“What about you?” Cole asked.
“I’m an only child, estranged from my parents when Robin and I moved in together. Not that they had much of a problem with my being gay. They just didn’t want me to flaunt it, and when I did—at least in their estimation—they cut all ties with me.”
“Damn. If they hadn’t, you would have had someone to help you get past what happened.”
Gideon shook his head. “More than likely, they would have said it served me right.”
“Remind me not to invite them to Thanksgiving dinner.”
Arching an eyebrow, Gideon replied, “You’re planning that far ahead?”
Am I? I think so. Not that I’ve got a reason to, so far. He shrugged. “That’s me. I try to look to the future, since much of my life is spent dealing with the past.”
“I like that idea.” Gideon raised his glass to Cole, took a sip, then set it down when the waiter appeared with the cheese board. As they tried the different items, Gideon asked, “How did you get into archaeology in the first place?”
“I liked digging holes in the backyard, looking for whatever I could find,” Gideon replied straight-faced.
“Uh-huh. Wouldn’t that usually be bugs, meaning you should have become an entomologist?”
Cole laughed. “Probably. Actually, studying ancient man in terms of artifacts was my passion from the day I discovered books about them at the library. From there, it was a given that I’d make it my life’s work.”
They continued eating, first the appetizers then dinner, while talking about things that interested them or at times annoyed them. They discovered they had a great deal in common, more than Cole would have thought up until this evening.
With dinner over, and opting not to have dessert, they decided it was time to call it a night.
“This was very enjoyable,” Gideon said as they left the restaurant.
“Then we should do it again,” Cole replied.
“Believe me, we will.”
Chapter 10
And they did—eating dinner together every night for the next week as they got to know each other better. Neither man was demonstrative, so their physical contacts consisted of brief touches of hands, or an arm around the shoulders when they walked to and from a pub or bar that served late-night food.
Then it was Thursday, and Gideon had to return home. Although he’d spent each day—while Cole was at the gallery—dealing with business concerns via phone, email, or online conferences, it didn’t take the place of his being back in New York, doing things hands-on.
Cole took off from work that afternoon, leaving the gallery in the able hands of James and the second clerk, Bertram. Bert was older and retired. He was also quite knowledgeable about Native American art and artifacts, thus willing to step in whenever Cole needed him to work.
“Your plane leaves when?” Cole asked, while watching Gideon finish packing.
“At four. I wish it was otherwise, but needs must.”
“The joys of running a business, especially one as complicated and important as yours.”
“Unfortunately.” Gideon closed his bags after checking to make certain he hadn’t forgotten anything. “Are you ready?”
“The question is, are you?” Cole replied. Gideon had turned in his rental car that morning, since Cole had volunteered to take him to the airport.
“As ready as I’m going to be.” Gideon picked up two of his bags, slinging his laptop case over his shoulder, while Cole took the third one, and they headed down to Cole’s car.
“I’m going to miss you,” Cole said, when they were on the highway.
“I’ll be back. I promise. As often as possible.”
Cole smiled ruefully. “Once every six months?”
“Believe me…It will be more than that.” Much more than that, if I can work things out.
When they arrived at the airport, Gideon insisted that Cole just drop him off. “There’s no sense in you coming inside.” From the look on Cole’s face, he didn’t agree, but he ceded to Gideon’s wishes.
When they pulled into an empty space in front of the entrance for Gideon’s airline, Cole got out to help him take his bags to the curbside check-in porter. When that was taken care of, Gideon turned to face Cole, his gaze scanning Cole’s face. Then, impulsively, he put his arms around Cole and kissed him. The shocked look Cole gave him, when they broke apart, made Gideon grin.
“I don’t want you forgetting me.”
“Not possible,” Cole replied breathlessly. “Don’t you forget me, either.” He punctuated that pressing a brief kiss to Gideon’s lips. “Call me, when you get home?”
“Every night, I promise.”
They kissed again, very quickly since Cole had to move his car before he got ticketed. “Have a good flight.”
Gideon nodded, readjusted his shoulder bag, and headed into the airport. When he glanced back, he saw Cole getting into his car, and he waved. He smiled happily when Cole waved back, then continued on his way to the security gate—and home.
* * * *
The first thing Gideon did when he got to the office Friday morning was set up a staff meeting for that afternoon. Then he got on the computer to recheck the information he needed.
This will work. It has to. All I need to do is convince everyone I’m not insane.
He chuckled at that idea. He wasn’t all that certain, himself, that he wasn’t. But the idea of spending most of the year halfway across the country from Cole did not sit well—not at all.
He printed out what he needed before getting down to work setting up a schedule with Alex for meeting with potential clients who had to talk with him face to face. Some he would fly out to see—in the States or halfway around the world. Others would come into the city to meet with him.
He realized he was nervous when he didn’t want lunch. “I’m not hungry,” he told Alex, getting a look of disbelief from his assistant.
At two, Gideon walked into the conference room. Everyone who was in town was there, seated at the long table or in chairs along the wall. He took his place at the head of the table, putting down the folder he was holding.
