Someone knocked. “George, you still in there?”
Levi. “Yes.”
The door opened and Levi popped half his body inside. “It’s lunchtime.”
“I know. I, uh, I tried.”
“It’s okay, that’s why I came up.”
“Thank you.” Instead of feeling like a child for not being able to do something as simple as open the door, he was grateful to Levi for thinking ahead. For coming to get him so George wasn’t alone.
Levi winked in a familiar gesture of both amusement and affection. “Come on, I’m starving.”
They left together and descended the big staircase. The dining room was full of the other guests, plus Patrice. A big sideboard against the far wall held a commercial drink machine, as well as plates, paper napkins, utensils, and a bowl of snack-size bags of chips. The long dining table was loaded with a platter of assorted deli meats and cheeses, cold salads, and all kinds of pickles and condiments.
The family with the teen girls had already settled in the big communal living space to eat, which calmed George’s racing heart a fraction. They weren’t all expected to cram around the table to eat and reach around each other for food. Good. The two men with the little girl got their food and stopped in passing.
“Guys, this is my friend George,” Levi said to them. “George, this is Samuel and Rey Briggs-King, and their daughter Faith. We got to chatting a while ago, and I’ve already sold them on a ghost town visit if they’re ever back in California.”
“You can sell the ghost town to anyone, I bet,” George quipped. “It’s nice to meet you guys.”
“Please, come join us for lunch,” Rey said. He was shorter than Samuel with dark hair that contrasted Samuel’s blond. The affection between them was clear simply from the way they stood together, and Faith definitely favored Rey.
Levi deferred the request to George. “Sure, okay,” George replied.
The little family moved off. George got a plate and surveyed the options. Pretty similar to his typical lunch fare, even though at home he preferred low sodium brands. They’d been added to the guest list just in time to fill out the form about food allergies, and while George didn’t have any that he was aware of, he was generally a picky eater. Everything here was fine, though, and the online menu for dinnertime sounded great. Mostly simple food.
He made a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, with a smear of mustard, sliced tomatoes, and some dill sandwich-sliced pickles from a jar. Took a small scoop of potato salad and what looked like some sort of broccoli salad in a white dressing. Levi made a much thicker sandwich with all kinds of fixings, and he helped himself to a little of each salad option. Food done, they got their drinks.
They found the Briggs-King family in a cluster of chairs around a wide, round coffee table. Faith was sitting on the floor, using the coffee table for her food. Samuel and Rey were sharing a love seat. George chose a chair across from the couple, and Levi sat on his left. George was curious about the pair but he wasn’t used to initiating getting-to-know-you questions with perfect strangers.
“So Samuel and Rey are here for their honeymoon,” Levi said after a few minutes of eating in silence.
“Really?” George stared at the pair. “You brought your daughter on your honeymoon?”
“It’s a second, longer honeymoon vacation,” Rey replied with a chuckle. “Samuel and I did the whole marriage thing backward. As soon as it was legal we went down to the justice of the peace to get hitched, and then our friends threw us a bachelor party. But Samuel and I are both workaholics, and I have a small business back in Pennsylvania. We haven’t been able to have a real vacation in years, but the stars aligned this month with vacation time and Faith being out of school.”
“Why here?”
“I love horses,” Faith piped up. “I got to ride a pony once at the state fair, but not a real horse yet, and we’ve been learning about the Old West in school. And Papa and I like to watch old western movies together on weekends.”
Samuel pointed at himself, indicating he was Papa.
“You guys are from Pennsylvania?” George asked, surprised by the distance they’d traveled. “How’d you hear about Clean Slate way out there?”
“A client, actually,” Rey replied. “I’m a private caterer, and one of our regulars mentioned vacationing here this past spring. Once I looked at the website and saw how tolerant and gay-friendly the place was, I was sold. Selling Samuel was a bit harder, but he’s also a city boy.”
“Former city boy,” Samuel said. “I love our small town and can’t imagine moving.” The pair exchanged lovey smiles, and George’s insides burned with jealousy. Would George ever have that kind of genuine affection for a life partner? “And before you ask, I’m a police officer. Have been for a long time.”
“Oh, wow.” George had mad respect for police officers and first responders, putting their lives on the line to save others. “Sounds intense.”
“TV makes it way sexier and more dramatic than it really is. Most days, it’s just walking around and helping everyday folk fix everyday problems. Especially in Stratton.”
“So what do you do, George?” Rey asked.
George carefully chewed and swallowed his bite of broccoli salad. “I create closed-captions for video content for various websites. It’s freelance work so I make my own hours.”
“That’s cool. I’ve never met anyone with that job, but I guess someone has to do it, right?”
“Yeah.” He took a big bite of his sandwich in case Rey decided to pry into which websites. The conversation had him squirrely but not anxious. The two men were kind and polite, and Faith was adorable and sweet. This was...sort of fun.
As if sensing George’s discomfort—how did he always do that?—Levi asked, “So how did you two meet?”
George vaguely listened to a story about a diner, a broken mirror, and a head injury while he finished his lunch, while also observing the room. Everyone seemed to be in their own clusters. The family of four. The quartet of friends. The gays.
Except Levi wasn’t technically gay if he identified as bisexual. Either way, this thing George had with Levi was just friendship. It couldn’t be more.
Faith finished eating first and got up to explore the wide bookshelf full of various board games. Not exactly authentic to the Old West but people needed ways to entertain themselves in the evenings, because George didn’t see a television anywhere. Levi and Samuel volunteered to take everyone’s plates and utensils to the bus bin in the dining room, and George found himself sort of alone with Rey. He was older than George, probably a bit closer to Levi’s age.