Page 72 of Beyond the Hedge Maze

He took a swig of the offered drink. “Someone who’s not me should absolutely do that. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to finally speak to an adult.”

The looks of displeasure on Rose and Jesse’s face were nearly identical, and with the whiskey settling warm in his stomach, he had an absurd instinct to laugh. Even if they had worked out the particulars of the long term, there was no guarantee they’d make it past the next year, maybe not even the next six months.

“I have some thoughts about the roof situation. Remember our chat this morning? You keep forgetting the ace in your back pocket.” The group focused on Cillian, his kind face relaxed into an easy smile as everyone around the table waited for him to finish his thought. “The village.”

“I don’t understand,” Oliver replied.

“You’ve done your best, son, of keeping things afloat by yourself. Ben tried to do the same. But, like the lads said, tourism for Chapman is good for the entire community. Why not ask the village for help?”

“Like donations?”

“Eugene said there used to be events on the grounds. Why not host a fair of some sort? There’s plenty of crafty folks spread out around our village and the county; they can set up booths and sell their items. We could charge them a fee to hold a place. Plenty of farmers will be wanting to sell their produce from the autumn harvest.”

“Not to mention we could sell tickets for general entry, separate tickets for the maze,” Luis added.

“How are you paying Terry for the repairs? Installments?” Cillian asked.

“We paid him a deposit, and I’m supposed to pay another before work starts in two weeks.”

Rose frowned in concentration, and Oliver could see the wheels spinning. How she was working through everything that would need to be done and organized. “That’s an awful lot of work to be done in two weeks.

Oliver smiled, realizing he and Jesse had their own aces. He looked at his boyfriend and watched as his own eyes lit up in recognition.

At the same time they spoke, “The girls.”

“I’ll call Rachel in the morning. You’ll call Tanvi and Michelle?”

“Of course, cariño.”

With a new plan in place, the events of the day caught up to Oliver all at once. A yawn suddenly overtook him, and Jesse pushed away from the table, standing up.

Jesse held his hand out to him, and Oliver took it without hesitation. “I think we’re going to call it a night.”

Oliver kissed Rose’s cheek goodnight and accepted a lingering hug from Cillian as Jesse did the same with his father. Luis was heading back to the bed and breakfast in the village, even though Oliver had tried to insist he stay there.

He let Jesse take hold of his hand and guide him through the familiar halls of Chapman House. Oliver still noticed the imperfections. It would take a complete rewiring of his brain for him not to notice. But instead of it filling him with dread, it sparked a different emotion. It sparked a challenge. There were tools at his disposal, a team of people at his back to support him.

Jesse opened the door to Oliver’s bedroom like it was his own, and another piece of Oliver settled back into place. It hadn’t been that long since their fight, but he had missed Jesse’s presence in the space like a phantom limb.

Instead of going straight to bed, Jesse led them both to the bathroom. He let go of Oliver’s hand and went straight for the porcelain clawfoot tub, twisting the squeaky knobs until he found the temperature he was looking for. Water spilled from the showerhead, steam quickly filling up the small room. The tub was barely big enough to fit them both standing, the curtain flimsy and liable to shift and move, causing water to drip all over the tiled floor.

“All right?” Jesse was watching him with concern. Oliver tried his best to give him a smile, but his eyes were drooping, exhaustion hitting him like a freight train.

“Tired.”

“Shower then bed. Arms up.”

That earned a chuckle out of Oliver. “I can undress myself.”

“Or you let me do it and hush.”

“Bossy.”

Oliver lifted his arms and Jesse clumsily pulled the quarter-zip off his torso. The neck caught on his glasses, knocking them askew, and Jesse mumbled out an apology and completely removed them, resting them on the sink.

Oliver’s heart was impossibly full as Jesse continued undressing him. Each thump pumped so much blood into the organ that it threatened to burst as each article of clothing was removed. Once he was naked, Oliver stepped over the tub’s threshold and positioned himself under the spray. The water was just on the side of too hot, exactly how he liked it.

Jesse quickly undressed and joined him, putting the shower curtain back into position. Oliver moved as much as he could to give him room to get under the water with him, but mostly they skirted around each other. If they ever got their finances in order, the first thing Oliver was going to do was build them a proper shower.