CHAPTERONE
THE FINAL FRONTIER
Joshua felt his chest seize in fear before he was fully awake. He jerked upright, leaned on an elbow, and held his breath, listening intently. After only a moment, the sound came again, freezing his blood. Someone or somethingwas moving around in the kitchen!
Colin still slept beside him, his soft, even breaths almost touching Joshua’s bare shoulder. “Dammit!” Joshua muttered as he eased out from under the covers, being as quiet as possible. He tiptoed to the bedroom door, where he stood for a moment, listening silently then he glanced back at his sleeping husband and frowned. He knew that Colin would want to be awakened, but he also knew that Colin’s first act upon hearing a sound from below would be to pull his police officer’s revolver from the nearby gun safe, and Joshua did not wantthat.
He inched down the hall and had just reached the top of the stairs when a softly muttered curse from below sent a flood of relief through his chest. He blew out a sigh and started down. “David?” he whispered, recognizing the voice of their best friend David Gardener-Reese. “Is thatyou?”
“Yeah,” David replied. He appeared at the bottom of the steps and peered up at Joshua. “Hi, Josh. I let myself in. I didn’t want to wake you guys, so I made a pot of coffee while I waited for someone to wake up.” His handsome face twisted in a sheepish grimace. “Sorry. I tried to be quiet.”
“Damn, buddy! Call or send a text next time! You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry,” David muttered again, backing into the kitchen as Joshua moved toward him. “Come have some coffee. I need to talk to you about something, and I wanted to do it without Nate around.”
“Is that why you’re lurking in my kitchen at seven in the morning like some kind of cat-burgler?”
“It is,” David said, then waved at the row of coffee mugs on the counter. “Which one is yours?”
“Mine is the onenotcovered in shamrocks or pictures of John Wayne,” Joshua told him, then plopped into a kitchen chair.
“Silly me,” David replied with a quick grin. He filled a mug and sat it in front of Joshua, then took the seat next to him. “Listen. I have a proposition for you two.”
“Do I need to wake Colin?”
“No. You can fill him in, but I need an answer sooner rather than later.”
“What is it?”
David bowed his head briefly, then drew in a deep breath. “A while back, I promised Nate I’d take him on a cruise. It’s always been his dream, but his career has kept him too busy. I had planned to book an Alaska cruise as an anniversary gift...” He glanced up at Joshua. “Then COVID hit.”
“Yeah. Not a good time for cruising.”
David nodded his agreement. “Well, I wouldn’t risk it, and I know damned well Colin wouldn’t.”
Joshua’s eyebrows lifted. “And?” he encouraged.
“So COVID’s over, or at least under control. We’re all vaxxed to the max. So I want the four of us to go on an Alaska cruise to celebrate our sixth anniversary.”
Joshua’s eyes widened. “Wow! That’s in April, right?”
“You ought to know. You two stood up for us. BUT… the cruise I want to book doesn’t sail in April!”
“When does it sail?”
“What the hell’s going on?” Colin’s sleepy voice muttered behind them.
“Colin! Good! Sit down. I made coffee.”
Colin fell into a chair next to Joshua. He squinted up at David as a mug of coffee appeared before him. “Why are you serving me coffee at seven in the morning? In fact, why are you evenhereat seven in the morning!”
“He’s propositioning me,” Joshua told him.
“Well, that’s…” Colin hesitated, then squinted at Joshua. “…unexpected.”
“Not likethat!” David laughed. “I want us to take an Alaska cruise to celebrate Nate’s and my anniversary. Full staterooms, the whole nine yards.”
“Jesus, Professor!” Colin blurted, his coffee mug poised halfway to his mouth. “That’ll cost a small fortune!”
