Dawn in the Orchard

by Cooper West

  Gary rolled his eyes. “You’re the best musician I know, but stand-up comedyis not your thing.” Tally was sitting on a crate, his premium headphones draped around his neck. He laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, didn’t think you’d buy that. It’s business talk, mostly. I think he’s picking my brain for what to do about his family.”

  Gary gave him a skeptical look for a second before remembering just how rich Tally was. “But it’s not quite the same as the music industry.”

  “One thing every good businessman finds out quickly: every business is the same. It’s all about generating income, profit-loss statements, and keeping the stakeholders happy. There are a million ways to do it, but it all boils down to the same thing. I’m not breaking confidence telling you that his family’s got businesses totaling up millions of dollars. From what he’s said, he did a good job protectinghis owninterests for him and his kids, but that is only making things turn bitter.”

  “I suspected as much. He’s not telling me what’s goingon.”

  Tally shrugged and looked at him, his expression thoughtful. “Don’t ask him what’s going on; ask him where he plans to be ina year.”

  Garynarrowed his eyes. “Has he told youthat?”

  Tally rolled his eyes theatrically. “No. But it’s not mybusiness, either. I think it’s yours, though.”

  “Maybe.”

  Tally started to ask what he meant, but Chuck walked back in, signaling that he was ready to pick up where they left off. By the end of the day, Tally was thanking everyone and warning them not to touch the recording settings, mostly for Jamie’s benefit, before getting in his own car and heading out for Charlotte. He had a veryearlyflight inthe morningand decided to just get a local hotel room for the night, rather than driving over in the morning. He gave Gary a firm hug and Chuck a firmer handshake. When he was gone, Fran and Jamie packed up and practicallyranout the door.

  Gary watched their mad dash with bemusement. “You know, Tally went easy on them, but you’d think theyjust got released fromdetention.”

  Chuck laughed, closing up his fiddle case. Unlike Gary, Chuck did not leave his instrument there overnight, despite the fact that they were all scheduled to show up the next daybefore noon.

  The shop had remained closed for the duration, so there was not much for Chuck to do other than get the lights. Gary ignored Chuck as he double checked that the window blinds were all down and the other doors locked. He finished the restringing he was doing and put his guitar on its stand just as Chuck walked over, closinginuntilhe stood betweenGary’s legs.

  “Don’t have to pick up the kids fromJessica’s for a while yet.” Chuck grinned at him, rubbing his hands up and downGary’s arms.

  “What, here?” Gary looked around at their impromptu recording studio. There were heavy curtains over the windows, blocking out light, and the loading door had been locked up tight for days and covered by its ownbafflingcurtain.

  “I locked all the doors for now. Ain’t no one coming in on us this time,” Chuck said before leaning down and kissing him. Gary stretched up to meet him, their lips touchinglightly.

  “Here?”Garypulled back to ask. “Really?” Laughing, Chuck yanked himup off his stool and dragged himover to the wall, where an overstuffed old settee had been pushed to the side. Chuck sat down and yanked Gary onto his lap, forcing Gary to straddle his legs.

  “Oh, so this is how it is?” Gary laughed, leaning forward to press their hips together. Chuck’s eyes fluttered as Gary’s weight settled onhis cock.

  “Too manyclothes,”he groaned.

  “Mmmmm….” Gary closed the distance and kissed Chuck. He kept his mouth a little open, slicking his tongue over Chuck’s lips to prythemapart.

  “Not rubbing off like teenagers,” Chuck spoke into Gary’s mouth, his hands going to Gary’s jeans to unbuttonand unzip them.

  “No, we need to rub off like grown men,” Gary smirked, putting his own hands to work on Chuck’s chinos. Chuck snickered but didn’t argue.

  Gary ended up with his knees splayed wide over Chuck’s lap, his jeans trapping his ankles, as he thrust forward. He had his hands on the back of the settee for purchase, while Chuck kept a firm hold on Gary’s ass to set the pace. Their cocks rubbed awkwardly until Gary took one hand off the settee and wrapped it around them, holding their dicks together. Chuck tightened his grip and tossed his head back. Gary wanted to bite at his neck, but balance was an issue, so instead he thrust harder. It was fun and risky and hot as hell to be fucking around in the back of the store, halfnaked, cocks in Gary’s hand. He loved it. He loved Chuck.

