. He was glad she had decided on the menu. He had never cooked for any kind of party before.

"Everyone loves that stuff. And slather anything in barbeque sauce and it's a hit," Enrico said.

"Food like that can't miss," Sam said with a smile.

"For dessert Grandma is bringing over an icebox cake. The woman has never made anything from scratch in her life," Enrico said.

"Why are you so hard on her?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean why? That woman will run wild if I don't keep her in line," Enrico claimed and Sam laughed at him.

 

Once the food was done, both Sam and Sammy helped them bring it out and set it up. Riley tried to help Sammy, but she wouldn't let him. All she was carrying were some plastic cups.

"Ry, they aren't heavy," she told him.

Riley looked around and spotted Mitch with the big platter of chicken legs. The little boy looked up at him and said, "It looks heavy. Want me to help you?"

Mitch smiled down at him. "Thanks, but I think I can handle it."

Lara and Gloria were among the first to arrive, and Sammy ran over to greet her little friend.

"It's quite a spread," Lara said as she looked over the food.

"Between Mitch and my grandma, there's a mountain of food. Get ready to stuff your face with some meatballs with grape jelly," Enrico said.

"Rico, you don't put grape jelly on meatballs," Sammy informed him.

Gloria confirmed it. "You put grape jelly on a peanut butter sandwich."

DJ and Riley nodded in agreement.

"Tell that to my grandma," Enrico told them.

"OK. We will," Sammy said and the kids ran off. Mitch saw them going to argue the issue with Mrs. Del Rio who was greeting some new arrivals.

Soon the kids were showing off the Hayes dogs and the kittens to some children who came to the party. As they were all gathered together, there was a new controversy.

"Can the kittens eat chicken legs?" Riley asked.

"No!" several people yelled.

"God knows what barbeque sauce would do to their little tummies," Lara said.

"Can kittens have meatballs?" Riley asked.

Again he had to be told no. "Don't feed any people food to the kittens or to the dogs," Sam told him.

"So many rules," Riley complained.

"I can't even tell you how much that boy reminds me of how I used to be," Wyatt said as he came over to check out the food.

"Used to be?" Sam said and raised an eyebrow at him. In answer, Wyatt only put an arm around his shoulders and laughed.

 

For a while, Mrs. Del Rio kept Mitch busy making sure he met everybody. He thought she wanted to show off the house and invite some real estate people or prospective buyers, but the guests were mostly people he already knew and some people from town and the surrounding areas that he hadn't met before. It was just a neighborhood party. People brought folding chairs to sit on and kids were running all over the yard along with the Hayes dogs.

Done meeting and greeting everyone, Mitch got a beer and leaned against the porch railing.

"Mrs. Del Rio is singing your praises to everyone," Wyatt said as he joined him to lean next to him and sip a beer of his own. "That's going to be good for business."

"I thought she was going to be showing off this place," Mitch told him.

"And she's showing you off instead. That's so her," Enrico said. He had sneaked up on them from the other side of the porch. Now he pointed out what the kids were doing.

"Look at Ry trying to show that hula hoop who's boss," Wyatt said as Riley whipped his hips around like crazy but lost the battle with the hula hoop.

"Now they're making Sam do it. God damn it, he's good at it," Enrico said sounding jealous.

Wyatt grinned as he gazed at his fiancé proudly. "He's good at everything." Then Sam handed off the hula hoop to the kids and Wyatt sighed.

"You didn't get video of that," Enrico told him.

"Oh crap," Wyatt said and Enrico shook his head.

"What's happening now?" Enrico called out when he saw the kids doing something new.

"We're trying to get Barney and Brownie to jump through the hoop, but they aren't doing it," DJ said.

"Natalie and Veronica don't want to do it either," Sammy reported then she ran over to Mitch and jumped up and down in front of him. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. I get to be a flower girl, me and Gloria."

Mitch didn't know about this so he looked at Wyatt, who nodded to confirm it.

"A peach and a flower girl, is there anything you can't do?" Enrico asked her.

"No," she said.

"You'll be a great flower girl," Mitch told her. Though no one had asked him if it was OK, he was glad she would be a part of Sam and Wyatt's happy day.

Sam joined them as Sammy ran off and he looked apologetic. "Wyatt and I were going to ask you if Sammy could be a flower girl at out wedding along with Gloria. We wanted to ask you first, but I guess Gloria told her about it," he said. "Sorry."

