Little Cabin on the Lane

Chapter 14

Brian pulled the Corvette into one of the last spaces left in the school parking lot.

“I told you we needed to get here early or we’d have to walk a mile down the road,” Justin said smugly.

“We paid for half this fucking place,” Brian snapped as he turned off the engine. “The least they could do is give us our own parking space.”

Justin laughed. “You’ve been hobnobbing with those high powered executives for too long. This is a school. They don’t play favorites.”

“Well they should,” Brian declared as he hoisted his long body out of the low slung car.

“Isn’t it time you got a more practical vehicle,” Justin asked as he slammed the passenger door of the ‘Vette.

“Hey, take it easy on the old lady,” Brian said giving a pat to the hood of the old car.

“Pfft,” Justin reacted.

“Actually, she’s getting old enough to be designated a classic,” Brian said with a faraway look in his eyes.

“Just like you,” Justin whispered softly, “a classic.”

“Pfft,” Brian reacted.

Justin smiled. “You are a classic, and as handsome as you ever were.”

“Stop with the bullshit, or I’ll be fucking you across the hood of this old machine.”

“I doubt your old classic could stand it,” Justin boasted.

It was Brian’s turn to laugh. “Let’s get inside before the Squirt comes looking for us.”

“I hope she’s not too worried about speaking in front of the whole school and all the parents,” Justin said with a worried frown as they walked towards the school entrance.

“When have you known the Squirt to be afraid of anything?”

“Oh, right, I forgot that she’s your daughter.”

“Our daughter, and we raised her to be fearless.”

“Maybe that was a mistake,” Justin said.

“Hey,” Brian said stopping and turning to face his husband. “She’ll be fine,” he said staring into Justin’s eyes. “Stop worrying.”

“Aren’t you even a little worried for her?”

“Nope, she’s a pistol.”

“Nobody better make fun of her,” Justin threatened.

“Why would they make fun of her? Her speech is cute.”

“She’s a little kid. There will be much older kids speaking.”

“Like Patrick,” Brian replied.

“Even older than Patrick.”

“Speaking of which, I don’t see John’s SUV or Bobby’s.”

“They’re probably hiking it down the road right now. I told them to come early.”

“Let’s get some seats so we don’t have to sit in Outer Slobovia,” Brian retorted. “I’d like to be able to see Bree’s face when she does her speech.”

Justin opened the door of the school and headed for the gym. It was already quite full, but they found four seats not in the very back.

“Mr. Kinney, Mr. Taylor,” said a female voice. “I thought I saw you come in. I’m Bree’s teacher.”

“Right,” Brian said standing and shaking the woman’s hand. He sort of wished he knew her name. He was sure he had been told.

“Miss Smithers, nice to see you again,” Justin filled in. He shook her hand too.

“Bree’s so excited about doing her speech. She was very happy you both could be here to hear it.”

“I’m glad I could get back from my business trip in time,” Brian said.

“Well, I hope you’ll enjoy our assembly,” Miss Smithers said before she walked away to speak to some other parents.

“Not bloody likely,” Brian mumbled.

“Stop it. The kids will do a great job with their speeches,” Justin chastised.

“I’m not worried about our kids. It’s the other fifty we have to listen to that I’m worried about,” Brian griped.

“There’s only twelve grades, so that means twelve speeches.”

“Ten too many.”

“You are impossible!” Justin said folding his arms on his chest.

“Not incorrigible?” Brian asked tongue planted firmly in his cheek.

“That too.”

“Good to know I haven’t changed,” Brian snarked.

“Just behave yourself,” Justin commanded.

“Yes, sire.”

“There you are,” John said somewhat out of breath as he arrived at the row of chairs where Brian and Justin were sitting. He dropped into the closest chair. “Thanks for saving us a seat. We had to hike about two miles after we parked the SUV.”

“Hey, move over or let me in,” Bobby ordered. He was still standing at the edge of the row of chairs.

John stood up and Brian and Justin shifted over one seat so that Bobby could sit next to his husband.

“I told you we should have left sooner,” Bobby informed his husband.

“Don’t worry, big bro, I got the same lecture,” Brian whispered to his brother.

“Sh,” Justin said. “They’re starting.”

The principal was calling for silence as the assembly began. Brian managed to sit through the twelve speeches without too much squirming. He even enjoyed a couple of them, besides of course Patrick’s and Bree’s. Many of the speeches were heartfelt, while some were funny. Bree and Patrick both performed admirably. Their parents were very proud.

Bree came racing over to her parents as soon as the assembly was finished. “Did you see me, Daddy, Dada?” Bree asked slightly out of breath.

“I saw you and heard every word, Squirt,” Brian said. “You spoke clearly and loudly enough that we could hear you back here, and so could the parents behind us.”

