Throwing Stones

Chapter 3






Mel and Gus walked out of the path and into the clearing by the stream. They stopped to take in the beauty and tranquility of the spot for a moment.

“It hasn’t changed,” Melanie observed. “It’s still beautiful.”

Gus nodded. “Want to sit on the big rock?” he asked.

Melanie followed her son over to the big rock. She wasn’t sure where to begin with her talk with Gus. She didn’t want to be shut out of his life, and that was how she felt when he refused to come to Portland. She knew deep in her heart that Kinney had something to do with that decision. God, she detested that man.

Gus sat down on the big rock wondering how he could convince his mother that he couldn’t come to Portland this summer, but that he still loved her and wasn’t trying to drive her out of his life. She seemed calm at the moment as she sat down beside him. He could only hope she’d be reasonable.

“I always love it here,” Gus said hoping to break the ice with a neutral topic.

“Is this why you won’t come to Portland this summer? You can’t drag yourself away from here?” Melanie asked sarcastically.

“Mama…”

“Don’t Mama me, young man. You know you had an obligation to come visit me this summer.”

“Obligation?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t consider visiting you an obligation,” Gus said slowly.

“What word would you use – a trial, a burden, a tedious responsibility?”

“Mama, I don’t think of it as any of those things. I want to visit you.”

“Yeah, right,” Melanie scoffed. “That’s why I had to come here and suffer through being treated like a second class citizen, an outcast.”

“Nobody’s treated you like that,” Gus protested.

“That’s how it feels to me.”

“Then maybe you’re reading it wrong.”

“Don’t fucking tell me how I should feel,” Melanie stated, her voice verging on hysterical.

“I … I’m not trying to tell you how to feel. Can we just talk calmly … please?”

“I thought that’s what we were doing,” Mel snapped.

Gus sighed. This was certainly going well. “When do you have to go back?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Melanie said bitterly. “But I guess that’s not soon enough to suit you. I’m sure you’d prefer if I left tonight.”

“No, Mama, I don’t want you to leave. I never wanted you to go to Portland.”

“Is that the problem? I was supposed to stay here and be miserable. You resent that I’ve found happiness,” Melanie said with a note of glee in her voice, like this revelation made it possible to understand everything that had happened.

“I don’t resent your happiness. I’m glad you’re happy,” Gus said sincerely.

“Well, you’d never know it by your actions.”

“Mama, I’ve been working really hard with Uncle John. I’m really tired. Maybe we should go back.”

“Can’t even stand to spend half an hour with me,” Melanie spat out. “Kinney has really turned you against me.”

“Nobody’s turned me against you. I can’t do this anymore,” Gus said standing up. “This is pointless.”

“Talking to your mother is pointless. That’s just perfect.”

“That isn’t what I said, but trying to have a conversation with you is impossible. I’m sorry we can’t get along better.” Gus started walking back towards the path.

“Wait!” Melanie commanded.

Gus stopped and turned around. “I don’t see any point in continuing with this, Mama. I’m going back to the house.”

“Gus...”

Gus could almost hear a note of pleading in her voice. “If you promise not to vent all your frustrations at me,” Gus said reasonably, “I’ll stay and talk. Otherwise, I’m gone.”

“Stay, please.”

“Okay, but no more criticism of me … or Pop.”

Melanie made a face but she nodded in agreement. “Do you really have to be here all summer?” she asked sounding more like the mother he knew and loved, not the strident shrew who had been attacking him.

“I made an agreement with Uncle John, Mama. I have to honor it. I want to honor it. I’m good at what I do, and I want this project to be great. I need to be here.”

“What about the end of the summer, before you go back to school?”

“What about it?”

“Could you come visit me for a few days?”

Gus was torn. He wanted to spend his time with Ray before he went back to school, but he wanted to please his mother, and she was being reasonable … for once. “Could Ray come with me?” Gus asked as the thought struck him. “I’d have to talk to him about it, but if he was willing…”

“You’d bring Ray with you?”

“That’s what I’m asking. I don’t want to leave him when we could have a few more days together before classes start.”

Melanie felt the smile spread across her face. “You’d really come and bring your boyfriend with you?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh Gus, I love you so much,” Melanie said, quickly crossing the distance between them and pulling her son into a fierce hug.

