“We’re fine out here. Go finish your inspection,” David told him, waving him away.
Colin reclaimed Joshua’s hand and led him up the stairs and into their bedroom. “Mygod, Josh,” he whispered, gazing around. “I can’t get over how much bigger it is.” He spun to face him. “OK. We’re getting the chest of drawers that matches our bed. We didn’t have the room before… but we do now.”He circled the bed, fingers brushing the carved woodwork as he searched for any trace of damage. Finding none, his hand lingered a moment longer before he turned to Joshua with a broad smile. “It looks great!”
“Well, if you lookrealhard—and I mean REAL hard—there are spots where you can still see a bit of black.” He gestured toward their bed. “With that much intricate carving, they were never going to get it all.”
“Hell,” Colin muttered in surprise, peering at the headboard. “You can’t tell anything ever happened.”
“That’s what I’m saying. You’d need a magnifying glass to see it.”
“The comforter?”
Joshua shook his head. “We couldn’t save it, honey. It was too coated with soot and debris.” He took Colin’s arm. “We’ll buy a new one.”
“Fine byme,” Colin said, leaning close to kiss him. “Ilovespending money! Especially when it’s a gift from the city of Charlottesville.”
“Hardly agift!” Joshua scoffed. “We earned every dime of it.”
Colin glanced down. “New rugs?”
“Couldn’t get the glass out of the old ones. Or the smell of smoke.”
Colin grunted out an unhappy noise. “I remember when we bought those rugs.” He sighed and knelt, running his fingers over a new one. “I like these, though. I love the colors.” His eyes met Joshua’s. “You picked them?”
“I did.”
“Great taste.”
They moved to the study, and Colin ran his hands over the cherrywood desk, Joshua’s gift when he graduated from law school. “This looksgreat!”
“The door was shut, so the damage was minimal. Most of your law books were in your CAO office, but the ones that were still here are in decent shape.”
They wandered back down the stairs, and Colin strode to the kitchen. “Does the fridge work?” he called over his shoulder.
“Open it and see!”
Colin yanked the door open and laughed out loud. The fridge was nearly empty—except for three full shelves of Murphy’s Irish Stout. He grabbed four cans and headed back to Joshua. “Let’s sit on the porch.”
They joined their friends on the new and much bigger front porch, and Colin passed out the cans of stout, lifting his toward Joshua in a salute. “You did amazing work while I was dragging my sorry ass around Ireland, my love. Thank you.” He sipped his stout, then bent and kissed the top of Joshua’s head. “And I apologize.”
“Forwhat?” Nate asked. “Don’t start that again, Campbell! You did nothing wrong.”
Colin smiled and ruffled Nate’s hair. “Point taken.” Then his gaze shifted, and he frowned, his eyes seeking Joshua’s. “But I left you to deal with a lot all by yourself.”
“You did what Iwantedyou to do,” Joshua told him. “What Iaskedyou to do! I bought your ticket, remember?”
“And,” David added, his voice low. “You were dealing with a lot all byyourself,too.”
Colin sipped his stout and gazed out across their lawn to the river beyond.“Jesus, I don’t—in my entire life—everremember being that… that…”
“Broken?” Joshua offered.
Colin nodded. “More than broken,” he murmured, eyes on the floor. “Lost.”
“So!” David said, breaking the mood. “What’s on your agenda for the rest of the day?”
“I think we’re going to go to Classic Furniture and get, or at leastorder, the chest of drawers that matches our bed.” He turned and grinned at Joshua. “Since our bedroom is now big enough to hold it.” He sipped again. “And while we’re there, we might even look at couches and chairs.”
“And sheer curtains?”
