The Captain and the Best Man

by Catherine Curzon

  “They went back to the hotel.” Outside came an almighty roar as the storm battered the walls that sheltered them. “I didn’t know— Rey? He’s Freddie. Where does Rey come from?”

  “Sorry…it’s just a stupid uni nickname,” Josh explained. “Freddie Reynolds. I used to call him Debbie, as in Debbie Reynolds, but that was a bit too camp so I ended up calling him Rey. He used to get called Reymundo, Rey-Rey The Reymeister…”

  How bloody awkward. I went to bed with my best friend’s dad.

  “I brought him here after we got divorced,” Guy admitted. “Before it all went wrong. I had no idea, Josh, honestly.”

  “You couldn’t have done. And nor did I. I didn’t know until yesterday afternoon that Martin wasn’t actually his dad. I mean, it’s not obvious you and Rey are father and son. You don’t look alike at all.” Josh wondered if he was headed into dangerous territory by admitting that, but it was true.

  “He’s the image of my mum,” Guy told him. “Martin’s been a great dad to him. He did everything he could to keep Freddie and me in touch, but—it was a mess, Josh. I made a mess of it.”

  Josh squeezed Guy’s hand. Looking up at Guy, he could now see the odd echo of Rey’s features in Guy’s. But he would never have spotted the similarities unless he’d been told the two men were family.

  “I can see now why Pris was being such a grump. When they turned up on the island yesterday, she threatened to throw me to the sharks!” Josh widened his eyes in mock surprise. “Bet you’ve heard worse from her!”

  “Once or twice,” he admitted, with the ghost of a smile. A gentle knock sounded at the door and Guy asked, “Should I tell them to bugger off?”

  “No, it’s okay.” Josh blinked at Guy. “What are we going to do, you and me? Are you sure you still want to be my boyfriend?”

  “I thought—” Guy pinched the bridge of his nose. “All I saw was you swallowed up by the sea. I thought you’d— Of course I still want to be with you, more than anything.”

  The knock sounded again and Teri called gently, “Cap?”

  Josh swallowed down the rising fear in his throat. We can do it, it’ll be all right. It might be awkward at first, but it’ll be fine. But how could it be, when Rey and his father were estranged?

  “It’s okay, Teri can come in,” Josh said. “There’s another wedding to arrange!”

  Guy crossed to the door and exchanged a few hushed words with Teri. Then he turned back and asked, “Darling, can you spare me for a couple of minutes? Teri’s going to sit with you, I won’t be long.”

  Josh tried to push himself up against the pillows. “Yeah…I s’pose. Are you okay, Guy?”

  “I will be when I’m back with you.” He smiled, slipping through the door. A moment later Teri stepped into the room, looking rather like a woman who’d just battled a tropical storm. Her hair was wild and her face flushed, a far cry from the woman he had met on the plane.

  “It’s pretty fierce out there!” she announced, settling onto the edge of the bed. “Hey, you.”

  “Hi!” Josh gave her a wave. “Hope you get better weather for your wedding!”

  “So, get this”—she stuck her bare feet beneath the sheet—“the storm is missing Sebs, this is just the edge of it! They’re after bringing some of the hotel guests here, because Guy’s place is pretty sheltered by the headland.”

  Guy’s place?

  He owns it?

  “Guy’s…?” Josh stared at Teri. “How big is this place?”

  “It’s not massive, only four bedrooms. I mean, they’re massive bedrooms, but—” Teri smiled. “It’ll be pretty full in here by tonight, but I don’t think anybody’ll be getting much sleep. The cap’ll just break out the booze and light up the firepit and we’ll have a storm party. All the islanders’ll come over, they don’t even have to ask.”

  “A storm party?” Josh rubbed his head. “Sounds fun. But it’s amazing the storm is missing the island—a chair flew over my head! How strong must it be where it’s hit?”

  “We’ve all been lucky. It’s sweeping out to sea.” She combed her fingers through her tangle of curls. “So…this whole thing with Guy’s a bit of a state, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah…” Josh didn’t know where to look. The crumpled bed linen only reminded him of waking up here with Guy that very morning, their limbs entwined. “I didn’t know, honestly, I had no idea that Rey—Freddie—Guy… Oh, God, it’s so bloody embarrassing, Teri! He’s my best friend’s dad, and if you only knew what we got up to in this bed…!”