“You did good, sweetheart,” Justin added. He bent to kiss his daughter’s cheek.

“Thanks, Daddy. I wasn’t nervous or nothin’,” she stated.

“Not even a little?” Justin questioned.

“Maybe a bit,” Bree admitted. “My tummy was full of butterflies.”

The four men laughed gently.

“Nobody would have known,” John said to his niece.

“Thanks, Uncle John. Did you like my speech?”

“I loved it.”

Bree beamed at them all.

“Me too,” Bobby added.

Just then Patrick arrived to get his share of accolades and pats on the back. He was duly modest, but seemed to enjoy all the attention.

“Ready to go home?” Brian asked.

“Yep,” the kids replied.

“You’ll have to go with Uncle John and Uncle Bobby because we came in the Corvette,” Brian explained.

“I could squeeze in,” Bree said wanting to go with her dads.

“It’s not safe,” Justin admonished.

“Come on, Bree,” John said. “It’s only a couple miles down the road to our car.”

“What?” Bree asked, her eyes wide.

“Big bro, how about I drive you to your car, and then we can come back and pick up our loads,” Brian suggested.

“I resent being called a load,” Justin stated with a wink at Bobby.

“Um, let me rephrase that,” Brian said quickly. “We’ll return to pick up our most treasured passengers.”

Justin gave him an elbow to the ribs. “Just get going.”

“I’m going to take us all out for dinner to celebrate our fine speakers,” Brian added. “So, decide where you would like to go.”

“Can I have a Shirley Temple?” Bree asked.

“But of course,” Brian said with a snooty British accent that would do Charles proud. “Someplace fancy then.”

“But of course,” Bree piped up in her own English accent.

They all chuckled as they headed outside.

*****

October of 2021 held the promise of a busy upcoming holiday season. First on the agenda was the annual Emerging Artists show, made more poignant with Sidney's announcement of retirement and turning over the reins of the gallery to Lindsay. Most of the Pittsburgh art world was there to witness the announcement, including the Sarah Kingsley who beamed her approval. The boys were there to lend their support, including Gus who came from college for the weekend. Gus, JR, and Candy applauded as Lindsay declared the exhibit to be open. It quickly became packed with people. Charles had flown over to lend his support and learn some tips for his gallery from his American counterpart. Lindsay was aglow from his attentions, which were closely scrutinized by Gus and Brian. Charles was on his best behavior.

Emmett and his crew were there. Deciding on a more international theme, his 'girls' were dressed in colorful national costumes of various cultures from around the world. The press ate it up as the guests ate up all of Emmett's delicacies.

The night was a success!

On the lane, Michael's vacation home had become habitable, if still somewhat bare. While the rest of the lane was beginning to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving, Michael was attempting to furnish his new cabin. With some very helpful and not so helpful hints from the family, Michael was becoming very frustrated.

“This is impossible!” Michael yelled out in anger as he stood in the middle of his empty living room. “This isn't supposed to be so hard.”

“Calm down, Mikey, you're going to give yourself an aneurysm,” Brian declared as he walked into the new cabin only to witness his friend having a meltdown. “Tell Uncle Brian all about it,” Brian teased.

“Fuck you!” Michael shouted as he glared at Brian. Brian was unmoved. Michael then took a deep breath. “I want the furniture to look like the stuff you have in the big cottage. I like it and so does Ben. It's comfortable and looks good but everyone is telling me where to shop or giving me catalogs and emailing me websites. I can't think straight.”

“Welcome to my world,” Brian said calmly. It always seemed to Brian that he could never make a major decision without someone in his family offering an opinion or outright telling him what he should do. He never listened, unless the someone was Justin, and later in years, John.

“So tell me your ideas,” Brian said to Michael who had calmed down in Brian's cool presence. Brian followed Michael through the cabin as Michael spoke, describing how he wanted each piece of furniture to look. Brian nodded, making the appropriate noises at the appropriate times and rolling his eyes when he thought an idea sucked or was waaay not Brian's style.

“So what do you think?” Michael asked when they were back in the living room.

“For the most part, I say go for it. Except for all those throw pillows in the bedrooms, I like it,” Brian said as he examined a window. John had installed windows with an old fashioned style with one large pane of glass for the bottom part and nine smaller panes making up the upper portion of the window. Brian noted it would be a bitch to clean, but he had decided the lane was going to need a cleaning service soon. He was already checking into it.

In the corner panes were tiny paintings of country scenes courtesy of one Justin Taylor, artist at large. Throughout the cabin were little hidden treasures of paintings depicting the countryside or other cabins and cottages. Justin had them subtly integrated into various windows and etched into some of the beams. Bobby joked that Michael should have a prize ready for anyone who could find all the paintings.

