Chapter 58

“And they made me wrap some tinsel around my, uh, hose, ‘cause I was Mr. December,” Zach said.

Barry and his men laughed.

“I wanted to call the calendar ‘Guns ‘n’ Hoses,’ but my boss overruled me,” Sammy announced.

“And I should have listened to you,” Calvin called out across the room.

Sammy smiled. “He hasn’t turned down any of my suggestions since.”

Their entrées arrived and conversation was muted for a while.

The chicken fried steak was served with cream gravy, poblano cornbread, tomatoes stuffed with rice, veggies, cheese and topped with toasted breadcrumbs. If that wasn’t enough, there was also a broccoli-cheese casserole. The salad was wedges of iceberg lettuce with an avocado-lime dressing.

Jake shook his head and sighed. “I’ll be putting on a few more pounds before tonight’s over.”

Zach laughed. “Sammy only lets us eat here every other week or so.”

“If it was up to you two, we’d be here every other night.”

Zach grinned. “What’s wrong with that?”

“You wouldn’t be able to squeeze into those burning buildings, and Eric wouldn’t be able to run after and catch the bad guys.”

“I’m a detective. I leave the running after bad guys to the rookies,“ Eric said.

“I don’t know how you cope with the worry,” Barry said to Sammy. “Ranching isn’t the safest of jobs, but…”

Sammy swallowed and briefly took Eric’s right hand and Zach’s left. “It isn’t easy. But those are the jobs they’ve chosen to do and they enjoy them and…” He swallowed again.

As Barry watched Zach and Eric offer reassurances to their lover, he apologized and said he shouldn’t have brought up the subject.

“It’s okay,” Sammy said. “So far these two have managed to stay safe and I pray they always will.”

“We’ll do our best,” Zach and Eric said, kissing their man on the cheek.

Determined to lighten the mood, Barry said, “These stuffed tomahtoes are awesome.”

“You’re English,” Eric said. “I did wonder but wasn’t sure.”

Barry smiled. “Normally my American accent doesn’t slip, but we’ve just come back from a visit to the UK.”

“Really? It’s a place we’d love to visit, but getting vacation time for all three of us at the same time is near impossible.” More loudly he said, “My boss only lets me have a half day’s unpaid vacation once every leap year.”

“Yeah, right,” Calvin said. “You go on more vacations than I do.”

Sammy laughed.

Jake went on to tell their dining companions about Ranch-O-Rama and how Barry had developed it.

“Really?” Sammy said. “I’ll have to check it out.”

Barry remembered how Jake, with obvious pride, had told every member of staff he met at the Apple store about their game and how it had just won awards. The staff had all been professional and polite, but it was obvious none had heard of the game. Poor Jake had been somewhat crestfallen until Barry told him there were many thousands of games in the app store.

“But how many of those thousands just won three awards?” Jimmy had piped up.

Between mouthfuls of food, Jimmy and Jake told Zach, Eric, and Sammy about how the game was based on their real lives. To give the three New Yorkers their due, they did seem genuinely interested.

Barry concentrated mostly on the food, wondering if he could get the recipe for the avocado-lime dressing. He knew though it was pointless to ask. He’d tried before to get a recipe out of Matthew and the chef had remained tight-lipped.

And thinking of…Matthew and Andrew started to do the rounds, spending a few minutes talking to the people at each table. Barry remembered this practice from previous visits and how intimate and friendly it made the dining experience feel.

He’d noticed when he’d hugged Andrew that the man was thicker around the waist. Not surprising given how much amazing food he came into contact with each day. But looking at Matthew from across the room, and despite the kitchen whites, Barry was certain the chef had lost quite a bit of weight.

Barry was brought out of his musings by a dig in the ribs from Jake. “You’re drooling.”

“It’s the great food.”

Jake wore his ‘you’re full of shit’ smile.

“Relax, handsome. I only have eyes for cowboys. Two in particular,” Barry told him.

Jake’s smile changed to one of satisfaction. “I know, I was just checking.”

Barry leaned over and gave his man a kiss. “And I love you for it.”

Barry resumed his meal but almost immediately Jimmy asked where his kiss was.

Barry rolled his eyes and set down his silverware.