"It's OK. And she was so happy to do it, I can't say no," Mitch told him.

"Thank you," Sam said looking relieved. "It will be nice to have my namesake in the wedding. I won't have any family there, so I want all the friendly faces I can get."

"Sorry to hear that," Mitch said but he knew how Sam felt. If he ever got married, his side of the aisle would be nearly empty. He had to stop there though because he wasn't ready to think about who it was he wanted to marry.

"Now you're all set for flower girls," Enrico told Sam. "Are you sure you don't want a bachelor party?"

Sam gave him a sideways look. "Let me guess what would be on the menu—beer, porn, and embarrassment. No, thank you."

Enrico didn't deny it. He just said, "OK."

"You're backing down so easily?" Mitch asked since that wasn't his MO.

"Sam made this pleading face so I had to," Enrico said and did an impression of poor Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes, but then he said. "That is kind of true. I asked him to take pity on me. With everything that's going on with the wedding plus the festival, I couldn't deal with it."

"And if Sam didn't want a bachelor party, I didn't want one either," Wyatt said and gave him a kiss.

"It wouldn't have worked anyway. If we didn't separate them, they would just spend the whole bachelor party making out with each other. If we did separate them, they would just pine for each other the whole time." Enrico sounded disgusted, but both Mitch and Sam nodded, agreeing with what he said. "Look at them. It's like they're already married," Enrico groused, but the two of them only smiled at each other like the accusation made them really happy. "There is no way to make these guys feel bad."

Mitch wondered what it would feel like to know that you and the one you loved would soon belong to one another. He imagined an unbreakable link being forged between two men, never to be broken. Did he yearn for that? Is that what the painful feeling in his chest meant?

While he was lost in thought, Enrico and Sam went off to talk to some coworkers from the café. Wyatt was still there keeping Mitch company and admiring the yard.

"You have a nice space here for a barbeque. You can throw some serious parties," Wyatt said.

"I just work here," Mitch said offhandedly, but what Wyatt said reminded him that his time here would come to an end, probably soon. Then he would have to make some big decisions.

"I keep forgetting this house isn't yours. I guess this place suits you," Wyatt said.

There was some truth in that. If he were ever to own a house, he would want it to be a lot like this one. Of course that might never happen for him. "It's nice but well above my price range. My price range is two months rent and a cleaning deposit."

"Too bad," Wyatt said with a sigh. "A hula hoop and a swing, this place is a retro paradise."

The kids were now using both and having fun with the dogs and the kittens too. "Sammy is certainly having a good time," Mitch said.

"She is. So why are you making that face?" Wyatt wondered.

"I'm worried that Sammy doesn't realize that we'll have to move on from here," Mitch told him.

"Do you have to move on? You might be able to find enough work around here to keep you busy," Wyatt said.

"I'm not sure," Mitch said. The thought had occurred to him.

"I'm not handy. I'll need you for sure," Wyatt told him. "When anything breaks over at our place, I'll have DJ and Ry have a crack at it, but after that, I'll definitely be calling you."

"Sam isn't handy either?" Mitch asked.

"Sam can do anything," Wyatt said and got a blissful look on his face. Then he turned to Mitch with a wicked look in his eyes. "And he's all mine."

"Good thing your wedding is pretty soon," Mitch told him wryly.

"Right after the Peach Festival. I can't wait." Wyatt sighed. "God, I feel so lucky. Sam and the kids. Everything. You really should consider staying here. I think this place is magic or something," he urged Mitch.

"Must be the peaches," Mitch said.

"Maybe. I kissed Sam under the peach trees on the hill for the first time. That's why we are getting married up there." Wyatt had such a dreamy look on his face, which changed to a determined frown as he went off to go be with Sam right that second.

 

Mitch shook his head at him and went over to Enrico. He was checking to make sure they had enough ice in the coolers.

"I'm getting more ice and more beers," Enrico told him. He pulled the few beers that were left in there and spilled out the water.

"I'll help." Carrying the cooler, Mitch went along with him.

As they found themselves alone in the kitchen, Enrico told him, "I'm glad you and Wyatt get along. It's good for you to have someone to talk to."

"Why would I need to talk to someone?" Mitch asked since Enrico sounded uncharacteristically solemn when he said that.

Opening the fridge, Enrico grabbed several beer bottles and turned to him. "To get things off your chest, to bitch about me."