“I love you too, Mama,” Gus said. She was squeezing the air out of him, but it felt better than anything else they had done all afternoon.

“Gus, if Ray will come with you … that would be wonderful.”

“I’m sure he will,” Gus said hoping that Ray would be agreeable to this new plan.

“Gus, can we sit down again, and you can tell me all about this filming you’re doing.”

“Sure, Mama.”

Melanie took her son’s hand and they walked back to the big rock.



*****



“Is Gus ever coming back, Dada?” Bree asked.

Lunch had been cleared away, and the guests at Edna’s Treasures were sitting around in the backyard enjoying sun or shade as each preferred. Lemonade and iced tea were plentiful. It was a quiet afternoon before people had to make their way back to the city for work the next day.

“I’m sure he and his mother will be along soon,” Brian replied looking at the entrance to the path to the stream. He hoped things were going all right between mother and son. He was prepared to rip Melanie Marcus a new one if she hurt Gus.

“I want to play with him,” Bree pouted.

“Gus has other responsibilities, Squirt. He can’t always play with you.”

“Yes he can,” Bree contradicted.

“Briana…” Brian’s voice was ominous. Bree knew that tone all too well.

“Will you play with me, Dada?”

“What do you want to play?”

“I don’t know. Gus always thinks up good stuff to do.”

“Like what?” Brian asked.

“Like playing tea party and using British accents and pretending we’re Hudson,” Bree said.

“Is that right?” Brian chuckled. “Can I hear your English accent?”

“British, Dada.”

“British accent,” Brian amended.

Bree raised her nose up in the air and stood very straight and tall for all her petite size. “My de-ah Mr. Kinney, would you like lemon with your tea?”

Brian laughed. “I think I better leave the British accents to you, Gus and Hudson.”

“You can do it, Dada,” Bree encouraged him.

Brian shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Please, Dada.”

Brian cleared his throat. “What would you enjoy for breakfast, Miss Briana? We have tea and crumpets or some very delicious porridge.”

“Ooh, porridge,” Bree giggled.

“Did my British accent pass muster?”

“You done good, Dada, but you need to stick your nose up in the air.”

“I see,” Brian said. “Shall I try it again with nose suitably elevated?”

Bree giggled some more. “Yes, Dada.”

“They’re something together, aren’t they?” Lindsay said as she pulled a chair up next to Lorna’s under one of the trees. Lorna had been watching Brian Kinney and his daughter. The man was quite fascinating.

“They’re quite adorable,” Lorna replied, surprised that Lindsay Peterson would be talking to her.

Lindsay laughed. “I’ll have to tell Brian you think he’s adorable. He’ll be in a right huff about that.”

“He doesn’t like adorable?”

“He doesn’t do adorable. He thinks he’s this fierce, brutal, alpha male. But we all know he’s a big marshmallow.”

“Mel certainly doesn’t know that.”

“Mel could never see past Brian’s reputation … which he carefully cultivates. She always wanted to believe the worst of him.”

Lorna raised an eyebrow. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I thought it might help you understand the dynamics of Mel and Brian Kinney. It’s a pretty complex non-relationship.”

“I’d say that’s the understatement of the century.”

Lindsay looked thoughtful for a moment, then she said, “Are you and Mel happy?”

“What’s happy?” Lorna asked ambiguously. “We get along well and the sex is great.”

Lindsay chuckled. “She said you were straightforward.”

“So’s she. Sometimes that causes…”

“Dissension?”

“Something like that.”

“I understand.”

“I bet you do,” Lorna said softly. “I have to say that this place and the people in it are quite surprising – not at all what I expected.”

“Not at all what Melanie told you it would be.”

“She has a rather narrow view of this place,” Lorna admitted. “And especially of…” She glanced over at Brian and Bree.

“Brian Kinney,” Lindsay said finishing the sentence. Lorna nodded. “There’s no point in trying to change her mind about Brian. I tried for almost twenty years, unsuccessfully I might add. Good luck, Lorna. I hope you and Melanie make a go of it.” Lindsay stood up.

“You mean that, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes I do. I don’t bear her any malice … although I couldn’t have said that a few months ago. I like my life now. And you can tell Melanie just that,” Lindsay said before she walked away.



