Page 12 of Beyond the Rainbow (Pride Camp 2025 #11)

Pastor Campbell?

J oshua heard the front door open and close. He smiled down at the carrot in his hand and tossed it onto the counter when the sounds emanating from the living room confirmed who had arrived: Colin was home.

His smile grew broader a moment later when two strong arms encircled him from behind, and a warm, soft mouth began to kiss the side of his face. “I heard you come in,” Joshua murmured, turning his head to nuzzle his cheek against Colin’s.

“Hard to miss, am I?”

“Yeah. The sound of your briefcase and shoes hitting the floor is pretty distinctive. Couldn’t be anyone else. Besides,” he said, inhaling deeply and giving a soft moan of satisfaction, “I can smell you from here.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“It absolutely is.”

Colin spun him around, his hands resting on Joshua’s shoulders. “What have I got in my pooooocket?” he singsonged with a grin, shaking Joshua back and forth.

Joshua laughed and lowered his head, resting his forehead on Colin’s chest. “Well …” he murmured, “a Hershey’s Kiss, maybe?”

“Piss-poor guess, Joshua,” Colin griped. “Show some imagination. It isn’t always a chocolate kiss!”

“No. It’s only a chocolate kiss when you’re not showing imagination!”

“Guess again.”

Joshua lifted his head and met Colin’s eyes. “Um, pickup order from Burger Bach?”

“Nope.”

“Uh, concert tickets?”

“No one in town we want to see! So, nope.”

“I give up.”

“Well, you know the rules. If you give up, you have to search.” He took a half step back and lifted his arms, inviting Joshua to search his pockets.

Joshua laughed. “OK,” he told his husband, wiping his hands on a nearby dishtowel.

“Search is on !” He began pawing through Colin’s pockets, searching his shirt, then the pockets in his overcoat, then his suit jacket.

In between pocket explorations, he also took time to fondle the half-hard erection hidden beneath Colin’s trousers.

“I found something here ,” he teased. “Is this my treat?”

“Now you’re being mean,” Colin replied with a snicker. “Keep searching.”

Finally, his explorations led him to the inside pocket of Colin’s suit jacket, and he whooped in glee. “Found it!” He withdrew a folded piece of paper upon which was written in Colin’s distinctive handwriting:

Hey, bud,

You know, some guys come home and kick off their shoes. Me? I come home and find you because you are home to me. No matter how crazy my day gets, no matter how many foul, nasty cases I’m forced to wade through, the second I see you, I feel peace begin to seep into every nook and cranny of my soul.

You’re the best part of my day. Always.

So yeah, this is me, standing in our kitchen, with my hand in my pocket, pretending this little note is simply another silly game. But you should know: I’d play this game forever just to see you smile.

Yours, always,

Colin

Joshua rested his hand on Colin’s chest, his eyes filling with tears as he read and then reread Colin’s message. “Thank you,” he whispered, his voice choked.

“You’ve had a hectic week,” Colin said, rocking him in his arms. “And I’m not sure how much help I’ve been.”

“You help by being you ,” Joshua told him. “You help by being here .” He touched Colin’s cheek and kissed him, then held the note up before his eyes. “You help with this .”

“We having carrots for dinner?” Colin asked, gesturing to the pile of carrots on the counter.

“We are. Along with mushroom gravy chicken and garlic mashed potatoes.”

“Fancy!” Colin pressed a kiss to his cheek and moved toward the hall closet.

“Speaking of fancy, how’s your fraud case going?”

He heard Colin scoff. “That damned case is anything but fancy. But it’s going OK. I’ve got voir dire on Monday, and then we’re off to the races.”

Joshua followed Colin to where he stood by the hall closet. “This is one of the biggest cases you’ve prosecuted, isn’t it.”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Did you know Esther and Norm were going to dump it in your lap? Did they give you any warning?”

“Nope,” Colin said, sliding his wool overcoat onto a hanger. “It was lying on my desk when I came in. I carried the folder to Norm’s office, waved it in front of his face, and asked if someone had left it there by mistake.”

Joshua breathed out a soft laugh. “And he said …”

“He said, ‘It had better not be a mistake’!” Colin hung his coat, then closed the closet door and moved to Joshua’s side.

“Then he said, ‘Grab Jason as your second and get the interns to start looking up precedents’.” He wrapped an arm around Joshua’s shoulders and guided him back to the kitchen. “And that’s it.”

“They trust you,” Joshua said, returning to the carrots.

“I’ve earned it,” his husband replied, falling into a kitchen chair.

“I know you have, my darling,” Joshua told him. “You’re the best attorney in Charlottesville.”