"I can do that with you, can't I?" Mitch said as he made sure that the too many beers Enrico was holding made it into the cooler safely.

"Sure, but I warn you, I plan to take sides," Enrico said and dumped a bag of ice into the cooler.

Mitch grinned as he picked up stray ice cubes off the floor. "I'm not really used to spilling my guts to anyone. I didn't have anyone to talk to a lot of the time growing up. Or later too, not until I met Ellie. She made me open up a little."

"What did she use? The jaws of life?" Enrico asked.

"I opened up to you more than to her, you know," Mitch informed him.

"Really?" Enrico said and fixed him with a sly, teasing look.

"Yes. You're relentless. I had no choice," Mitch said as Enrico came over, wrapped himself around him and kissed his neck.

"You could have said I'm easy to talk to," Enrico complained while Mitch rubbed his hands down his back and over his ass.

"You're not too bad," Mitch told him as he groped him lightly.

"Whoa, easy on the compliments," Enrico said and Mitch was reminded that he didn't always know how to tell him how amazing he was.

"You're great. I like talking to you. I like doing everything with you," Mitch told him. He wanted to say more, but the urge to kiss Enrico took over. He couldn't resist it, and he let their mouths meld and their tongues dance while his heart thumped right up against Enrico's chest.

 

***

 

Guests were starting to leave the party, but things were still pretty lively. Mitch went off to talk to some people who were about to leave. Grandma said they might hire him to do work on their house, but Rico tried not to get his hopes up.

His grandmother organized this shindig just so everyone could ogle Mitch and she could brag about him. At one point she even had Sammy doing it.

She was telling people, "My Daddy can fix anything."

Mitch called it false advertising, but he was a modest guy. He needed an aggressive PR team like those two.

Rico was pretty sure his grandmother was scheming to keep Mitch in town, and he had to wonder if she was doing that for his sake. When he had asked her about it, she said, "Lord save me from trying to pick a boyfriend for you." But he wasn't sure if he could believe her denial. She was a sneaky old lady.

 

Rico was standing with Sam as he and Wyatt talked wedding preparations with Grandma, Lara and Noreen. Preoccupied with Mitch, Rico wasn't really listening though. Their wedding talk only reminded him how far he and Mitch were from making any sort of commitment or future plans. He was afraid to even bring up the subject. No news was good news.

Peeling off from the group of kids who were still playing together, Sammy ran over to him and his grandmother. "Did you hear? I'm gonna be a flower girl. Me and Gloria."

"You will be so adorable," Grandma told her and she smiled.

"Gloria's mom and the scary teacher said they are gonna make us look pretty. What are you gonna do for the wedding, Rico?" Sammy asked.

"I'm the best man," Rico told her while Noreen grumbled about being called the scary teacher.

"One of the best men," Wyatt corrected him.

"I'm Sam's best man," Rico said to Sammy.

"Is that like a best friend?" she asked.

"Yes, it is," Sam told her with a smile.

"That's good. Rico is my friend too," she told Sam. Then she said something kind of shocking. "And Rico is Daddy's boyfriend. Isn't that right, Rico?" Sammy had turned to Rico for confirmation, but as she stared up at him, he kind of froze.

Next to him his grandmother chuckled. "From the mouths of babes."

"Umm, what?" Rico said while he tried to get his bearings. This was news to him. He looked over at where Mitch was still talking to some neighbors and wondered how he would feel about this. "I don't know about that."

Sammy showed no doubt though. "It's true. Gloria told me."

"Then it must be true. Gloria is the final word on this sort of thing," Wyatt said as Sammy ran off to join the other kids. "I just don't know how a little kid knows so much."

"The girl has ears," Grandma said.

Then Noreen added, "And her mother has a big mouth." She and Lara glared at each other while Rico tried to recover from what he just heard.

It was just kids talking and getting things wrong. That's all. Mitch would deny it in a second, and that meant Rico should put the idea out of his head right this minute.

Wyatt wouldn't let him though. "Gloria never gets these things wrong," he said.

Then Sam confirmed it. "Right. According to Wyatt, the two of us are getting married because of her."

"I couldn't let her tell everyone we were getting married before I even proposed." Wyatt then told Rico, "You have two of them ganging up on you. Just go with it."

Rico had no intention of doing that. Despite what Wyatt said, two little girls weren't in charge of whatever this thing was he had going on with Mitch. If Rico pushed his luck with him, Mitch would just push him away. He couldn't risk that.