Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Ker
Once Ash calmed him down (again!), Ker did, in fact, get his act together and helped Ash clean up the kitchen, then flew to his bedroom, where he shucked off the jeans and T-shirt. As he stood in front of his closet in a pair of navy boxer briefs, Ash came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“No stress, sweetie. It’s just a casual Sunday dinner at Mom’s. Most of the guys will probably be wearing jeans or chinos.”
In the end, Ker chose a pair of black jeans with a white button-down shirt and black sneakers. On their way out, he grabbed a gray fleece jacket off the hook by the door.
It was a short ride to Ash’s house, but Ker kept the conversation going so as not to dwell on his nervousness.
“So Courtland is the firefighter, right?” he asked.
“Yeah. He’s actually a lieutenant for the Hawthorne Bluff Fire Department.”
“And Mitch owns the gourmet shop in town. I’ll need to remember to tell him how great the food was.”
“Oh, he’ll love that. He’s the youngest of us, only a by a few months for me, but we all do our best to give him shit when we can,” Ash told him, smirking. “But since we’ll be at Mom’s, we’ll behave, more or less.”
As they approached the town of Hawthorne Bluff, Ash turned into a residential section, and after a couple more turns, pulled into the driveway of an attractive tan home with navy shutters and a deep-plum front door.
“This is where I hang my hat,” Ash announced as he shut off the SUV. “C’mon, I’ll give you the nickel tour.”
The back door led to a combination mudroom and laundry room, then into a large kitchen featuring a marble island with matching countertops. A small table set into a bay-window area overlooked the large backyard.
“The dining room is there.” Ash pointed across the kitchen. A central hallway led to the front of the house, and Ker followed Ash, noting a huge family room and office space at the front of the house.
“This is a great house,” Ker said, loving the open feel of the layout.
“Thanks,” replied Ash as they ascended to the second floor. “There are two guest rooms that share a bath over there.” Ash gestured to the left side of the home. “And this is my bedroom.”
They entered a very large room, complete with sitting area and king-size bed. Ash moved to an open doorway. “This is the bathroom. I had it completely redone when I bought it.” Ker saw a huge shower along one wall that could probably fit four people, a double vanity, toilet, and a door that he assumed was a linen closet.
“And then,” Ash continued, “there’s the closet.” He opened a door on the other side of the bedroom. “I opted for a large space with hanging rods, shelves, and drawers so I don’t need a dresser in the bedroom. That way I had room for a sitting area.”
“Oh my God!” Ker exclaimed. “This is like something out of a home decor magazine.” He’d never seen anything like it.
Ash undressed completely, tossing the clothes he’d been wearing since yesterday into a wicker hamper. Pulling a pair of black trunks and a pair of socks out of a nearby drawer, he pulled them on, then selected a pair of dark jeans and an oatmeal-hued thermal Henley.
Stopping to plant a kiss on Ker’s lips, Ash said, “We’ve got a few minutes before we head over to Mom’s. Let’s go down to the family room.”
They still arrived at Ash’s mom’s house early. Ash explained that it might be easier to meet his mom first, then the rest of the brothers as they arrived, rather than showing up later and meeting everyone at once. Ker had readily agreed.
When they got to the front door, Ker watched as Ash rang the doorbell, then used a key to unlock the door and step in. “Hi, Mom,” he announced as they walked through the foyer.
“I’m in the sunroom, dear,” a female voice said, presumably Ash’s mom.
“Mom,” Ash said when they reached the sunroom, “This is Walker Jennings. Ker, my mom.”
“Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Reynolds,” Ker said, reaching for her outstretched hand.
“Please, it’s Muriel. And it’s very nice to meet you, Ker. I’m so happy you could join us today.” She turned to Ash. “Now that you’re here, would you pour me a glass of wine, Ash? I put a bottle of pinot grigio in the ice bucket earlier.”
“Certainly, Mom. Would you like something, Ker?”
“Club soda with lime, please.”
Ker fixed their drinks along with a club soda for himself.
