Chapter 8: Calvin

“Man, come on,” Gage said, pausing to take a sip of his green drink and then grimacing. Calvin was scared to even ask what was in it. “I know you’re stressed about this whole Save Silver Lake thing, but it can’t be that bad, right?”

Calvin shrugged and poked at the sandwich that was sitting, half-eaten, on his desk. “It feels that bad, Gage. It really does. It’s been almost a week since the meeting, and I still don’t have anything that could even generously be called a plan for what we should be doing. People ask me every day and I just… don’t know.”

“I thought that guy—your ex-boyfriend or whatever—was sending you some stuff to look over.”

Calvin shot him ‘A Look’ and shook his head. “You’re lucky you’re out of reach, and that you have like two hundred pounds of muscles. Jack is not my ex. He was a good friend and that’s all.”

Gage smirked as Calvin’s eyes narrowed. After three years of their businesses being next door to each other, Gage had heard enough pieces of the story to know very well that Jack was only a friend.

Used to be a friend.

An ex-friend, maybe.

But definitely not an ex-boyfriend.

“You have to admit I got your mind off business for a minute, though,” Gage said, taking another drink and making a face again. For once, Calvin didn’t feel too bad about how awful it must taste. “But fine… your friend, Jack… he sent you some stuff to read, right?”

“He emailed a few things on Monday, yeah,” Calvin acknowledged. “But there’s a lot of it that just feels so… I don’t even know how to explain it, honestly. It probably makes me a bad business owner to admit that I’ve never worried about marketing or had a particularly well-thought-out business plan, but… I kind of just do what feels right, you know? I treat people how I’d like to be treated, and that has worked out okay for me so far. But it’s not like I can promise that approach will work for someone else’s business.”

“It does sort of work,” Gage said. “Because that’s what I try to do, too. But being a nice guy only helps business so much. I feel like I should be doing more to take things to the next level, but I don’t know what. That’s why I was so excited for you to take up this cause, because I think it really will benefit everyone on Main Street once we get it figured out.”

Darren walked out from under Calvin’s desk to rub against his legs, and Calvin absently reached down to pet him as he thought about what Gage had just said. He didn’t normally let Darren roam around the shop, but it was raining outside and Calvin couldn’t just leave him out there. Plus, he liked having the cat around. It was comforting.

And Calvin could use a little comfort today.

“That cat gets fatter by the day, I swear,” Gage said, eyeing Darren. “How much does he weigh?”

“Hey, don’t body shame my cat,” Calvin shot him a mock glare. “And I don’t know how much he weighs—not that it matters—because he doesn’t like to be picked up. I tried once and he sort of freaked out, so now I respect his boundaries.” He stroked Darren’s back and smiled as the cat purred appreciatively. “Anyway, I’m sure the vet will weigh him when I take him in. Until then, I don’t mind that he’s getting to be a little on the fluffier side.”

Gage held up his hands, surrendering. “Okay, okay. Man, I’m batting a thousand with you today, hm? First with your boyfr—your, uh, friend, and then with the cat. You know I’m just teasing, though, right? Just trying to keep your head from exploding.”

Calvin sat back in his chair and gave his friend a weary smile. “I do know, and I appreciate the distraction… well, most of the time. But I am glad I have you to vent to. It’s important to remember that all of us who own businesses here are going through the same thing. I just wish I had more answers—better answers—to the questions everyone keeps throwing at me.”

“We’ll get through this,” Gage said. “We all look up to you for the way you spoke up at that meeting. Hell, I’ve looked up to you for years—you know you’re the reason why I ever had the balls to come out of the closet. And just like you predicted back then, my business thrived afterward. It didn’t crumble down around me, like I had feared. I owe you so much, and if there’s anything I can do to make things easier, just let me know.”

Calvin blinked hard, fighting back the hot prick of tears that were welling up. It made his heart happy to see how far Gage had come from the insecure, closeted teen he’d been when he’d first walked into Calvin’s bookstore all those years ago.

“You give me too much credit,” Calvin said, smiling widely even though he was shaking his head. “But I appreciate that. You’re a good friend, Gage.”

“And so are you—”

They both jerked their heads in the direction of the door as they heard the tell-tale jingle from the front of the store. Calvin stifled a sigh as he stood up from his desk, the sandwich he’d brought for lunch still mostly uneaten.

“You didn’t think you’d get through an entire lunch without being interrupted, did you?” Gage asked, waiting for Calvin to walk out of the office before following and closing the door behind them.

“No, but that’s okay, it sort of comes with the territory—”

Calvin stopped dead in his tracks as he made it past the tall bookshelves and into view of the front door, barely aware that Gage had nearly run him over from behind.

“Wha—” Gage started to ask, but Calvin was already moving forward again, blocking out everything except the impossible sight just a few yards in front of him.

It felt like the world was moving in slow motion—or maybe everything had sped up, Calvin couldn’t really tell. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything except stare, open-mouthed as his legs carried him toward the front of the store.

Toward the man who Calvin hadn’t seen in a decade, but would have recognized anywhere.

It was impossible, though, right? It couldn’t be…

But it was. He was right there, looking nervous and self-conscious and so unbelievably perfect that Calvin still couldn’t be sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Calvin’s mouth was dry, and he had to open and close it several times before finally getting a single word out, a single name.

“Jack.”