Finding You: The Complete Box Set (a contemporary MM romance series)

by Ana Ashley

  “No idea. Maybe these are their friends’ names?”

  Most of the afternoon was taken up with reading the journal and talking about our moms. It was clear that this had been a project both girls had enjoyed doing together, and I felt immensely privileged not only by being allowed to have an insight into their world but also in having Joel here with me sharing this experience.

  An idea started forming in my head. I hadn’t realized I’d slowly leaned against Joel until our shoulders touched. I looked up to see his beautiful eyes trying to assess me. He was so close I could smell his cologne, fresh and woodsy, and it made the tiny hairs on my arms stand up.

  I almost forgot to breathe when he looked down at my lips and then back to my eyes, and time seemed to stop for a moment. My heart was beating so fast I could swear it would leap out of my body any time now.

  Joel’s cheeks were flushed, and I couldn’t resist looking at his lips too. They looked soft and so damn kissable. Fuck, I wanted a taste more than I ever wanted anything in my life. The air around us felt electrified, and I struggled to remember what it was I was doing a minute ago.

  It was like we were like the two polar opposites of a magnet, intrinsically attracted to each other, and I knew it was only a matter of time until we could no longer resist the pull.

  I cleared my throat to speak and stop myself from acting on my thoughts and quickly put a pillow over my lap to hide my arousal. Joel jumped back, putting some more space between us. He rubbed the back of his neck, tousling his hair as he did it.

  “We should do this.” I pointed to the journal.

  “Do what?”

  “We should follow their journey, go to the places they went, see what they saw, and find out if it has changed.”

  “What, like a road trip?” Joel’s grin gave away his thoughts on the matter.

  “Yeah, we can grab some essentials and see where our moms take us. I haven’t had a holiday in a while, and it would also be a good opportunity to do some traditional foods research.”

  The shift in mood in the room from sexual tension to excitement about the road trip was a welcome balm to my senses. We were planning an adventure, and I couldn’t think of anyone else who I’d rather do this with other than my oldest friend.

  Joel grabbed a notepad and pen from the table.

  “May I?”

  “Sure. Do you want a drink?” I got up and walked toward the kitchen area.

  “Oh, yes, please. Chilled water would be good. I was thinking we could start by making a list of things we will need,” Joel said. He started scribbling away and muttering to himself.

  I set Joel’s bottle of water on the coffee table and took a refreshing swig from mine.

  “I also have a two-person tent and a couple of sleeping bags. If we can’t get a hotel, I’m sure we’ll come across a campsite,” I said.

  “Oh yeah, that’s a good idea.”

  I was a planner by nature, and the more detail we added to our notepad, the more excited I became.

  “Hold on,” I said, deflating already, “we don’t have a car. Your rental was canceled, and I don’t own one. I usually drive Aunt Teresa’s car if I need to go anywhere outside of town.”

  “Oh, crap, I didn’t think of that.” He suddenly looked dejected.

  “Why don’t you ask your granddad if he knows what happened to our moms’ car?”

  “You’re a genius! After all, we both have matching keys.” He lifted his keys up between us with a big smile. “I’ll ask Granddad tomorrow. If he doesn’t know, we can look at a local car rental company.”

  We spent more time making plans and a list of things we didn’t want to forget. Once we finished, Joel had the idea that we should record this trip in the same way our moms had documented theirs.

  I went to my office to search for a few items on the list, particularly my camera since Joel thought we should add photos to our journal.

  When I came back to the living room, I found Joel standing on the balcony looking toward his apartment. I hadn’t realized how dark it was outside already. We’d been reading, talking, and planning all afternoon. The light from the streetlamp outside my balcony made Joel’s figure look melancholy.

  From the set on his shoulders, I could see he was tense and deep in thought, so I decided to approach with care.

  “Joel.” I placed my hand softly on his shoulder.

  Joel turned around to face me and leaned back against the iron balcony railing. I couldn’t read his mood, and it was making me anxious.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s something I need to do before we go away,” Joel said.

  I nodded, encouraging him to tell me what he needed. His eyes were shiny with unshed tears and so dark.

  “Can I ask you something? A favor?” He stopped for a second before steeling himself. “You don’t have to, but, ugh, I don’t want to do it on my own.”

  “Of course. Anything. What is it?” I couldn’t voice it out loud, but I would do anything he needed me to do if there were a chance it would erase that look on his face.

  “The memorial service for my parents is this weekend at the Sanctuary of Cape Espichel. It’s where Mom and Dad were married.” He turned back to look at his apartment.

  “I know. I’m going with my aunt. Your grandmother told us a couple of weeks ago and said she’d take us there and that your mom would like it too. Is that okay? Or was it something else you wanted to ask?”

  “That service is more for my family here because they weren’t at the service I held in New York. That was only a small service for me, Max, and a few family members and some of Mom and Dad’s work friends.” He looked at me again, his expression telling me how important this request was for him.

  I held his hands in mine, hoping it would reassure him.