“What's wrong with throw pillows?” Michael asked.

“They're a pain in the ass, Mikey, and wind up on the floor anyway. Who needs 'em?” Brian said wisely. Michael shrugged his shoulders and conceded to Brian's advice. “So where do I get the furniture to fill this place and how do I pay for it without hocking my first born? Not that JR would stand for that,” Michael mumbled. Brian just shook his head at the ridiculous notion.

“Let me take care of it,” Brian stated.

“Oh no. I am not letting you buy my furniture. I don't know what you worked out with Ben for the land and shit, but I am not letting you lay out more money.” Michael continued to rant and rave. Brian let him, knowing that he'd eventually run out of steam.

“Are you done?” Brian asked. Michael nodded his head. “We worked something out.”

“Who's we and what did you work out?” Michael asked with a huff as he crossed his arms across his chest.

“Come back to the cottage with me; John has all the details.” Before Michael could object, Brian turned and walked out the front door. Michael had no choice but to follow. They walked past Todd who was adding the finishing touches to the fall plants and was about to inspect the backyard. Michael got his barbecue area, just not as extravagant as he once thought he wanted. John had made a stone barbecue grill in the back just off the kitchen. Easily accessible from the back door but far enough to prevent any fire jumping to the main cabin. Now all that Michael had to do was to learn how to barbecue. Fortunately, it could wait until next summer.

Brian winked at Todd who returned the gesture.

“Okay, so what's the big secret?” Michael asked as they stepped into the cottage.

“Wait till we get up to John's office,” Brian commanded in a tone that Michael knew meant he couldn't argue. Michael sighed and traipsed behind Brian, following him through the cottage and up the spiral stairs to John's attic office. Michael looked around the neat balcony office. He couldn't remember if he had ever been up there.

“Have a seat,” John offered Michael with a pleasant smile. Michael sat on the sofa as John took out several folders containing legal looking papers. Bobby sat next to Michael as Brian sat at Bobby's desk. Brian gallantly offered his lap to Justin with a waggle of his eyebrows. Justin rolled his eyes at his incorrigible spouse then leaned against the desk.

“Mikey,” Brian began in a serious tone, “when I offered to build you a cottage I didn't think it was going to be such a big deal. Molly's little cottage was pretty cheap to build. Emmett's place was a little more involved but next to building a house, it was still very inexpensive. Your cabin was...”

“A little more involved,” John finished. “We know that you and Ben like to be economical regarding your lifestyle so we came up with a proposal for you and Ben to consider which will help to defray the cost of the cabin.”

“What proposal and why is this the first I've heard about it?”

“Because this was the first time you've been up here to see the finished cabin, and we just thought of it over breakfast. I emailed Ben with the idea this morning. He likes it but says he'll go with whatever you decide,” John said. Michael looked around the room. He wanted to be angry but he knew none of them would do anything that wasn't in his best interests, especially not Brian.

“Go on,” Michael said, his arms still crossed.

“Even though we all weren't very happy with the idea of a log cabin on the lane we're very happy with the results,” John said.

“Are you happy with it, Mikey?” Brian asked almost pensively.

“It's perfect! I like our rooms being on the first floor; it reminds me of the B&B,” Michael stated with a lopsided grin. Brian smiled brightly; he had hoped as much.

“I kept the design similar,” John stated wearing his own grin. It always pleased him when the client was happy with the end results, even if he did have a rocky start. No pun intended. “And the loft floor?”

“It's great. JR can have a room of her own. Maybe share with Candy, if she wants and maybe Hunter and Nick will feel welcome too,” Michael said with a hitch in his voice.

“They will, Michael,” Justin said with confidence. The guys nodded in agreement.

“So what's your proposal?” Michael asked with anticipation.

“Gordon and I are very pleased with how the cabin turned out. We've taken pictures along the way, recording the process. And Todd's landscaping is superb.” John beamed at Brian. “I've shown the pictures to some of our more 'uptown' clients and many have expressed a desire for something similar. And some want the Taj Mahal,” John teased.

“So what does that have to do with me?” Michael asked looking from John to Brian and back to John.

“Allow me and Gordon to formally showcase your cabin,” John said.

“Showcase. What does that mean, exactly?”

“When a client wants to see a 'real' cabin not just a picture, we bring them here. I wouldn't do it when you were in residence, unless you didn't mind. And when you guys aren't around, we have carte blanche to show the place to potential clients. Gordon and I have done this with other private homes or office buildings that we built or renovated.”

“I let them do it with the theater and bowling alley, and Kinnetik Part Deux,” Brian added.