“I have two announcements,” he said when he had everyone’s attention. “The first is personal.” He smiled. “This may or may not come as a surprise, despite the rumors, I suppose you could call them, that have circulated about me almost since I began the company. I am not, nor have I ever been married.” He refused to laugh at the various expressions on his employees’ faces—from I knew that to Are you kidding me? and every shade in between.
“There’s a reason for that,” Gideon continued. “I’m gay.”
“That explains it,” Alex said. “Not that we care, do we?” He looked slowly around the room, as if daring anyone to debate him.
“I couldn’t give a damn,” one of the women, Jessica by name, said. “Except for one thing. Why the hell wait until now to tell us?”
“For very personal reasons that I will not discuss,” Gideon replied firmly. “They were the core of who I…was. Until a couple of weeks ago that is, when I met someone who helped me to understand what I was doing to myself—and why I should stop. Enough said?”
There were nods from everyone. One of his people raised his hand.
“Yes, Dan, you may go to the bathroom,” Gideon said, grinning. The relief he felt at getting the revelation out there made him feel almost giddy.
Dan rolled his eyes. “I wanted to ask, who is he? And is he, shall we say, more than just a smart man who made you look at your life and reevaluate it?”
“He’s much more,” Gideon replied. “His name is Cole Newell. We haven’t taken things beyond…Well, that’s none of your business.”
“Got it,” Dan said, not seeming the least nonplussed by Gideon’s reply.
“This brings me to the second order of business,” Gideon said. “I’m going to open a second branch of the business, if you want to call it that.”
“Why do I suspect it’s going to be…” Jessica p
aused, smiling. “You’ve barely returned from Denver, after being there, it seems like forever. Mr., no, Dr. Newell, was a client you took on after Rory and company stopped the art forger in his tracks. So would I be way off base in thinking Dr. Newell is the man in question, and the new headquarters will be in Denver—with you working out of there?”
“A logical assumption,” Gideon replied. “And a correct one.”
“But you’re keeping this office open as well?” she said.
“Yes.” Gideon glanced at his assistant. “I’m putting Alex in charge.”
“Are you shitting me?” Alex said in astonishment.
Gideon laughed. “No. You know almost as much about how the business is run as I do. Probably more in some respects, when it comes down to it. So, why not?”
“Mmm. No reason I can think of,” Alex replied with a guarded smile. “As long as no one else objects.”
Gideon looked around the room. “Do any of you? Don’t be afraid to say so, if you do. This won’t work if you’re not all one hundred percent behind his being in charge here.”
“We can always take a vote,” Dan said. “All in favor—”
“Jeez, Dan,” Jessica said. “I don’t think that’s necessary. He’ll do great. I have a question, however. Who will be staffing the new place, Gideon?”
“We’ll work that out when the time comes. Since most of you are New Yorkers through and through and have families here, I won’t ask you to move out there unless you want to. Alex and I will work together on that. Since Rory already lives in Denver, he’ll be part of my staff there.”
“Have you already found a place out there?” one of the men asked.
“I have three buildings in mind,” Gideon replied. “I haven’t seen them in person, yet, as I just came to this decision a few days ago.”
“Does Dr. Newell know what you’re planning?” Jessica asked.
“No. I don’t intend on telling him until things are underway, and I know this will work.”
“He’s not going to be happy that you didn’t trust him,” Alex said.
“It has nothing to do with trust, and everything to do with not wanting to get his—or my—hopes up.”
“Okay. I suppose that makes sense.”
After that, Gideon and his staff got down to work on exactly what it would take to bring his plan to fruition.
* * * *
Cole spent the week after Gideon left vacillating between elation that they’d finally kissed, and despair that it had been a goodbye kiss on Gideon’s part—despite his words to the contrary. They had talked by phone, but the conversation had been somewhat stilted on Gideon’s side. At least that’s how it seemed to Cole—as if Gideon were already pulling away.
Friday morning, Cole was certain that was exactly what was going on. Gideon hadn’t called the previous evening, and when Cole had tried calling him, he was sent directly to voicemail.
By three that afternoon, Cole was in such a bad mood that James had very politely suggested Cole let him deal with a customer who was at sixes and sevens about whether to buy an Anasazi pot or a Hopi bowl. With a shrug, Cole told him that was fine, then he retired to his office.
Why am I letting this get to me so bad? Maybe because Gideon’s been on my mind and in my thoughts since the moment he left? Hell, he’s been there since I met him, even if I knew I didn’t have a chance of being more than a friend. I thought that had changed. I was sure it had. I guess he feels differently, now that he’s back home and immersing himself in a job he loves.
Knowing he had to get his mind back on track, he retrieved two pottery artifacts that a client had left with him for appraisal from the safe, taking them into the room behind his office that served as his lab. He had just begun examining the first bowl when he heard a sound behind him.
Without taking his attention from the bowl, he practically growled, “I hope this is important, James.”
“It depends what you consider important,” an amused voice replied.
“Gideon?” Cole swung around, looking at him is disbelief.
“I was, last time I checked.”