*****



The boys of Edna’s Treasures wound up converging on the lane in front of the new cottage. Cottage, more like a stone house similar to the toll house, but not a house in the truest sense of the word. It was wider than their cottages and taller but had a quaint old country look to it that gave you that cottage feeling. There was no basement so John had designed a small utility room to house a compact washer/dryer, the water heater and the furnace, even though the home had several fireplaces which could be the main source of heat. The furnace would be kept running at the minimum throughout the winter when no one was in residence so that the pipes wouldn’t freeze.

The structure had a main first floor with a large communal kitchen, a spacious living room with the fireplace as its central feature, and a bathroom in between two small bedrooms. The second floor had a kitchenette, a smaller sitting room with fireplace, three bedrooms, and a large bathroom that John had designed to open onto a private deck so one could use the hot tub he had installed. The bedrooms all had their own balconies that could comfortably accommodate a chaise and some chairs.

Considering the size of their “cwazy wittle” family, John decided to construct an attic loft room. Using Brian’s loft as an example, John had designed a glass enclosed bathroom in one corner. The glass was a deep smoky mahogany for privacy and thick enough to muffle most sounds. It was complete with a small stall shower. The attic room also had a small kitchenette, a large platform bed and room for plenty of large thick throw pillows. He designed it to be either a little love nest, or for a solitary guest who just needed a private place to get their thoughts together.

While the whole house could accommodate several families to live in almost a communal fashion, there was plenty of privacy built in as well.

“Wow! Can I move in here?” Justin said as he examined the loft room.

“Planning on leaving me, Sunshine?” Brian asked with an arch of his infamous brow. He managed the stairs well and was rather pleased with himself. He felt the strength in his foot coming back although he still had to be very careful and not overdo.

“No, but it would have been nice to live in something like this when I was younger.”

“Like you’re so old now. And if you remember, you did live in a place like this, my loft.”

“Right, your loft.”

“Justin...” Brian gave Justin a pained look. Justin could see regret flash across the handsome face. He immediately went into Brian’s arms.

“No apologies, no regrets. I had the best life when I was a kid and an even better life now. I’m just saying that any homo would give up his best clubbing clothes to be able to live in a place like this.”

“As I recall, Emmett did just that for a while,” Brian said with amusement in his voice. “John, this is beyond what I had expected,” Brian said by way of praise that he was never very free with. “They’ll be beating down a path to our door to book this place.”

“Don’t worry,” John began as they started back down the stairs. “I believe Bobby has decided to be the keeper of that ‘book.’ Babe?”

“I’ve started a priority list. But I wanted to confirm something with you first and without breaking any confidences,” Bobby said with a serious tone.

When they were standing in front of the large main floor fireplace, Bobby turned to address the boys.

“When Ben and Michael were here for Memorial Day, was it my imagination or was Michael not quite his usual whiny self?”

“No, it wasn’t your imagination but I’m really not at liberty to elaborate,” Brian said hoping Bobby would take the hint.

“That’s fine. Then my proposal is to offer first choice to Ben and Michael then Lindsay and her girls second,” Bobby said with his usual cool logic. Brian nodded in agreement. “I have another suggestion,” Bobby went on. He received three sets of eyes all looking at him in anticipation. “If what I surmised is true about Michael, perhaps it may be prudent to offer the loft to your resident therapist. From what I see, he and Todd appear to have hit it off.”

The boys chuckled and John slapped Brian on the back.

“Matchmaker,” he mumbled to his brother. Brian gave him the ‘who me?’ look.

“It’ll give Gerry and Todd some privacy to get to know each other,” Bobby said ignoring the laughter at his Biblical double entendre. “Aaannd...if Gerry’s services are required by Michael and Ben, he’ll be right here.”

The boys all nodded. Bobby’s logic was infallible.

“John, I know you said mid August but can you double team your guys?” Justin asked as they walked out the front door. It was still too early to put down a lawn but John had Brian and Todd already working on the plans for the landscaping. Given three good days, the landscapers of the garden center could have the whole area planted.

“Gordon and I already had that conversation. We were surprised how well the interns banded together and took direction from their mentors. I have the inspectors coming in a few days, the plumbing fixtures will be delivered by Friday and Emmett has the furniture on standby,” John said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Are you sure having Emmett involved is a good thing?” Bobby asked sotto voce although there was no one but them around. John laughed.

