Chapter Five #2
Dave pointed to the bowl. “Less talking, more spreading. I want to put it in the oven within ten minutes.” Chris did an adorable pout, and Jeff tried hard not to laugh.
Dave sighed heavily. “Fine. We’ll go.” He caught Jeff’s gaze, and the twinkle in his eyes told Jeff that had been the plan all along.
“Can Jeff come too?” Chris blurted out.
Both Jeff and Dave jerked their heads up.
“Jeff will probably be working,” Dave began.
But Chris wasn’t finished. “Can you get the day off?” he demanded. “You’ll love Aunt Janine. She can really sing.”
Jeff took one look at Chris’s flushed face and bright eyes, then glanced at Dave. “I do love live music. Can’t tell you the last time I listened to a live band.”
“Are there dead bands?” Chris’s mouth fell open.
Jeff cracked up. “God, I hope not.”
“You’d be welcome to come with us,” Dave said.
That decided him. Come hell or high water, he’d be there. He peered at Dave. “Where are they playing, and what time?”
“It’s next Saturday in a pub near Regent’s Park, and they’re on at two.” He stilled. “Why? Could you make it?”
Jeff pulled his phone from his hip pocket. “That’s December 7th?” He stroked his beard. “That gives me enough time to swap my shifts around. So yeah, I could make it.”
“Regent’s Park?” Chris was bouncing on his chair. “Madame Tussaud’s is near there. Ethan went there last year for his birthday. He said it was brilliant.” He gave his dad a beseeching glance. “Can we go there, Dad? Please? We could go in the morning, then listen to Aunt Janine in the afternoon.”
Dave was right—Chris had puppy dog eyes down to a fine art.
Dave smiled. “Why not? I’ve never been there either.”
“And Jeff could come with us,” Chris announced. He stared at Jeff. “You’re taking the day off, aren’t you? Have you ever been to Madame Tussaud’s?”
“No, I haven’t but—”
“Then you need to come too. Doesn’t he, Dad?”
Dave laughed. “Give in, Jeff. I always do.”
“Are you sure?” He didn’t want to be an imposition, and he had to admit, he loved the idea.
“I’m sure. As long as you don’t mind giving up your day off to spend it with us.”
Oh yeah. That’ll be a real hardship. A day with Dave sounded perfect.
“I’ll survive,” he said with a smile.
Dave came into the sitting room. “I have a feeling it might take him a while to get to sleep. He was so excitable this evening.”
Jeff bit his lip. “That’s my fault, isn’t it?”
Dave joined him on the couch. “You don’t have to come with us to Janine’s gig. Or Madame Tussaud’s, for that matter. Not if you don’t want to.”
Jeff knew he was being given an out. He didn’t want one.
“If you really don’t mind me tagging along, I’d like to go with you. Besides, if I backed out now, I’d only upset him.” Chris was a wonderful boy.
Dave cleared his throat. “I think this is the part where I apologize.”
“What for?” Jeff frowned.
“Chris’s less-than-subtle ploys.”
Jeff bit back a smile. “Now, which ploys were those? The one where he asked me if I was gay, married, had a boyfriend, and then in the next breath asked if I liked you? Or the one where he kept selling your attributes?”
Dave’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God. He didn’t.”
“I take it he’s never tried his hand at matchmaking before?”
“No, he has not,” Dave said vehemently. “I’m so sorry.”
Jeff held up his hand. “Hey, no need to apologize. I actually found it kind of cute.” He glanced at the clock above the fireplace. “But now I really do need to go.” It was only eight o’clock, but he didn’t want to overstay his welcome.
Dave got to his feet. “I’ll get your jacket and scarf.” A moment later he returned with them, and held the jacket while Jeff slipped his arms inside. “Thanks for today. I had no idea a simple invitation to look at my house would develop into something so… complicated.”
“I’ve had a great time. And your son is amazing.”
“And manipulative,” Dave added with a gleam in his eye.
He accompanied Jeff to the hallway, and waited while Jeff put on his boots.
“I’ll text you next week to arrange where and when to meet.
” He opened the front door, and Jeff stepped out into the cold night air.
A thick mist had fallen, and the lamplight gave it an eerie glow.
Dave shivered. “It’s really beginning to feel like winter. ”
“Not cold enough to snow yet.”
Dave laughed. “You’ve been watching the weather forecast. Snow? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Jeff pulled his coat tight around him. “Thanks again. Chris was right, by the way.”
“About what?”
Jeff grinned. “You’re a good cook.” And with that, he walked briskly away from the house, his shoes crunching on gravel. As he headed for the park exit, he couldn’t push aside that little pang of guilt.
Chris asked me to find a boyfriend for his dad, and I think I’ve found the perfect man.
What made him feel bad was that he wanted the job for himself.
It wasn’t as if he’d stalked Dave, right?
Or followed him from Santa Land. All he’d done was go to grab a bite to eat, and Dave had just been sitting there.
If there had been awkward silences when we first met, I’d have walked away, and that would have been the end of it. But they’d talked. And talked. And the more Dave had opened up to him, the more Jeff wanted to be around him.
Maybe it was fate, and nothing to do with Chris’s request.
That was Jeff’s theory, and he was sticking to it.