Chapter 4
Bailey was working while also taking in the view of the sun drenched beach and enjoying the sea breeze.
He was on the hotel veranda, sitting in the shade of an umbrella with his laptop and tablet on the table in front of him along with an ice cold drink.
From where he was sitting, he could watch Joey playing in the sand.
Joey's swimming lessons were going well and he was eager to go swimming. The little guy had to wait until Bailey was done working then they were both going to jump in the water.
Today Matt was cleaning the beach house. He had texted to let Bailey know he was over there. That made Bailey wonder if maybe they should drop by, see how he was doing. It was a very distracting idea.
He kept worrying that Matt would be finished at the beach house before Bailey had a chance to go over there. But he had his own work to do plus he knew his motives weren't pure.
Bailey restrained his impulses and waited until he finished work, then he and Joey were on their way to the beach house. "I'm gonna go swimming," Joey said.
"You will. You're getting so good at it," Bailey praised him.
"You're good too, Daddy," Joey told him sweetly.
At the beach house, they saw that all the windows and doors were open. "Matt must be airing out the place," Bailey said.
"Can I go swimming now?" Joey asked. He wasn't eager to go inside.
"No, but you can stay out here. Just don't go in the water," Bailey told him.
"I only want to go swimming with you, Daddy," Joey told him.
That made Bailey smile. "Good. I won't keep you waiting too long."
Going inside, he called out to Matt. He heard him say hi and found him in the guest room, moving a chest of drawers back into place. "You didn't need to move stuff," Bailey told him.
"I had to clean underneath," he said. He certainly took his work seriously.
"I would think you get enough furniture moving at your other job," Bailey told him as he noticed how much cleaner the place looked.
"That's not a full time job. They just call me in when they need extra help," Matt said.
"I see. Well, you certainly did a great job here," Bailey said.
"I was going to go through more of my grandfather's things.
There's all that stuff in the office, all those boxes of papers.
I want to make sure nothing important gets lost. You interested in helping me with that?
" If Matt didn't have a full time job, Bailey though he might want to earn more money.
"Sure. Let's do it. I'm done with cleaning," Matt said. He was ready to start, but then realized Bailey might not be. "Did you mean now or...?"
"I have to take Joey swimming first. I promised. But if you want to stick around, I'll order us all some dinner and we can get to work," Bailey said.
"You know The Spicy Grill isn't far from here. Have you been there?" Matt asked.
"No, but I meant to check it out." It wasn't first on his list. He wasn't into spicy food, but he didn't want to say that to Matt when he seemed to be recommending the place.
"It's a nice walk up the hill and they have outdoor tables with a killer view," Matt said.
"You want to go with us?" Bailey asked and got nervous though this wasn't some meaningful invitation.
"Yeah. Sounds good," Matt said with a smile. "I'll go for a swim with you guys too if you don't mind. I need to cool off."
"OK," Bailey said and wondered why he was setting himself up like this. He shouldn't be spending so much time with Matt. Though he could think of this as a test to see if he could enjoy spending time around a gorgeous, friendly guy and not just suffer because he couldn't have him.
The first part of the test was Matt flinging off his clothes as he got ready to run for the waves. Except he didn't run off this time. He was still there as Bailey went to change and came back in his swim trunks looking decidedly unimpressive.
Somehow he still got a good once over from Matt and he nodded. "I knew you'd have a good body," he said.
Bailey was ready to deny it, but decided this wasn't a subject he wanted to dwell on, not when Matt looked like an absolute god in his swim trunks. Though the man was really meant to wear even less than that.
OK, Bailey couldn't stand there ogling and being ogled, Joey was waiting. They needed to get to the beach.
"Finally!" Joey yelled when he saw them.
"I guess you're ready for a swimming lesson," Bailey said with a laugh as he picked him up and swung him around.
"Throw me in the water, Daddy!" Joey said.
"You wouldn't like it," Bailey told him but he did carry him into the waves with water splashing all around them. "Now we swim."
"I got that on video. I'll send it to you," Matt said from behind them then he set his phone down on a towel.
"Oh, thanks," Bailey said. "Why did you bring your phone out here?" He had left his at the house.
"I like to keep it close in case I get word about a job," Matt said then he joined them in the water.
He dropped backwards into the water and then just floated there. "My dad can do that too," Joey told him. "Show him, Daddy."
"I don't think he'll be impressed," Bailey said. Joey had been the first time he did it, like it was magic.
Matt did the backstroke for a while impressing Joey some more, but he didn't go too far out.
He was nearby when Joey started doing his own swimming with Bailey holding onto him then letting go.
Matt was very distracting, so good looking, and he was also very encouraging toward Joey as the little guy practiced swimming.
"That's real swimming, no water wings or anything. Good for you," Matt called out.
That made Joey smile with pride. "I want to swim far out," he said.
"You're so ambitious today," Bailey said. He was making good progress, swimming for longer but he still had to stay where he could touch bottom with his feet and stand up when he got scared. And Bailey stayed close, of course.
Then Joey had an idea. "Daddy, you and Matt should race."
"Matt would win," Bailey told him.
"You don't know that," Matt said as Bailey shook his head at him in disbelief.
But Joey agreed. "Yeah, you don't know."
"Fine. I'll prove it. By losing," Bailey said so he got ready to swim and Joey called for them to start.
Of course Matt beat him, but as he stood up in front of Joey, Bailey asked him to be the judge. "So who won?"
"Matt won, but you did good too, Daddy," Joey said sweetly.
"He did," Matt told him. "And you'll be ready to race me any day now."
Joey grinned at that like he couldn't wait. As Matt swam away and started diving, Joey looked up at Bailey. "Don't go under the water. It's too scary."