  “I love you, fuck, you know that… right?” Gary gasped out.

  Chuck stilled. He had said as much and more to Gary, but as Gary kept rubbing down on Chuck’s body, he realized that he had never told Chuck how he felt, how important this was to him. Chuck looked up at him, his eyes glazed with arousal but bright and wondering.

  “Youdo?”

  “Yes, yes… oh….” Gary felt his orgasm pushing up on him. He let go of their cocks, bracing fully on the settee again, and began riding Chuck hard. “Love you… love you so much… Chuck! Fuck!” He came with a rush, the words babbling out of him, his cum spilling between them. Chuck was nearly immobile, holding onto Gary’s ass and letting him take what he wanted with an expression on his face that was just short ofadoration. With a gasp, Gary collapsed untilhis face was pressed into Chuck’s neck. “I do. I really do love you.”

  Chuck wrapped his arms around Gary’s back, locking them together as he thrust up into the mess between them, slick and hot. He did not say anything until he came, groaning out Gary’s name as he shuddered and spilled.

  After a few seconds, stillshaking, Chuck pulled in a deep breath. “Easyto say, inthe heat ofthe moment.”

  Gary was too fucked out to be insulted. Snorting, he shook his head. “Not for me.”

  “Guess not, then.”Chuck grinned up at him.

  “Really, not.”

  “Okay, then,” Chuck answered simply, and that was that. Garysighed, not lookingforward to gettingup and happywhere he was inChuck’s arms anyway.

  ChapterEighteen

  Tallyreturned to harassing Gary by e-mail and

  phone. At Chuck’s insistence, Gary bought a pay-asyou-go smartphone, which also let himcheck his e-mail and his brand-new website. It was polished without being glossy, a nice pared-down site that featured a publicity shot of Gary from a few years ago and streamed four of the new songs. Tally even worked up a few phone interviews with industry trade magazines, which weren’t exactly celebrity rags but did have strong followings.

  Chuck resumed the pattern they established before his accidental outing, staying to “visit” with Gary after practice sessions but never staying the night. He didn’t talk about his family or the situation with the family businesses, and while part of Gary was relieved by that because he had no advice to give on either topic, he also began to see it as a form of shutting him out. Chuck’s passionate visits eased his mind enough to keep Gary from talking about his feelings, but he held onto those emotions and examined themcarefullyevery time Chuck left to drive back to Cornerstone. Christmas came and went almost unnoticed by Gary, except for a small impromptu gift exchange with the band three days before the holiday. They were taking a break from practice until after the New Year, because everyone had too many personal obligations and yearend stress to concentrate.

  When the New Year finally hit, Gary stayed up until 12:01 a.m., drinking himself into a lonely stupor. Chuck was with his kids at the fireworks show in downtown Holden, braving the snow and the cold just to do something that did not involve his family at Cornerstone. Chuck visited late the next day, and they had “first sex of the year” in a hurried and heated way, although Gary was grateful they at least made it to the bed. But Chuck left before Gary could even suggest dinner, leaving Gary to wonder what exactly the year had instore for him.

  The biggest change to Gary’s schedule was playing regularly at the Low
er Forty throughout January and February. His band was a regular on Thursday nights, and evenpicked up a few Saturdaynights, which was the busiest night and featured only professional performers and bands. Gary fit in smoothly with the other musicians, who as a rule were more open minded about homosexuality no matter how hard-core traditional their playing style. Occasionally he would spot glares directed toward him or Chuck from the audience, but it became easier to ignore over time and performances.

  Gary held back from joining the jam sessions, though, despite his growing familiarity with people. It was different from playing with his own backup band, somehow, and given that he had finally jumped the hurdle of playing in public he was not going to question anything else about it for a while. Chuck encouraged him to try, but the idea made Gary nauseous and sweaty, so after dragging Gary out ofminipanic attacks a couple of times, Chuck stopped asking. Everyone else picked up on Gary’s reticence and on the whole respected it.