  “My dad was a pilot too. He and Guy flew together all the time.” Teri hugged her arms across her chest as the wind howled again. “He died of a heart attack when I was eleven and Guy was there for me and Mum every single day. He’s been like a second dad to me and when Mum really needed a best friend, he was right there for us. When she married my stepdad, Guy gave her away. He’s even teaching me to fly!” She smiled, a rueful look in her eyes. “Whatever happens, he’s not going to let you down. You’ve got a really good man. One of the very best, Josh.”

  Josh sighed. “I just don’t know what to do. I can’t hurt Rey—he’s my best friend, and there’s all this history that’s just so…it’s so sad. If he doesn’t want anything to do with Guy, then how the heck can me and Guy be a couple?”

  “Your mate won’t make you choose though?” She frowned. “That’d be horrible!”

  “I don’t know, Teri.” Josh swallowed. His throat was dry. “It’s not going to be easy, is it? And I thought everything was going really well.”

  “He’s lovely.” Teri smiled. “It’s got to work out.”

  As she said that, the door opened again and Guy entered. He paused on the threshold, offering them both a smile. Then he closed the door and took off his jacket, throwing it over a chair.

  “It’s going to be a houseful tonight,” Guy told them, unknotting his tie. “A few guests from the hotel whose rooms are right in the path of the wind and the usual local storm party suspects. So, Teri, your future husband and the in-laws will be riding out the storm in our sitting room!”

  “Where’s Rey?” Josh asked. “I need to speak to him.”

  “You don’t want to go out in this,” Teri said, paying no heed to Guy as he unbuttoned his shirt and stepped behind a rather ornate screen, out of sight. “He’ll still be here tomorrow.”

  “Are they going to have the wedding?” Josh heard the bang of what was probably a loose shutter against the house. “Stella’s dress is a write-off. And I don’t even have shoes anymore!”

  “But you didn’t lose the rings,” Guy called. “They’re safe on the dressing table.”

  “That’s one thing, at least.” Tension drained from Josh’s shoulders at that thought. “I tied them onto the belt loop of my trousers with a bit of ribbon—I was worried that if they were loose in my pocket, I might drop them in the sand. As it happens, they went for a swim instead!”

  Guy emerged from behind the screen, changed into shorts and a bright blue shirt. Josh saw the shell necklace nestling against his tan skin, a promise of romance between them.

  “You won’t be disturbed,” Guy assured him. “This room’s ours, I don’t care who’s staying over. You saved Stella’s life, you know.”

  “Anyone would’ve. I just happened to be nearest.” Josh shifted under the bedsheet, getting comfortable. He realized he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Not his own. Guy must’ve got him changed after—

  “Wait, if I got Stella out of the sea, who got me out?”

  Teri’s gaze swiveled toward Guy. He ruffled his hand through his silver-flecked hair but said nothing, so it was left to her to tell Josh, “Captain Guy did.”

  Warmth spread through Josh as he smiled at Guy. “Heroic Captain Collingwood! I must’ve been out cold…”

  Teri rose to her feet and ambled across the room toward the door. When she reached Guy she squeezed his arm, then continued on her way. She said nothing as she left them alone, but it seemed that G
uy only had eyes for Josh. As Teri reached the door there was a fierce knock on it from outside and Rey’s voice called, “Josh? Can we have a word?”

  Josh glanced at Guy, asking him a silent question. Should I? Is it okay? But he knew he’d have to speak to Rey sooner or later.

  “Yeah, come on, Rey…I’m still alive!”

  Teri opened the door and there was Rey, his tuxedo replaced by jeans and a T-shirt. His face was set with anger and he said, “Can we talk privately? As in without dads who have never really bothered about being dads?”

  “Fred—” Guy began, then looked to Josh for his cue. “Do you want me to go?”

  Rey’s anger wasn’t a surprise to Josh, but it didn’t set him at his ease. Especially as he was lying in Guy’s bed at that moment, signaling as if in neon, Rey, I’ve had sex with your dad! Josh reached out for Guy’s hand. “I think…I think me and Rey need to have a chat, darling.”

  Darling? In front of Rey? What am I thinking?