"OK, I won't," Bailey told him. "But it's nothing to worry about. Matt knows what he's doing."
Matt was very athletic, his muscles rippling, water sliding over him. The man was a beautiful sight, but Bailey had to keep himself from staring and focus on Joey.
The day was taking on golden colors and it was time to get out of the water though Joey wanted to keep swimming. "Aren't you hungry? I am," Matt told him.
"I am hungry," Joey said like he only now realized it. He ran ahead to go get his feet hosed off, and Matt walked next to Bailey. "You didn't get to do much swimming," Matt said.
"That's OK as long as Joey got to swim. I can't believe how fast he's learning."
"You're so good with him and patient. And you looked like you were having fun," Matt said like he didn't expect that.
"Of course I was having fun. I love doing stuff with my boy," Bailey said.
"I guess I think of dads being more angry and all that," Matt said with a shrug, and Bailey remembered how Gwen said that when their dad was around she would keep her little brother out as much as she could. That was because their dad had a short fuse.
It seemed Matt didn't turn out like him at all. He was so easygoing and nice. It made Bailey want to help him out though all he could do was give him a little extra work.
After they cleaned up and changed, it was time to go to that restaurant up on the hill.
Bailey remembered hiking that way, but there was no restaurant up there when he visited Laurel Beach before.
First his grandfather got sick and the only place Bailey visited him was at the hospital. Then he was gone.
"It's a wilderness," Joey said as they took a path between bushes and trees that hid the houses up on the hill and made it look wild.
"That's right. It's a wilderness adventure and then we eat," Bailey told him.
The walk up the hill was nice with birds singing and cicadas chirping. The sun was starting to set behind the hills, turning the sky interesting colors. Joey held Bailey's hand the whole way.
"It's going to be fun walking back down in the dark," Bailey said though their phone flashlights would help.
"We won't go this way," Matt said. "There is a lighted path over there and the hill road too."
"Oh, good," Bailey said. He had never used either one. It was funny how many things there were he didn't know about in a place where he used to spend his spring break.
"I'm not afraid of the dark," Joey volunteered though he was.
"Of course not. You're a brave guy and a good swimmer," Bailey told him.
"I second that," Matt said.
They reached the Spicy Grill. It seemed like a big house that was turned into a restaurant. They were seated outside at a table with a perfect view of the ocean and the horizon. The sun was getting lower now, and the ocean was starting to turn dark.
"Everything looks different," Joey said as he peered around.
Bailey definitely liked the view, but that might be the best part of this dinner if he couldn't find something on the menu that wasn't hot. "I might have to resort to the kids' menu if they don't have anything that's not spicy," Bailey said though they didn't actually have a kids' menu.
"You're a grown up. Is that allowed?" Joey asked.
Bailey smiled at that, but Matt was frowning since it was his idea to come here. "So you don't like spicy food. I guess this wasn't a good place to recommend," he said.
"It was still worth coming here," Bailey told him. "I wanted to check this place out. I already see some stuff that comes in mild varieties for me and Joey."
"I like spicy," Joey claimed, but Bailey wasn't sure if that was true. He was still willing to let the brave little guy try something spicy.
"Maybe the mandarin chicken," he said. It was both sweet and spicy and that might be to his liking. "We'll order the sauce on the side. Now we need something for me."
"Their fajitas are great," Mark said then assured him about the heat level. "And they aren't spicy without the charred habanero sauce."
Bailey took his suggestion and ordered the fajitas for himself and he was not disappointed. "The view is great and the food is great," he said to reassure Matt. "This was a good recommendation."
Matt smiled and dived into his red-hot spareribs and spicy fries. It made Bailey cringe but Matt was certainly enjoying them. Joey was making faces as he ate his chicken with the sweet and spicy dipping sauce. He didn't stop though.
"Spicy is good," he insisted. His food wasn't too hot though. Bailey had tasted the sauce and it wasn't too bad, but he still didn't let him have too much.
At the end of their meal, Matt said they should get ice cream to cool things down. Joey was all for it. He ate his ice cream, which came piled with strawberries and kiwi. Bailey and Matt had their second beers and watched the dark ocean under a dark sky.
Mark told them about all the different small jobs he had done to make money. He was a really hardworking guy and Joey was impressed.
"He's ready to hire you all over again," Bailey said but he also realized it was too late to get anything done at the beach house. He told Matt what he was thinking. "It's too close to Joey's bedtime to start on sorting through my grandfather's papers tonight. How is tomorrow for you?"
"Tomorrow works for me. No problem," Matt said and Bailey didn't like how much he looked forward to seeing him again.
They went down the hill a more civilized way than the way they came up, taking a leisurely walk along the hill road. It put them pretty close to the hotel. Bailey thought Matt would go his own way, but he walked with them back toward their hotel.
"I want to drop in on Gwen and say hi," he said.
"I want to see Gwen too," Joey said, but Bailey knew he was just trying to delay his bedtime.
"We can wave to her," Bailey said.
They went through the hotel lobby and to the bar where Gwen was serving up drinks and smiling at customers. They said good night to Matt.
"Thanks for tonight. I had a great time with you guys," Matt said. "I hope I didn't talk your ears off."
"Not at all," Bailey told him. "I liked your stories. We both did."
"Me and Daddy like hanging out with you, Matt," Joey told him and Matt beamed at him.
When Matt went into the bar, he got Gwen to wave to them. Joey waved back at her while yawning and then claimed, "I'm not sleepy."
"You will be by the time you're ready for bed," Bailey predicted.
As they went up to their room, all Bailey could think about was how he felt like he and Matt had just gone on a date.
That was silly, Matt was out of his league and Joey was there to make it clear that tonight was in no way a date. But Bailey still got a bittersweet taste of what it would be like to go out with a great guy like Matt.