“Want a beer, babe?” he called, and Joshua shook his head.
“No, thanks.” He moved around the couch and fell onto it, leaving his luggage where he’d dropped it. He stared into the unlit fireplace and drew in a deep breath. “Smells like home,” he murmured.
“What?” Colin asked as he moved through the dining room, a beer bottle in his hand.
“Nothing, sweetie. I just said that it smells like home.”
Colin gave a soft chuckle and fell onto the couch beside him. He waved the bottle in Joshua’s face. “Are you sure?”
“I’m beyond sure. I’m barely conscious, and we still haven’t had dinner. What the helltimeis it anyway?”
“Seven thirty, actually closer to eight.”
Joshua grunted out an unhappy noise.
“Missing the Lido?” Colin asked with a quick grin. “We could dash up there at any hour, and just like magic, there was tons of wonderful food.” He nudged Joshua’s arm. “Let’s DoorDash it, babe. It’s too late for you to start cooking.”
“I don’t feel like we did Alaska justice,” Joshua told him. “I feel like we barely skimmed the surface.”
Colin shrugged and leaned back on the couch, stretching out and resting his feet on the coffee table. “We only had a few days, and it’s a big state.” He shot a sideways glance at Joshua. “We’ll go back if you like.”
Joshua shrugged.
“Hey! We petted a whale! We saved an eagle. We performed at a festival?—”
“Youperformed at a festival. I watched.”
“We watched our best friends win a dance contest. We walked in an old-growth forest.” He dropped his arm around Joshua’s shoulders. “I even helped solve a crime, andyou,” he added, his grin growing more expansive, “got into a knock-down, drag-out with the FBI!” He snugged Joshua closer to him. “And we kissed under the midnight sky. I’d call that a full, rich Alaska experience.”
“I suppose the fact that I didn’t get arrested and locked away in some federal penitentiary counts as a win.”
“It’s not against the law to sass the FBI, much as they might wish it were.”
“And Monday, it’s back to work.”
Colin nodded. “And my desk will be piled high with manila folders, each holding a case that Norm has handpicked to pay me back for being gone for a week.”
Joshua snickered and leaned against Colin’s shoulder. “That’s what bosses are for. And what do you want for dinner?”
“I’ll have insufficient evidence and risk of prosecutorial misconduct coming out my ass,” Colin grumbled, then glanced at Joshua. “Burger Bach?”
Joshua got up and wandered toward the kitchen, lifting his cell phone as he walked. “Unhealthy, but acceptable. I’m not in the mood to argue about it.”
Colin looked around, feeling slightly disoriented. After the open-air expanse of the cruise ship and the constant companionship of their two best friends, the spacious emptiness of their home felt odd. And yet, being here with his husband gave him more comfort than anything else. This was their safety, their sanctuary. After surviving two life-threatening ordeals and the PTSD symptoms that accompanied those experiences, this was always the place for which they both yearned. Here… and Ireland. His eyes swung to the mantle and came to rest on a picture of himself, Joshua, and his aunt Aileen. They were seated on the wide porch of her house in Killarney. All three were laughing, and their faces reflected the pure joy of the moment.
“Damn!” he whispered.
Since he was a child, he often traveled to the Emerald Isle to visit his relatives, and his Aunt Aileen’s home in Killarney was the place Colin considered his second home. He had spent every summer there and loved the picturesque Irish town where he and Joshua hoped to retire one day. The rugged mountains, pristine lakes, and beautiful Irish countryside felt mystical to him. He spent hours watching the mists roll in from the surrounding mountains, shrouding the ancient forests and tranquil lakes in an ethereal veil and felt transported to another, more serene realm.
In the days following his sister Kathy’s death, the grieving fourteen-year-old wandered alone on the trails of Killarney National Park. He listened as the whisper of the ancient trees mingled with the gentle lapping of the waves on Lough Leane and felt his sister’s presence at his side. The transcendent beauty of this land they both loved touched his heart with memories, and his wounded soul began to heal.
And yet this simple home on the banks of the Rivanna River remained Colin’s most treasured location. As a child, Joshua had endured physical and emotional abuse from his alcoholic father. Here, Colin believed, he could keep Joshua safe. Behind these locked doors, no evil of the world could touch them.
“Thirty minutes,” Joshua said, interrupting his thoughts. I got your usual order with your beloved curried honey Dijon dipping sauce,” he added with a grin.
“Ah,” Colin breathed out. “Life is good.”
“Well, the dipping sauce is good; that much is certain,” Joshua told him, settling on the couch.