  “Jesus,” Rey murmured, shaking his head. Teri shot him a fierce look as Guy squeezed Josh’s hand, then released it. As he crossed the room and passed his son, he paused as though to speak. Instead Rey turned away, leaving Teri and Guy to slip from the bedroom, closing the door behind them.

  Josh pushed himself up in the bed. He spotted a crumb in the folds of the bedsheets and pushed aside the vision of Guy’s chest that morning. When he’d woken up in the arms of his best friend’s dad.

  “So…” Josh swallowed. “I can kind of guess what you want to talk about.”

  “Oh, you think?” Rey asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I just—he’s too old for you, for a start. And you can’t rely on him, look what he did to Mum! He’s all show and cash, Josh, he’s a shit.”

  Josh’s heart squeezed to hear Rey speak about Guy like that. A shit? Was the man who had carried Josh through a storm really just that, dismissed in one ugly syllable? “One, he’s only twenty years older than me. I’ve been out with a bloke sixteen years older than me before, it’s really no big deal. Your dad’s hardly ancient, and he’s very well preserved. And secondly, who told you what he did to your mum? It wouldn’t be Pris herself, would it? You don’t think she might be slightly biased?”

  “Well, if you were a woman and you got married and then you found out that your husband wasn’t only gay but was sleeping with blokes behind your back, wouldn’t you be slightly biased?” Rey challenged. “And now here you are on paradise bloody island and guess what, he’s now sleeping with you! You don’t really believe you’re the only one? You don’t know him like we do!”

  Stung by Rey’s words, Josh replied, “Know him? You haven’t spoken to the man for years! And it’s not like I’ve married him. We’ll go on dates back in England, we’ll…”

  Sleeping around behind Pris’ back. Would Guy do that to Josh too? But he couldn’t believe that of Guy. He was too tender, too sincere. And if that was all pretend, then Guy was a bloody good liar.

  “And while you’re not out on a date with him, I guarantee you he’ll be on a date with someone else.” Rey crossed to the window and looked out into the maelstrom. “You’re my best mate, Josh, but… I can’t tell you who to sleep with, but this is just too fucking much!”

  “Yeah, you’re quite fucking right, chum, you can’t tell me who to sleep with!” Josh pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He was crying, and he couldn’t cry in front of Rey. And he didn’t want to be angry with his friend, but he couldn’t help it. “You don’t want to hear it, but you need to. How I feel about Guy, I’ve never felt like this before with any other man. I’ve never been much of a romantic, but Guy’s unlocked something in me, and I…I want to be with him. And he wants to be with me!”

  “Do you know what, you can have him. You can have your precious Guy and all his cheating and his lies, and when you finally realize what you’ve saddled yourself with, give me a call, yeah?” Rey stalked toward the door, his voice wavering with sadness and anger. “But I can’t call you my best mate as long as you’re with him.”

  Josh let his tears fall. He was almost too upset to speak, but his anger fueled his words. “You’re making me choose? No, you’re right, you’re not my best mate. Sod off! And you can find a new best man too!” Josh grabbed the wedding rings from the bedside table and threw them at Rey. The ribbon streaked through the room, the rings catching the light.

  Perhaps it was the raised voices that brought Guy into the room, and he arrived just in time to collide with his son as Rey left. For a moment the two men looked each other in the eye, then the younger went on his way, slamming the door as he went with such force that it seemed as though the storm had somehow found its way inside. Guy said nothing but instead settled beside Josh on the bed and drew him into a wordless embrace as his tears fell.

  Josh couldn’t bear to say anything, but after a while he said, “Rey’s making me choose. And I don’t want to.”

  There was a long pause before Guy asked quietly, “He’s your best friend, isn’t he?”

  He thinks I’ve already decided.

  Josh nodded. “Best mates since our first day at uni.”

  “What you said last night about falling in love…” Guy kissed Josh’s hair and held him just a little tighter. “I didn’t answer because I didn’t want you to think I was some stupid old romantic, but I’m falling for you, Josh, which I know probably sounds ridiculous after a couple of days. I’d never ask you to choose, but if you have to and it’s Rey’s friendship that you need, I’d understand. But it’d never change how I feel about you. I’m just sorry this all had to happen.”

