“Hi, Daniel. What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
“Then why is George beating the eggs and butter as if they personally offended him?” Andi looked pointedly at the glass bowl, where the cookie dough had gotten to the perfect consistency without George noticing. He sighed and stopped whisking. Time to fold in the flour.
He opened his mouth to explain the situation, but Daniel was faster. “Because he fucked up and has to face the consequences and doesn’t know how to make it all go away…”
“I assume you’re not helpful?” Andi sounded as dry as the desert.
“What makes you think that? You wound me, Andi. As an older brother, it is my solemn duty to help my little brother when he’s in need.” George was sure he could see the sarcasm dripping through the phone’s speaker.
“Then you definitely have to work on your older brother skills. It was nice talking to you, Daniel. Bye.” There was a mock-enraged gasp when Andi ended the call. George couldn’t deny the rush of satisfaction at seeing his lover/partner protecting him in such a brusque manner. It was nice to know he was appreciated. Daniel wouldn’t be angry. He was happy when Andi treated him like another brother.
The silence after the call hung in the air for a few minutes, and Andi was probably deciding whether he should dig deeper or let it go. As surprisingly smooth as their relationship was running, there were still times when they struggled to adjust. Case in point, they still needed to figure out the whole talking/not talking situation.
The dough was ready, and George took the scoop to start with the cookies. The oven was done pre-heating, meaning it was merely fifteen minutes until they could enjoy some baked solace.
Andi hopped onto one of the stools in the kitchen, watching him. With most other people, George would have known it to be a passive-aggressive tactic under these circumstances. With Andi, he was simply watching George preparing cookies. There was no hidden meaning to his glances, no tactic to get George to fold. As a detective, Andi knew, of course, how to do all that but not with his lover/partner. He wasn’t that kind of person. No, Andi was giving him time to decide what he wanted to do without any pressure. If George decided to keep this thing with his mother to himself for the time being, Andi wouldn’t pry, and he certainly wouldn’t be offended. Perhaps it was because he was so used to keeping his own secrets that he didn’t mind other people having theirs as well. Or he was just that kind of person, rare as they were. Anyway, there was no pressure, and George found himself speaking easily.
“You know how my mom isn’t too happy about us living together?”
Andi just snorted. He was there when George told her about moving in with him. She’d ranted so loudly, there was no need to put her on speaker.
“Well, I haven’t told her yet that we’re also together.”
“Sensible.” Most other spouses would have been enraged about being kept a secret. And even though Andi’s view on the matter was purely pragmatic, if Miranda Donovan didn’t know about their relationship, she couldn’t make a fuss, so dealing with her wasn’t draining energy Andi didn’t have to begin with, problem solved beautifully for everybody involved. George was still amazed how Andi’s geschenk—or curse, according to him—put things in perspective. Not always a welcome perspective or one worth embracing, but usually reasonable.
“I’ll have to now. She called while you were outside meditating to tell me she’s coming here with the family to celebrate my birthday since I ‘obviously cannot be bothered to make the trip to Boston,’ per my mother.” He sighed. His mom had no problem being dramatic when it suited her. Like Daniel and Griffin ever came home for their birthdays. No, this was about meeting and judging Andi, and there was no way around it unless they decided to move to the Arctic Circle, and even then, she’d probably take a snowmobile to follow them.
“Not telling her is out of the question?”
“I’m afraid so. We might be able to pull it off—emphasis on might—but she’s not easily fooled. Daniel, on the other hand? He’s the weak link.”
“I can totally see that.” Andi’s gaze became absent-minded, a sure sign that he was receiving. “You’re not as agitated as I assumed you’d be after keeping it from her.”
George shrugged, almost dropping one of the cookie dough clumps. “I knew it was coming, I guess. The peace was nice while it lasted though.”
“When are you going to call her?”
“After the cookies. Probably. Perhaps. For this, I need sugar.” George placed the last batch of cookies on the tray before sliding them into the oven.
“And afterward, you can go for a long run to soothe your conscience and let off steam.”
George went over to kiss Andi’s forehead. “You know me too well. Want to come with me?”
The look he got was pure gold.
“And subject myself to a lecture about how important personal fitness is? Please. Me and the cookies…we’re going to wait for you here.”
George laughed because his grumpy boyfriend was a lot fitter than he gave himself credit for. His occasional nagging was an attempt to establish a more regular routine for Andi. So far, he has yet to succeed. Andi had a healthy distrust of things he called regulated fun, and when George had assured him that he could make the workouts anything but fun, Andi had uttered some colorful words in Bavarian and left. So yes, work in progress. Slow and long progress.
Half an hour later, George left Andi with the remaining cookies and their tiny housemates to burn the calories he had just taken in and to ponder how best to broach the subject of his relationship with Andi to his mother. He came back exhausted, sweaty, and not really wiser, but Andi had found a college basketball game on TV, successfully distracting him for the rest of the evening. Postponing the call was inevitable when there were sports to watch, or so he told himself.
CHAPTER 2
A NEW CASE?
When they entered the precinct the next morning, Detective Sandra Mescew greeted them with a wave. Andi waved back, something he wouldn’t have done four months ago, but since they had worked on the serial killer case together, Sandra and her partner, Tobias Gentry, had somehow stayed friendly with them, but certainly not based on any encouragement from Andi. He could tolerate them both because they were decent detectives who brought their own specialties to the table but getting used to colleagues greeting him “just because” was still difficult. His fellow detectives as well as the beat officers usually knew better than to approach him in any way unless it absolutely couldn’t be helped. It was probably George’s fault, Andi decided. His partner was a team player at heart, inviting people to come and stay close, even if they weren’t needed any longer. With him as a buffer, though, Andi found he didn’t mind it too much.
