Luis could predict each move Jase was about to make. First, Jase's face would turn red and his eyebrows would furrow. Next, he'd start to perspire around his temples and a drop or two would fall on Luis's cheek. And Jase would always grunt softly a few times. The grunt was Luis's signal. Luis waited for it each time they did this, the same way he waited for everything he'd come to love about his life with Jase. The predictability of their lives as a married couple soothed something deep in Luis's soul that was better than anything he'd ever dreamed when he'd been single and alone. At one time, Luis thought he'd wanted excitement and outrageous sex; he'd been wrong. At one time, Luis thought he'd wanted money and power; he'd been so wrong. All he'd ever wanted was to be in the arms of the man he loved.
Most people would have thought what they were doing was mundane. Some would have laughed at them both and called them another boring, lifeless couple lacking spontaneity. But for Luis, this ability to predict Jase's every move was what made his life worthwhile.
When Jase finally grunted, Luis looked into his eyes and nodded. Then Jase pulled out fast and went to the end of the bed. When he was sitting at the end of the bed, he spread his legs, leaned back on his elbows, and waited for Luis without saying a word. Luis didn't waste a second. He crawled to where Jase sat, leaned over, and took Jase in his mouth. He sucked in his cheeks and his head moved up and down. In less than two minutes, Jase grunted one last time.
They remained this way for another minute or two, while Jase went flaccid against Luis's tongue and Luis finished himself off with his right hand. A few minutes after that, they kissed, hugged, and said “I love you.” And Luis knew this was more than enough for them both, for a good night's sleep and for the rest of their lives.
On Tuesday morning, they took a shower together and dressed quickly. They'd slept later than usual and Luis wanted to get back to Cider Mill Farm so he could start getting Thanksgiving dinner ready with Isabelle. When they drove down the long easement road that led to Cider Mill Farm and pulled into the driveway in the new black Town Car a day early, Cory and Gage were outside splitting firewood. At first, Cory and Gage exchanged glances, wondering who had just pulled up in the strange car. Cory had always been ready to defend their privacy and his lips remained pinched.
When Cory saw Jase get out, he put down the ax and asked, “What happened to the loaner car you had?” When it came to small details, Cory was like this.
Luis climbed out and Jase sent him a look over the hood of the car. Luis turned to Cory and said, “We had a problem with it. Jase will have it sent back to the dealer. We rented this one to get us home.” Luis smiled at Jase. “It wasn't anything serious.”
Then Isabelle and Hunter came running out of the house, with Camp not far behind them. Isabelle sure could move for a woman in her nineties. She was wearing her hot pink sweatsuit and her green and white running shoes. Hunter was wearing the new plaid jacket Luis had picked up for him in New York. The weather had turned colder that night and it was definitely time for heavier jackets.
Luis and Jase met them halfway to the house, not far from where Cory and Gage were splitting firewood. They hugged Isabelle and Hunter, before Luis turned to Cory and Gage. He hugged Cory and patted his back. But he grabbed twin his brother, threw his arms around him, and said, “I'm so glad to be home with everyone I love.” Even when Gage tried to pull away from him because Gage hated showing open affection, Luis refused to let go. Luis kissed Gage on the lips and said, “You have to stop being so closed up. It's not good for you.” After what had happened at the Glatenfrissle compound, the only thing Luis wanted to do was show his loved ones as much affection as he could.
Gage turned back to the firewood, his face bright red. But Luis could see that he was smiling and that his twin brother liked some of the attention. Back at the Glatenfrissle compound, when Matthias had been pointing the gun to his head, Luis had feared he'd never see his family, and he vowed he'd never take any of them for granted again.
The next day, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Jase's mother, Mary Nicholas, and Isabelle's new boyfriend, Preston, arrived from Alaska just in time for dinner. By the time Luis was ready to pour the coffee and serve the wet bottom shoo-fly pie and Pennsylvania Dutch spice cookies, Rob and Rand arrived at Cider Mill Farm and knocked on the back door. They hadn't seen Rob and Rand since the previous summer. Everyone jumped up from the kitchen table and ran to the back door to greet them. Camp ran around in circles, barking nonstop, and threw himself into their legs. Though Rob and Rand were trying to secure teaching positions in Alaska so they could move up there full time, they were still living in California in a small conservative town where they couldn't come out of the closet and be openly gay. The expressions on their faces when they saw Jase and Luis again showed signs of relief that would have been difficult for Luis to put into words on Elena's blog. But Luis knew he would try.
Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be more difficult than Luis had expected it would be. Mary and Isabelle helped Luis, and Gage and Cory did the best they could. But it seemed to take forever to get the damn turkey cooked and they wound up sitting down at the dining room table at six instead of four like Luis had planned. Everyone arrived on time and they had an early cocktail hour. Josh and Roland came with Hillary and Justin. The Reverend von Klingensmith came with Ted Barker. Even Ben and Percy showed up and Luis was shocked to learn that Rob and Rand had actually met Ben and Percy at a campground somewhere out west about a year earlier. Here they'd all been friends and never even knew it. Luis smiled.The world could be such a wonderful, exciting place, and it was filled with so many nice people crossing paths all the time.
The entire house filled with laughter and everyone fought to speak over everyone else. And the delayed dinnertime turned out to be the best thing that could have happened that day. While Luis was clearing the dinner plates and getting the table ready for coffee and pie, he almost dropped the stack of dishes he was holding when he heard, “Hey, are we too late for dessert?” at the back door.
Jase and Luis looked at each other and smiled. The only person they knew with a voice that nasal and high-pitched had to be Beth Anne. Luis carried the plates to the sink and Jase went to the back door. When Luis turned, he saw Beth Anne was with Blaze and Hood. Beth Anne and Blaze said they had driven up to Bucks County together. Hood said he had arrived there at the same time they did, on his way home to Philadelphia from northern New Jersey. Hood had his hands in his pockets and he seemed shy about coming in.