“Don’t feel you can’t have a drink on my account, Ash,” Ker said as he watched Ash prepare the beverages. Turning to Muriel, he explained, “As Ash already knows, I’ve had some problems with substance abuse in the past, so I don’t drink alcohol. But I don’t have an issue being around people who do.”
“I see,” Muriel said evenly. “So tell me, Ker, what do you do?”
“I’m a project manager for Standish Construction in Plymouth. I oversee various commercial construction projects in the area, working with both the client and the crew to make sure everything is built correctly and that things go smoothly.”
“That sounds quite interesting. Have you been doing it very long?” Muriel asked.
“I’ve been with the company for almost ten years. I got the job shortly after I moved to Plymouth,” Ker explained. “I didn’t start out as a project manager, but I’ve been promoted over the years, so I guess my boss thinks I’m doing a good job.”
“Oh, you’re not from this area originally?”
“No, I grew up in Fitchburg. My folks are still there along with my sister, Sharon. But I was getting a little restless back then,” Ker said, not wanting to go into the fact that he and his folks didn’t see eye to eye on some things. “So I moved to Plymouth. It was a good move for me.”
Just then the doorbell rang, and Ker heard voices in the hall. A moment later, Finn and Clay walked in.
“Hi, Mom,” Finn said, kissing her on the cheek. Clay followed suit and turned around.
“Hey, Ker,” Clay said, giving Ker a brief hug, “nice to see you here today.”
“Hi, Ker,” added Finn, who proceeded to make drinks for Clay and himself.
“So you two have already met Ker?” Muriel said wryly. “Ash, dear, please tell me I’m not the last to know.” She clutched her heart dramatically.
Ash laughed. “Oh, Mom, would I do that to you? And don’t be so dramatic, you’ll scare Ker. Relax, Court and Mitch don’t know yet; not that it’s a secret or anything. But it’s still kind of a new thing for us.”
Muriel looked at Ker, “Don’t worry, Ker, I’m not upset. Just part of being a Reynolds. I love to give my boys crap every now and then. Just lets them know how much I love them.”
Ker said, “Thanks, you had me worried for a second.” Despite his words, Ker wondered if he could really trust Muriel.
“We met Ker at Cuppa Joe’s Friday night,” Clay said. “Finn and I went to the open mic night and saw Ash and Ker there.”
Ker heard more commotion coming from the front of the house, and soon two men ambled into the sunroom. After greeting Muriel with hugs and kisses, one of them turned to Ker and said, “Hi, I’m Court.”
“Hi, Court. I’m Ker, a friend of Ash’s. It’s nice to meet you.”
“And I’m Mitch,” the other man said, hip checking Court and shaking Ker’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Are you the guy he met at A Helping Hand?”
“Guilty as charged,” replied Ker.
“Ker and I just started seeing each other,” Ash told them.
“My, my,” Mitch said. “Seems our brother is full of surprises!”
At that point, Ker visibly relaxed, seeing the playful banter between them all. It was different from the way he’d grown up, but he found that there was a definite appeal to this type of interaction. Maybe he’d judged Muriel too quickly, and she really was just a loving mom who teased her sons regularly just as she had said.
“Your family is really nice,” Ker said when Ash dropped him off later that night.
“Yeah, they can be a handful at times, but what can I say? I love ’em,” Ash said, smiling.
“Do you think they liked me?” Ker asked shyly.
“I’m sure they did.”
“Well, thanks for inviting me, I had a good time.” Ker yawned. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, sweetie. But I guess that’s my cue to say good night.”
They kissed, gently at first, then things got heated fast. They made out for a few minutes, and Ker was in heaven. This feels better than with anyone else I’ve been with.
When they finally broke, Ker sighed. “Wow. As much as I want to ask you in, I really need to get some sleep, and we both know that won’t happen if you come in with me.”
“You’re right,” Ash agreed. “But we’ll talk tomorrow and make plans to do something this week.”
“Okay. Thanks for a great weekend. I had the best time ever.”