“Come to the work tent,” John beckoned; the boys followed like baby ducks. Displayed on easels were the layouts of each floor of the cottage. Included were artist renditions of the completed rooms with the furniture and fabric swatches.

“This reminds me of Emm’s dream cottage, shaker, if I’m not mistaken,” Brian commented.

“Very good. It is exactly. The furnishings have a country feel to them, however not too masculine or feminine. Neutral without being bland.”

“Very earthy,” Justin said as he perused the plans with a critical artist’s eye.

“That they are but not too muddy or dark,” John added.

“It’s beautiful. I’m so proud of you,” Bobby said as he threw his arms around his spouse.

“What? You think just because I usually work in glass and steel, I can’t do quaint?” John teased. No one believed that at all. His work on the lane, the toll house and the cottage he restored for Leda and Jamie were evidence enough.

“You are the queen of cottages,” Brian teased with a smirk as he ducked his brother’s hand.

“King of cottages!” Justin laughed as he back peddled out of John’s reach.

“Don’t listen to these two reprobates,” Bobby came to his partner’s defense. “You are the doctor of cottages!” Bobby pronounced.

“Out of my tent,” John scolded as he pointed toward the doorway. “Cretins, all of you,” he shouted good-naturedly as they laughed. “Wouldn’t know a good building plan if it bit you on the ass,” he mumbled then laughed to himself. His heart was so full of love for his family that when he joined them out on the lane, John had a kiss and a hug for all.

“Big softy,” Bobby murmured as he wrapped an arm around John’s waist.

“I’ll show you who’s soft,” John replied with a pinch to his lover’s side. Bobby took up the challenge.

“Gotta catch me first!” he shouted as he took off at a run towards the woods.

“Hey!” John yelled then took off after him. Brian and Justin stood in the lane laughing as John’s long legs were a good match for Bobby. John caught his spouse and they toppled over into a patch of soft grass.

“Watson, I do believe we’ve seen the last of them for a while,” Brian snarked in his best Holmesian voice.

“Indubitably, my dear Holmes, indubitably,” Justin replied.

“Ya know we could follow their example," Brian said as he waggled his eyebrows getting a one hundred watt smile from Justin.

“Your brother is a doctor now. And it’s always wise to follow your doctor’s advice,” Justin commented with a coy smile.

“Now yer talkin’, Sunshine!” Brian carefully took Justin into his arms to kiss him, pouring all his love into the younger man. Brian felt the strain of the last few weeks finally begin to slip away. He knew Justin’s head wasn’t completely in a good place but it was a start.

“I love you, Brian,” Justin whispered when he was let up for air.

“I know,” Brian replied then went back to kissing the life back into his prince.



*****



“You know, whatever she told you about him is a lie,” Debbie said as she walked up to Lorna. Lorna decided to walk off the delicious lunch by strolling the lane. She stopped, fascinated by the sight of Brian embracing Justin with such tenderness she didn’t think possible for a man to exhibit.

“How do you know what she told me?” Lorna snapped back. She was beginning to resent having to defend Melanie all the time.

“Because I know how she gets when she talks about Brian. I love Melanie; she’s the mother of my granddaughter. But I also know how stubborn she can be. They’re both so alike some times. Brian is no way near perfect and he’d be the first to admit it, but the very act of him breathing irritates Melanie. He’s done nothing to deserve her hatred except live life the way he sees fit. I always suspected she was jealous.”

“Why?”

“Aside from the fact that his balls are bigger than hers, she resents that he’s always done what he wants when he wanted. He wasn’t born with money. He was a poor Irish kid from the wrong side of the tracks with an abusive father and an alcoholic mother. And his sister wasn’t worth a damn. He studied and worked hard for everything he’s gotten, for every penny he’s made, and for some reason, Mel hates it. I think when he finally reconciled with his mother and sister, it might have made things worse for Melanie.”

“She’s never resolved things with her family,” Lorna stated.

“You look like a very smart woman, draw your own conclusions,” Debbie counseled as she returned to the cottage.

“Good advice,” Lorna murmured, still unable to tear her eyes away from Brian loving his spouse.