  Winter hit hard in January, but by the start of March, warmafternoons were melting the snow. It was notice to Gary that time was passing by quickly between practice sessions, music development, performances at the Lower Forty, and afternoons or evenings spent in bed with Chuck. He looked out the kitchen window in surprise, a hot cup of coffee in his hand, seeing the snow melt slowly and revealing the skeletons of bushes in the backyard. It took him a few moments to realize his cellphone was ringing.

  “Tally! The sun’s out! Spring is here!” Gary grinned as he answered.

  “Shut up, you bastard, we’re up to fourteen degrees this morning.”

  Gary snorted, sympathetic but glad he was not in Chicago during the long, slow wet trudge toward summer.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll be merciful. So why are you callingme at the ungodlyhour ofnine inthe morning?”

  “I’ve got your tour dates lined up. I’ll e-mail you the complete itinerary, but I wanted to let you know it kicks offinMay.”

  Gary sat down slowly. “That was quick.” They had not even spoken the word “tour” to each other since Tally’s last visit, and while Gary knew that tour development had been going on, it was different from beinggivena date.

  “I have connections, and I’d like to get this ball rolling. The songs we released are doing well, getting airplay and solid reviews. Your full album comes out next monthgivingus a little time to build up a fanbase.”

  “One month?” Gary frowned. It did not seemlike enoughtime to him.

  “Admittedly, not much time. But we’re pushing you hard, and the first month of the tour is low key anyway: small venues and bars throughout the South, two to three gigs a week. You’ll be exhausted by the time you’re done, but I’m giving you a three-week break before the next leg.”

  “Oh, gee, thanks.”

  Tally did not answer right away, telling Gary that his tone ofvoice was more sarcastic thanhe had meant.

  “I never promised you a rose garden, sweetheart. I know this is going to be hard, but you’re doing great with the stage-fright thing, and with Chuck there, you’ll be fine, right?”

  “Wait, withChuck there?”

  Another pause. “I assumed he’d be traveling with you. And Fran. I realize Jamie’s a no-go, so I’ve lined up HarryGartner.”

  “Well, shit.”

  “For fuck’s sake, have you even asked them yet?”Tallyyelled at him.

  “No! Obviously! No!”Garyyelled back.

  “If they can’t do it, I’m scrambling for replacements, and it willbarely be enough time for them to learnthe music as it is. Harry’s alreadybitchingabout the tight turnaround. Thank god he owes me. You need to let me know bytonight, Gary. Tonight!”

  “Harry’s aces. He’ll be fine,” Gary said, putting down his coffee and rubbing his temple with one hand. He had worked with Harry on a couple of recordings up in Chicago, and while his specialty was blues, Gary was sure he could pick up the music just fine. The same could not be said for anyone trying to learn the fiddle or banjo parts, which Gary knew he had subconsciously written for both Chuck and Fran, respectively. He sighed. “Fuck.”

  “No, that’s my line. Get on it, Gary. Tonight!” Tallyhungup onhim.

  “Fuck,” Gary repeated, staring at his coffee mug. He suspected Fran would be an easy sell. She had already hinted around about the possibility of touring, and her multiple bartending jobs were easy for her to return to if it came to that. Tally’s guess about Jamie was spot on, because the pianist was simply not the touring kind. Chuck was the unknown, although Gary suspected he knew already what the answer would be, given Chuck’s investment in his children and his businesses. The last was more an assumption, since Chuck was not sharing anything about his situation in Cornerstone. Fran made noises about church ladies going up in arms, and a few people said things casually at the Lower Forty about the “upset goin’ on down over Everett way” but Gary lacked specifics. He wanted to stay out of the gossip mill any more than he was already in it, but now with the specter oftouring on the horizon, Gary realized he was at a handicap. As much as he believed that Chuck would say no to touring, Garydid not know for sure.

  He stared at his phone for a while longer before makingthe call.

  “Mornin’, lover.” Chuck’s voice was low and smoky, meaning he was alone in his truck. Gary grinned.

  “Good morning. Where youoffto?”

  “Dropped the kids offand heading into Holden to openthe store.”

  “Oh? You’re reopeningit?”

  Chuck laughed. “I’ve had it open for weeks now. Cousin Lisa has taken over Elba’s job, and Fran’s working there part time like you suggested, but I’mstill the mainemployee.”

