Chapter 19
Pope
“They’re saying we’ve got two hours before the storm hits landfall,” Danger said when they reached the den with the dogs. “It’s enough of a window for me to take the SUV to the grocery store to stock up, because we don’t have shit in the fridge.”
Pope glanced around and saw that he’d emptied the linen closet so he could make a nest on the floor for the dogs, right in front of the hearth where the fire could dry them.
“Fuck,” Pope said, “I forgot we put off getting groceries because of the road trip. Yeah, you’d better go in case we wind up getting cut off from town for a few days.”
“Can I go with you?” Roan blurted. “It’ll make it faster. I can write our list on the ride down, and we can grab two carts and each take half.”
“Yeah, go get dressed; that sounds like a great idea.”
As Roan hurried away, Danger turned to look at Ocean. “Is there anything you’d like us to grab for you?”
“Just fruit please,” Ocean replied. “Bananas, kiwis, grapes, and strawberries if they have them. Sometimes I prefer a smoothie instead of a big meal and will just have a sandwich or something to go with it.”
“What kind of sandwich?” Danger asked.
“Turkey, roast beef, or chicken, please. I’m not a big fan of ham or pork at all, for that matter, unless it’s ribs; then I’ll murder the fuck out of them.”
“How about stuff to add to it?” Danger inquired. “Mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, any of that?”
“All of it, if it’s not going to slow you guys down.”
“Kid, if we lose power, sandwiches are going to be all any of us have to eat,” Pope pointed out. “So best that they grab everything we need for them.”
“What about snacks?” Danger asked only to have Ocean shrug in response.
“I’m not really picky,” Ocean replied. “Whatever you and Roan snag will be just fine.”
“Sounds good. I’ll grab a couple cases of bottled water too.”
“Good idea,” Pope said.
“How will we feed the dogs if we can’t cook?” Ocean asked.
Pope rubbed his chin, eyeing them and Ocean thoughtfully before addressing Danger.
“Stock us up on beef and chicken; grab a few bags of ice too. We can pack it all in the deep freezer, and it should keep just fine,” Pope said.
“While you guys make the food run, Ocean and I will carry the small grill down from the deck and tuck it under the house and tarp it, so we’ll have a way to cook.
Still want you to stock up on the sandwich fixings, though, in case this shit lingers.
Make sure you get the meat from the deli.
Beef chunks would be perfect for the pups and grab some aluminum roasting pans so we can make their food in them. ”
While Pope spoke, Danger carefully jotted down every instruction and was just tucking the pen through the metal spiral when Roan came hurrying back into the room.
“I’m all set,” he announced.
“Then let’s get rolling,” Danger said.
“You be careful out there and get back here in one piece,” Pope said as they hurried from the den.
“Yes sir!” Twin voices replied.
“Alright, let’s get that grill moved and tarped before the rain comes. I’ve got some buckets out there we can fill with those patio bricks I keep meaning to turn into a walkway. We’ll tie ‘em to the legs of the grill to keep it weighted down.”
“Yes sir,” Ocean replied, giving the dogs one last, soothing pet before standing.
They whined, instantly leaping to their feet to follow them.
“No, no,” Ocean cooed, petting them again. “It’s okay. We’ll be right back, I promise.”
They lay down reluctantly, eying them the whole time.
Outside, Pope paused to stare at the angry cloud looming on the horizon now, closer than when they’d brought the dogs in.
The rain hadn’t started yet, not in full force anyway, though the sky occasionally spit water at them as they carried the grill down the wooden staircase leading from the deck to the ground.
As soon as they positioned it as far beneath the house as they could, they made short work of finding the buckets, filling them, and tying the grill down.
The last thing Pope expected to see when they reached the sliding glass doors was both dogs peering out, watching for them.
“I wonder if their owner died,” Ocean said as he slid the door open so they could step inside.
Tails wagging, the dogs greeted them, only going back to their spot in front of the fire when Ocean did. Glancing around, Pope decided that the best way to keep them from stressing out further was to pull a few cushions off the couch and make a spot on the floor for him and Ocean to join them.
“Nothing left to do now but hunker down and relax,” Pope declared once Led Zeppelin hummed from the speakers.
He’d brought the weather alert radio over too, since it was analog and would work even after their digital devices lost internet connection.