“In a way, John's paying you for the privilege of invading your space,” Bobby further explained. “It's all here in legaleeze for you to go over with Ben and your own lawyer.”

“Hell, fax it to the wicked witch of the west if you want her opinion,” Brian snarled, referring to Melanie who had handled a lot of Michael's legal business.

“I trust you,” Michael said. “All of you,” he added with a sincere smile for all of them.

“Michael, the cabin is yours no matter what you decide,” Brian said softly. “You were always my best friend, my only friend for a very long time. You and Debbie took me in when I had nowhere to go. Just do this,” Brian said, his hazel eyes glittering with unshed tears.

Michael smiled warmly at his oldest friend.

“Michael, when you're not here, we'll take care of the cabin just like we take care of Molly and Emmett's places,” Justin supplied. “Visitors stay at the B&B unless they're your personal friends or family that you allow to stay at the cabin. The guys will let you know when they're going to show the cabin.”

“It's like when you were house hunting,” Bobby added.

“Yeah, we went to a lot places before we found our house. A realtor was always with us,” Michael said as the proposal was sinking in. He suddenly frowned. “You showcasing the cabin still doesn't make up for the land, the building materials and labor, not even the landscaping,” Michael huffed again.

“Oh for fuck's sake!” Brian growled. Brian slid off his chair and knelt in front of his friend, placing his hands on Michael's knees. “Don't argue with me, Mikey. I mean it, or I call your mother!” Brian gave Michael a death glare to end all death glares.

“Okay! Okay! I surrender,” Michael said as he threw his hands up in defeat.

“YAY!” the guys shouted.

“But I still don't have any furniture,” Michael whined.

Brian giggled. “You will next week,” Brian assured his friend with a pat to his knee.

*****.

“Hey Tom!” Tom heard his name as he hung a simple wooden cross on one of the walls in his little shack.

It had taken less than a week to put up Tom's little log shack in the woods, as the lane family referred to it. Once John leveled the land, erected the frame and helped with the roof, that is, using the leftover building materials from Michael's cabin. Tom almost worked himself into a snit when he saw John and Todd take over the building of his shack. But when Tom realized it wasn't as easy as he thought it was going to be, he became very grateful for the help. Even Brian whipped out the old toolbelt to help. It still fell off his hips so Brian 'allowed' Justin to wear it. Not much work got done but Tom and the boys never stopped laughing at Brian's antics and attempts at seduction, and at Justin's half-hearted rebuffs.

By the end of the week, John had shooed away his not so helpful help so that he, Tom and Todd could finish up. Todd appeared to have a way with tools and followed John's instructions to the letter. John even offered Todd a job in his construction company if Todd ever got tired of the landscaping business. As it was, John gave several of his local landscaping contracts to Todd because Todd was just that good.

“Come on in!” Tom called out.

“All the comforts of home,” Todd observed as he handed over a canvas bag with some snacks and non-perishable items to Tom.

“What's this?” Tom asked as he looked in the bag.

“A care package from Justin. Don't argue, just accept it. The boys are convinced you're going to pine away out here.”

“I'm only a fifteen minute walk from the cottage,” Tom stated.

“Hey, I know that but you know how they get.”

“Drama queens,” Tom and Todd said at the same time then cracked up.

“Want some tea?” Tom offered. Todd nodded.

In the middle of the shack, John had installed a vintage potbelly stove. It heated up the one room shack very nicely and Tom was able to make tea. He hadn't gotten the hang of coffee yet but Todd didn't seem to mind. Tom had no electricity, therefore no refrigeration, but an insulated cooler just outside of the door worked well. He had one window with a screen and shutter, a couple of folding chairs, a table and a small day bed. For light, Tom made do with candles and a couple of hurricane lamps. In the corner near the window, John built a small closet, typically known as a water closet. It was big enough to hold a chemical toilet that was easy to install and to clean. John added the door for privacy sake.

With some large hooks on the inside of the door to hang coats and his little “Welcome” sign made from an old plank from the original lean-to hanging on the outside, it was home sweet home.

“I still can't believe you like being out here instead of at the big cottage,” Todd commented as he blew on his hot tea.

“I sometimes can't believe it either. It sort of reminds me of my seminary days. We'd go on retreats or stay in a monastery somewhere. This would be considered luxury,” Tom explained.

“If you say so,” Todd said as he opened the shutter. There was a cool breeze that swept through the small cabin. “John said a storm is coming. He suggests you batten down the hatches then get back to the lane in about an hour, before it hits.”

“Plenty of time to finish our tea and commune with nature,” Tom said with a shy smile as he sat on the day bed.

“Plenty of time,” Todd echoed as he sat next to Tom, also smiling.

Tom and Todd shared a tender kiss before finishing their tea then heading back to the lane.

TBC