  Gary closed his eyes in frustration, knowing that this was something he should have been aware of when it happened.

  “Gary?”

  “Sorry, I was lost inthought.”

  “Good thoughts?” Chuck’s voice dropped again, bringing up in Gary’s mind memories ofthe settee in the back ofthe shop. He shook his head to clear it.

  “We need to talk.”

  There was a long pause before Chuck answered, slowlyand carefully. “Do I need to come by?”

  “No, I don’t think so, not right now. Just… see, Tally called. Told me he’s lined up a small regional tour for me in a couple of months. So, I need to know if I have fiddle player for it or if we need to hire one.” He held his breath.

  “That’s short notice,” Chuck said, his inflection flat.

  “Yeah, it is. That’s how Tally works, though: no holds barred.”

  “Truenuff.”

  “Look, I know the answer is probably no, but I wanted to talk to youfirst.”

  “Been a long time since I toured.” Chuck’s voice remained flat, which Gary took as a bad sign, but neither had Chuck said no… yet.

  “That makes two of us. Look, you need to think onthis? We cantalk later.”

  Gary could imagine Chuck nodding as he answered. “Yeah, we need to talk. I’llbe bywhenFran shows up. She’ll get here ’round two, so I’ll see you after that.”

  Gary agreed, because that was as good as things were going to get, and they hung up without saying much else. His practice that morning was disjointed and his creativity on leave. Frustrated, he went for a short walk through the closest part of the pecan orchard, tramping about in melting, ice-crusted snow, but it did not help matters much, so he eventuallyretreated to one of the porch chairs in the living room, listening to albums.

  They were at a place in their relationship where Gary was comfortable, and he was scared of how touring might affect that. The first leg Tally had planned was just the start of what Gary guessed would be at least two very long years, possibly five if things didn’t take off out of the gate. He also had no idea what Chuck’s plans really were, other than to keep his store. Given the amount of money involved, Gary doubted that was even a blip on the radar of the legal issues, but Gary was in the dark, and, for the first time, that really bothered him.

  Chuck showed up around 2:30 p.m., looking ten
se. Gary did not even get up out of his chair where he was bundled under two blankets. The fireplace worked, but the steam-heating system was marginal at best, and Gary had been wearing gloves indoors throughout the winter. Chuck sat down in one of the other chairs, staringat the smallfire.

  “Should build that up.”

  “I’mcomfy.”

  Sighing, Chuck peeled himself back out of the chair to rummage with the fire, adding wood and pushing everything around with the poker. Gary enjoyed the view ofChuck’s long, strongbodyhunched down, illuminated by the firelight. He was graceful, something Gary did not get a chance to observe outside of bed, so he drank it in until Chuck got up and returned to his chair.

  “Tally wants to know by tonight if you’re in,” Gary said, deciding to open the can of worms and get things over with.

  “Pushy.”

  “Tally,” Gary explained with a shrug, making Chuck huffout a smalllaugh.

  “How longis the tour?”

  Gary tried to keep his hopes in check at the question. “This leg is about one month of hard-core touring, three performances a week average, driving around the region. Small bars, that kind of thing. He’s e-mailing me the itinerary. After that, three weeks break, and then another leg, probably out of the region. Maybe the West Coast.”

  “Goingto be hard.”

  Gary nodded. “Paying my dues, man. The singles are selling well, and the albumcomes out in a couple of weeks, but I’ve got to build up a following willing to payto see me and buymystuff.”

  “Tally’s bankrolling?”

  Gary nodded again, this time with a grimace. “I’m goingto owe hima testicle bythe time we’re done.”

  Chuck smirked. “Don’t think that’s the kind of toyhe likes to playwith.”

  Garylaughed. “Onlyifit’s his own, I expect.”

  “So youwant me along?”

  “Yeah, ofcourse. I want youaround allthe time.”

  Chuck did not look surprised at that, rubbing his chinthoughtfully. Garydecided to go for broke.

  “I need to know what’s going on with you. With your family. I know it’s your private business, but I’min this, 100 percent. I can’t be your partner ifI don’t even know shit like, oh, youreopened the store.” He turned back to the fire, hiding his frustration. “You’re keeping me at arm’s length, and while I get why, I’mnot happy about it. “