“My pops had one of those,” Ocean said as Pope lay it on the coffee table before sprawling on the cushions beside him. “He had a CB radio too, like the ones the truckers use.”
“Both are good things to have in an emergency,” Pope said, draping an arm over him so he could pet the dogs. “Which is why there is still a landline in the kitchen, the same as we’ve got in the office at Joker’s Wild.”
“I thought it was just for nostalgia,” Ocean admitted. “I’ve never seen a phone that looked like that.”
“I’ll admit, I indulged a little when I decided to go for a vintage phone, but I wanted something heavy that wasn’t going to crack if I slammed the damn thing,” Pope replied.
“Broke a few plastic phones, haven’t you?”
“More than a few.”
“It’s cool that it works. I’ve never seen a real rotary phone before.”
“And I never thought I’d go out of my way to add one to the house when I had it built,” Pope admitted, “since I used to cuss those damn things out whenever I had to make a call on one.”
“Why?”
“I hated having to start all over again if I fucked the number up. It wasn’t until I mashed the button in so far on one of those plastic ones that it wouldn’t pop back out again without help that I realized what a benefit the older ones were.
It took a paper clip and a great deal of cussing to get that damned thing unwedged again. ”
“Bet you turned the air around you blue.”
“Every damned shade of it.”
Between the music, their conversations, and the gentle caress of their hands along the dog’s bodies, they were finally at ease and beginning to drift off for some much-needed rest. Poor things had probably been in survival mode for so long that they hadn’t gotten proper sleep either.
“I always wanted a dog,” Ocean admitted.
“My friend Garrett had a French Bulldog he taught to ride a boogie board. I thought it would be so cool to do that, but mom was allergic, which sucked, because she loved animals. We tried to go horseback riding once, but before we made it out of the stable, she was wheezing so bad we had to go home.”
“If you’d still like to go, I know a guy who runs a trail riding outfit further inland,” Pope offered. “I can look into it for you.”
“That would be awesome,” Ocean replied. “I always wished she could have a cat at least, so she wouldn’t be alone while I was off on some surfing adventure, but she was allergic to them too.
I thought, maybe she’d start dating when I was a teenager.
I even told her I’d be okay with it as long as the person treated her right, but she said dad was the love of her life and that she couldn’t imagine being with anyone else, so I never brought it up again.
I didn’t want to push, even when I was worried about her. ”
“Sometimes you just have to let people live the path they choose,” Pope said. “it would have been worse for her to try when her heart wasn’t in it.”
“Yeah,” Ocean said, slipping into silence.
“Ya know, even when I worried, I always thought that she was lucky to have found love like that. I used to see guys on the circuit hopping from one person to the next, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because they were searching for something specific in each of them that they never found. ”
“Probably, at least in some instances,” Pope said. “I’m sure in others they were just after a good time. Nothing wrong with that either, especially when you’re young and still sorting yourself out. It’s hard to accept substitutes when you know what it is you’re after.”
“Is that why you’ve been alone for so long?” Ocean asked. “I-I asked around a little, and everyone I talked to said that you hadn’t had a pup or a boy of your own since you and Danger split up?”
Sighing, Pope pressed a kiss to the side of Ocean’s head before answering.
“He’s always been mine. I’ve just been waiting for him to get his head out of his ass and remember that.
Doesn’t mean I want you and Roan any less.
Back before things fell apart between us, we’d talked about finding the perfect boy to suit our desires.
Someone we could care for and protect, but also nurture, so we could watch him thrive and follow his dreams as far as they’d take him.
Now we have that in you and Roan. The wait might have pissed me off at times, but I’ve always believed that the universe had a plan for each of us and that the fates always had a hand in whatever unexpected twists and roadblocks that cropped up. ”
“I wouldn’t mind being part of your forever.”
“Good, because I’m not a fan of letting go,” Pope said. “I do have a question for you, though.”
“Sure,” Ocean replied, still lovingly stroking the dog’s fur, even now that they’d fallen asleep.
“Why didn’t you mention anything about being a pup when we gave you a tour of the dungeon?” Pope said.
“I thought about it, but then I wasn’t even sure if I’d have the courage to break out the gear, so I decided to wait until I’d made up my mind.”
“What decided it for you?”