  Josh smoothed Guy’s cheek. “I’m falling for you as well. I’ve never felt like this before, and…and the thought of giving you up, it’s horrible. I may as well have been swallowed by the sea, never to return.” Josh tried to smile. “See…you’re turning me into a romantic.”

  “It’s a pilot thing,” he whispered with a hint of graveyard humor. “I honestly didn’t see any of this coming.”

  “And I didn’t see the wave that knocked me flying, either!” Josh joked. But he was serious as he asked, “Rey’s pretty angry, isn’t he?”

  “With me, not you.” Guy stroked Josh’s hair. “Don’t worry about that.”

  “He’s my best friend,” Josh said, his voice lowered as if Rey was lurking outside the room. Guy nodded, silent, his gaze still fixed on his lover. “Or was. But I can’t hurt him, Guy. You do understand? And…” Josh closed his eyes. He didn’t want to ask this question, but he knew that if he never raised it, it would haunt him. “I don’t know if Rey was just saying hurtful things because he was angry, but he said…he said you saw men behind Pris’ back, and he said, he said that you’d do the same to me. I don’t want to believe him, but if you’re not exclusive, will you tell me before I fall in love with you completely?”

  “Not exclus—” Guy’s voice was disbelieving, and with the disbelief, Josh heard hurt too. “I can’t do more than promise you that I’ve never cheated on anybody in my life. When Pris and I married I already knew I was gay, but apart from the odd kiss—before we were a couple—I’d never acted on it. If I’m honest, I had this stupid idea that getting married would force me to be straight. I should’ve told Pris before we got hitched, but I really thought it’d just somehow go away on its own and it didn’t. I never cheated on her though, Josh. She and I had been split for months before I even dared look at a man, let alone do anything else. I didn’t know she thought that… I didn’t know Freddie did either.”

  Josh twined his fingers with Guy’s. He wanted to believe him and he had imagined what life had been like for Guy back then, when he’d got married to a woman instead of being loud and proud. He sounded sincere. And nothing Guy had done since they had met suggested he was a man Josh couldn’t trust.

  “I understand.” Josh kissed their joined hands. “Do you think…do you think she believes that because of all those stereotypes, about gay men tarting about? I can’t say I’ve
done much tarting about myself, but…”

  “I’ve always rather favored romance over tarting about.” His voice was almost a whisper when he asked, “Are we over?”

  Josh shook his head. “I don’t want us to be over.”

  Guy’s reply was a very tender kiss and he settled down beside Josh, holding him close as the storm raged outside.

  Chapter Eleven

  Josh felt better for a rest. His head no longer throbbed, and he was looking forward to the storm party. It was going to be more fun than the wedding reception would’ve been, with its regimented seating and strict playlist for the DJ.

  “Am I dressed okay for a storm party?” Josh asked. He looked down at the T-shirt Guy had dressed him in, showing a map of Trinidad and Tobago. “At least this’ll come in handy if I’m swept out to sea!”

  “You look perfect.” Guy smiled and nodded. He glanced toward the door, where the faint sounds of laughter and conversation could be heard. Josh could already smell food cooking and in the dim light, with the storm raging beyond, it seemed almost dreamlike. “Power’s gone, so it’ll be a party by candlelight. I wonder who we’ve got from the hotel? I’m assuming it won’t be the wedding party. They couldn’t have bad luck like that twice.”

  Josh shrugged. “Tomorrow we’ll find out that Pris has stolen a pedalo and is now halfway to Cuba. Shall we go and find out who’s here? I’m famished!”

  “Well, there’ll be a feast if Una’s out there.” Guy took Josh’s hand and helped him from the bed. “But if you feel tired or start to feel ill, I need to know. I’m probably going to fuss, but I’ll really try not to!”

  Josh grinned. “Fuss all you like, I enjoy it!” He managed to climb off the bed and was steady on his feet. “Look, I’m fine! But I’ll lay off the booze, I think.”

  Hand in hand they approached the door. When Guy opened it onto the vast open-plan sitting room, Josh saw that the storm party was in full swing already and everyone seemed to be having a good time, despite the gale that had almost carried Stella out to sea. Lanterns illuminated the walls and in the center Una presided over a huge firepit where laden pans and trays were warming. She was surrounded by revelers who were eagerly awaiting the fruits of her labors, but everyone seemed to know everyone, Josh realized, wondering who could be the refugees from the hotel.