  He released a sigh and carried on. “I had planned to go to the Sanctuary before the service and scatter some of the ashes on my own. It will be the last chance I’ll have to be with them, except now I don’t think I can do it on my own. Will you... um... will you come with me, David? Please?” He looked uncertain “I mean, you don’t have to, but—”

  “I will,” I cut him off. “Of course I’ll go with you. I’m honored you asked.”

  Joel’s shoulders sagged with relief, and I took that moment to do what I’d wanted to do since this afternoon. I pulled him into my arms and held him tight. Nothing in my life had ever felt so right.

  8

  Joel

  David agreeing to come with me to the sanctuary lifted a weight off my shoulders I didn’t realize I had been carrying, so when I went back to my apartment last night, all I felt was excitement about our upcoming road trip.

  I hoped we could get some news on Ladybug from my grandparents, so I’d decided to surprise them by bringing them breakfast. Not surprisingly, David was at the café when I arrived to buy some pastries. What caught me off guard was that he said he’d finished for the day and would love to join me.

  “Looks like I’m not the only one who’s excited to hear about Ladybug.” I smiled, and he blushed as he packed some pastries in a box.

  “Guilty as charged. Wouldn’t it be awesome if your granddad knew where it is?”

  When we arrived at my grandparents’, we made a big fuss over making breakfast for them, preparing coffee and serving the fresh bread I bought and the pastries.

  “Oh, isn’t this a treat!” My great-grandmother rubbed her hands in pleasure.

  “It is indeed,” my grandmother agreed before turning to us. “What do you want?”

  I laughed at my grandmother’s question. I still remembered the event we affectionately called “The Great Big Toast Burnout of ’96” when David and I decided that if we were nice to them and made them breakfast, they would take us to the fairground and let us go on all the rides.

  It had worked then, and we hoped it would work now, although there would be no burnt toast this time.

  As soon as we were all sitting around the ta
ble, we went straight to the point. We told them how we found we had matching keys and that Pedro had said they were for his uncle’s car, then proceeded to tell us how our moms got her.

  “Granddad, I don’t remember the car when I was little. Was it sold?”

  Before my granddad could answer, my grandmother interjected. And when Violeta Pereira had something to say, you listen. So we did.

  “No. No. No. No way. You can’t even think about it. That thing is a death trap. It was old then, and it’s old now. Oh, my poor heart. I aged every time our baby girls went anywhere in that rust bucket. I’m not going to have my heart in my hands every day again. No way. Manuel, even God won’t help you if you have any part in this.”

  “Grandma. Breathe.” I got up and put my arms around her and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. “What do you mean? Do you still have the car?”

  My granddad cleared his throat, earning him a death glare from my grandmother. My great-grandmother, who’d been silent up to this point simply said, “Let boys be boys, Violeta.”

  “Follow me.” Granddad got up and walked toward the kitchen door that led to the back of the property. David and I looked at each other but didn’t dare move without permission. We looked at my grandma who was now looking down, shaking her head and muttering, “These boys are going to be the death of me.”

  We both dragged our chairs back like a bunch of excited kids and ran outside to meet my granddad.

  I knew my grandparents had a garage that my granddad used as a workshop, but I’d never paid any attention to what it contained since all my time had been spent with David playing outside in the garden.

  We helped my granddad open the double doors, the rusty stiffness of the hinges an indication that these doors weren’t used very much anymore, if at all.

  Inside, there were tools hanging from hooks on the walls, shelves crammed with mason jars full of nails, screws, and other small parts I didn’t recognize.

  “Come on, boys, help me get these boxes out of the way. My back isn’t what it used to be.”

  I hadn’t even noticed that behind a wall of stacked boxes there was something covered by a very dusty tarpaulin. It was taking up the majority of the space I’d originally thought was just boxes.

  David and I helped to get the boxes out of the way, being careful with the dust. Some had layers so thick we had to carry them outside. I made a mental note to offer to help granddad sort through this and clean them. Maybe he could start using the workshop again if the space was cleared up.

  “Joel, can you go to the other side of this tarp and help me fold it up?” Granddad asked once all the boxes were out of the way.

  We worked carefully and in tandem. With each fold of the heavy-duty fabric, from the rear to the front, years of dust fell to the floor, although some drifted up into the air around us. I was too focused on making sure the dust wouldn’t go everywhere to assess properly what I was trying to uncover.

  As the final folds showed what was underneath, I heard David let out a whistle. We both stood back and stared at the red Citroen. We both shouted “Ladybug!” and high-fived each other, sporting the same ear-to-ear grin.

  “How do you know her name?” Granddad asked.

  “Pedro told us yesterday. We were looking through our moms’ travel journal, and he recognized it. Then he mentioned the car and how they called her Ladybug,” David said.

  “Ah, Pedro, he’s a good man. Always looked out for the girls, even though they were all the same age. When they came home and told me Pedro had given them the car, I had to drop everything on the spot. They were so excited. Wonderful man.”

  “Granddad, do you think it still works?” I asked.

  “Well, I don’t know, but we can ask Chico to come and have a look at her. He’s a very good mechanic, you know? Maybe he can get her to run again after all these years. Shall we start by getting her out into the yard?”