Cole wanted to throw his arms around Gideon and kiss him silly—refraining only because he wasn’t certain the man would accept or appreciate it. “What are you doing back, and why didn’t you call, and—” He couldn’t finish because Gideon strode across the room, leaned over with his hands on the arms of Cole’s chair, and kissed him.
“I would have called, but I wanted to surprise you,” Gideon said, straightening up.
“You did. In spades. Why are you here?” Cole said, his emotions reeling.
“One, to see you, and two, to show you something—or a couple of somethings—to get your opinion.”
“I…Okay. Sure. What?” Since Gideon’s hands were empty, Cole figured he must have left whatever they were in his office or the gallery.
“Can you get away for an hour or so?”
“Yes. James will probably be glad to see the back of me for a while. I’ve been grumping so much that he wouldn’t even let me deal with customers.”
“You?” Gideon lifted an eyebrow. “Sweet, polite, you?”
“Trust me. I have my moments when I can bite someone’s head off.”
“Who doesn’t? So, put those away, if they’re valuable, and let’s go.”
“That’s what I was figuring out. Their value, age, condition, etcetera.” Cole took them back to the safe, then went to tell James he’d be back later.
“So where are we going?” he asked, when they headed to the lot where Gideon had parked his rental car.
“You’ll see.”
“Going all mysterious on me?”
Gideon grinned. “Maybe?”
They took off, heading downtown. After finding a parking place—which took so long that Gideon muttered, “This might not be good,”—he led the way to a building on a side street, halfway between the Mall and 17th Street. Taking a key from his pocket, he unlocked the front door then ushered Cole inside.
“What do you think?” Gideon asked.
“Umm. What am I supposed to think? It’s an office building. Since you have the key, I presume you’re either interested in it or…what?”
“Interested,” Gideon replied.
Then Cole got it. “You’re thinking of moving your company out here?”
“More like making this the second headquarters.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Cole asked, feeling hurt, although he knew he shouldn’t.
“I wanted to be certain I could find a building that would work. I’ve narrowed it down to this or one other.”
Cole looked at him for a long moment, then, slowly, he smiled. “With you running things from here? While someone else is in charge of the one in New York?”
“That’s the plan. That is, if you don’t mind my living in Denver, rather than almost two thousand miles away.”
“Mind? Hell no, I don’t mind. I think it’s a fantastic idea.” He hugged Gideon before beginning to go through the two-story building. “You know better than I what you need. Will this be large enough?”
“Yes. It’s fifteen thousand square feet,” Gideon replied. “And ready to move into, as you can see.”
“What’s the other building like?”
“Let’s go find out.”
Fifteen or so minutes later, they were parking in front of what looked to Cole like a three story house with, he soon found out, a detached carriage house at the back. “Historical landmark,” he pointed out, tapping the placard beside the front door. “Will that be a problem if you want to change anything?”
“Not according to the Realtor, as long as I don’t do anything to the exterior. She says the interior has been redone to break it into office suites, but that a great deal of the original woodwork—as well as the staircases and some of the original windows, among other things—have been kept as they were when the house was built in 1907.”
When Gideon let them in, Cole knew immediately t
his was the place. “It’s…awe inspiring,” he said, taking in the hardwood floors, the dark oak wainscoting, and stairs with their ornate handrails. “You have to get it.”
“I feel the same way. I just needed to check them both out again with you along, to make certain I wasn’t falling for the ambiance without thinking of how well it would work for what I need.”
“That I can’t say until I see the rest of the place,” Cole told him, so they explored at leisure.
When they got to the carriage house, Gideon said, “I was thinking I could live here, rather than trying to find a house, too.”
“Of course you can. It’s perfect and already set up as living quarters. Well, three of them, from the look of it.”
“If I have my way, that will change. I’ll have a door put in to connect the two downstairs apartments and…Well, we don’t need to discuss that right now. All I want to know is that you approve.”
“Yes. Not that the fact I do matters,” Cole replied. “You know what you’re looking for and what you need to make this work as your western headquarters.”
“Your opinion does matter, or I wouldn’t have asked,” Gideon said quietly, smiling.
Cole felt a wave of elation at Gideon’s words. “Thank you,” he replied, gripping Gideon’s hand. He wanted to do more than that, but refrained, asking instead, “Have you already let your people know what you’re planning?”
“Of course. Most of them will be staying back east. The rest, eight men and women, are—” Gideon chuckled, “—ready to give up the big city life and move out here.”
Cole snorted. “I don’t know whether to be insulted on behalf of Denver, or understanding, having been in New York City more than a few times.”
“Both?” Gideon replied with a grin.
“How long will it take to make this happen,” Cole asked, slinging his arm around Gideon’s shoulders as they walked back to the house so Gideon could lock up and rearm the security system.
“Not soon enough. I want to be out here permanently, so we can find out if what I think is developing between us is real.”
Cole stopped where he stood. “You have your doubts?”
“Don’t you? It’s only been a bit over a month since we met, and half of that was spent trying to find Brooks and his hirelings. During all that time—” Gideon smiled slightly, “—you were certain I was straight and married.”
It Takes an Archaeologist Page 10