  David and I went around each side of the car. We both looked at each other and smiled before we each took our key and unlocked the doors on either side at the same time.

  This felt like a monumental event. It was likely that our moms were the last ones to be inside the car, and now we were hoping to do the same.

  “Good job, boys. Now, where did I put that gasoline can? I know I have some here for emergencies.” Granddad found the jerry-can, which was almost full, and then helped us get the car in neutral so we could push it outside.

  Once the car was out of the garage, we all did a walk around her. We found the ladybug sticker right where Pedro said it was, on the left by the trunk handle.

  “This is so cool, don’t you think? I hope she works,” David said, clapping my back.

  “Yeah, me too. I’ll give Chico a call now and see if he’s free. He gave me his number at the airport.”

  Chico arrived less than thirty minutes later, wearing his greasy coveralls.

  “Chico, my man, you look like a proper mechanic today,” I teased.

  “What can I say, Joel? I scrub up well. The Mrs. makes sure of it any time I’m not working. So what have we got here?” He looked at the car, and his face was that of the cat that got the cream.

  “Wow, guys, this is a classic!” Chico went around the car with my granddad and checked everything. He put in some oil, checked all the other fluids, and then added gasoline from the can. After he’d finished with that, he grabbed a battery charger from his truck and jump-started Ladybug into life with a shot of oil smoke coming from the tailpipe.

  David and I high-fived again. We were acting like two teenagers but didn’t care.

  “Well, she seems to work, but I’d like to take her to the garage for a checkup. Need to make sure she won’t break down on you.” He hitched Ladybug to his tow truck, and David gave him his copy of the key.

  “I should have it ready for you tomorrow afternoon. You might want to give her a good wash when you get her back to get the dust off and bring back her shine.” Chico then turned to David. “You know the usual payment method.” He went back to his tow truck, rubbing his hands together.

  “Payment method?” I asked.

  “Custard tarts,” David said with a shrug.

  Chico seemed to be in good shape, so I was sure David was the only customer that got invoiced in custard tarts. I laughed at the thought, and David looked at me as I was waving Chico goodbye.

  “What? I was just imagining you getting an invoice for custard tarts from your mechanic. It’s funny.”

  “You’ll be surprised how much I can get in exchange for custard tarts.” He winked, and I choked at his unexpected innuendo.

  We helped Granddad get the dusty boxes back into the workshop and then decided to spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach by Pedro’s.

  Pedro couldn’t believe we still had the car and made us promise to take him for a ride so he could remember the old days when our moms were still around.

  I couldn’t think of a better thing to do for our moms’ friend.

  9

  David

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent an afternoon at the beach doing absolutely nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. We’d done some more planning for our trip and then talked about some of our favorite places.

  I told Joel about the waterfalls in the Gerês National Park. I’d been there with Isaac and Alexandre a few years ago. The landscape in the north of Portugal is absolutely stunning. I wanted to go back but hadn’t had a holiday in such a long time I’d forgotten about it.

  Joel told me about his favorite places in New York. There was a particular bookstore he couldn’t get enough of. Maybe one day I’d have a chance to visit New York, and Joel would show me all these places.

  I was thinking about our afternoon yesterday when a text from Joel came through.

  Joel: “Ladybug is back!!! She’s good to drive. Do you want to help me give her a wash?”

  David: “Hell, yeah. I’ll be there in twenty.”

  I’d already been in the p
rocess of leaving the café for the day so hugged Aunt Teresa goodbye and then walked out the door. I stopped by my apartment to change into shorts and a T-shirt before I joined Joel at his grandparents’ house.

  The first thing I saw when I walked around the house toward the back was Ladybug standing proud, ready for her next adventure. I hadn’t noticed yesterday how the wheels still had mud stuck on them, probably from a trip through the countryside on a rainy day. I wondered what stories that mud could tell.

  I couldn’t wait to see the real red color of the car and the silver of the wheel trim shining through. It didn’t look like there was any damage to the body of the car, so hopefully, it wouldn’t be difficult restoring her to her former self.

  I saw Joel behind the car, kneeling next to a set of buckets, sponges, car detergent, and a garden hose with a nozzle sprayer. He was wearing cargo shorts and a tight T-shirt that showed his slim torso perfectly.

  “Hey,” I called

  “Oh hey, David. I got all the stuff we need ready. My grandparents went out, but they’ll be back in a couple of hours, so we can all have a snack together once we’re finished polishing Ladybug here.”

  “Sounds great. Where should we start?”

  Joel got up and took off his shoes and socks. I guess there was no point in them getting all wet, so I followed suit.

  We started by cleaning the interior of the car. I got all the mats on the sidewalk, brushed them with detergent and a brush, rinsed them with the hose, and put them up to dry while Joel vacuumed the interior and then polished the dashboard.

  While the mats were drying, we closed the doors again so we could get rid of the first layer of dirt, using the high-pressure setting on the nozzle.

  I stood back while Joel was doing that and took the opportunity to admire him. He was relaxed and happy. It looked like he hadn’t done anything to his hair other than run his hands through it this morning, and it looked so good on him.