Colin huffed out a laugh and shook his head in denial. “Riiight.” He watched Joshua chop the carrots into small pieces and toss them into the air fryer.

“OK!” Joshua said, dusting his hands together. “That’s that! Dinner in about twenty minutes.”

“Have you heard from the love birds?”

“Now, honey, don’t tease them. They’re on a second honeymoon over there. They’re so lovey-dovey, they make us look like slackers.”

“Are they actually going on a honeymoon?”

“Jeff said they’re taking a long weekend after the wedding. Going to Virginia Beach for a few days.”

“Nice.”

Joshua paused, staring out the kitchen window in silence, then he turned to Colin. “I think maybe you were wrong. I don’t think Adam was Jeff’s… Colin.”

Colin gave him a soft, loving smile. “As rare as it is for me to admit to being umm— mistaken . I think this time I have no choice. You’re right. He’s not.”

Joshua drew in a long breath. “David called me today. He wants his cooking class to make berry parfaits served up in mason jars for the wedding reception. They sounded delicious and rustic enough to be fitting for an outdoor wedding. Also, Nate is suggesting that his writing class contribute a few words to the wedding ceremony.”

“Oh, that should be interesting!”

“It’ll be appropriate,” Joshua promised. “I like the idea of the campers participating in the day’s events.”

“Maybe they could walk down the aisle—whatever the ‘aisle’ ends up being—between two rows of campers.”

“Like an honor guard. I like it.”

“Do we know who’s going to officiate?”

“I’m not sure they know yet!”

“I want to do it!”

“Can attorneys marry people?”

Colin laughed again. “No. Only judges. But I could get myself ordained. The Universal Life Church will ordain anyone, anytime, free of charge.”

Joshua leaned back in his chair and stared at his husband in complete silence, his face blank.

“I’m not kidding. I think it would be fun.”

“Are you serious ? And it’s … legal ?”

“Well… yeah, once I get a judge to help me out.” He shrugged, wrinkling his nose. “But that’s not hard. And they even give you a script to follow.”

“You. Officiate at Trent and Jeff’s wedding. You !”

Colin grinned and nodded. “Me.”

Joshua shook his head in amazement. “Well … I’d run it by the two grooms before you go shopping for a cassock.”

“No cassock,” he glanced down and gestured to his black suit, “This suit’s plenty priestly.”

“I’d still check with the grooms first. They may have someone in mind already.”

“That they’d like more than me ? I doubt it.”

The air fryer went off, startling them both. “Dinner’s ready!” Colin announced, flashing his dimples.

Joshua rose from the chair, his movements slow. “Forgive me, my yedid . I’m still grappling with the image of you as an ordained minister.”

“You talk like I’m more apt to play for the other side!”

Joshua yanked the air fryer basket free and dumped the carrots into a bowl.

For a moment, he leaned against the counter, smiling and shaking his head, then he turned to Colin.

“My darling, that is the last thing I’d ever think.

You’ll always wear the white hat, Colin.

No matter what role you’re playing.” He picked up a plate and began to pile it high with chicken, garlic potatoes, glazed carrots, and mushroom gravy.

“It’s just not easy for me to see you as Father Mulcahy. ”

“I’d be a minister, not a priest,” Colin said with a wink.

“The kind of teasing that Nate is going to level at you when he hears about this will be nothing short of mythical.” He handed Colin a filled plate. “Take this to the dining room?”

“Certainly, my son.”

They carried their plates to the dining room and sat down. Colin stared down at his food for a moment, then turned to Joshua. “Listen, people aren’t going to see my doing this as nothing but a joke , are they? Because that’s not how I mean it. I genuinely want to officiate at their wedding.”

Joshua covered Colin’s hand with his own. “Listen … I’m sorry, sweetie. I shouldn’t have teased you. I don’t think of it as a joke. I was merely surprised to hear you suggest it.”

Colin nodded and scooped up a forkful of chicken. “No worries, my love. We’ll call the grooms tomorrow and see what they think of the idea. But right now,” he leaned closer and stroked Joshua’s cheek, “I want to eat this fantastic dinner.”

The house had sunk into the kind of quiet that only came after a long day—soft creaks in the walls, the hum of the air vents, the distant sound of a train rolling through Charlottesville.

Joshua lay curled against Colin, his head resting on his husband’s chest, fingers idly tracing along the cotton of his T-shirt.

“You’re still thinking about it,” Joshua murmured.

Colin exhaled slowly. “About what?”

Joshua lifted his head enough to meet Colin’s eyes in the dim light. “The wedding. Getting ordained.” He breathed out a soft sigh. “You don’t often surprise me, but this did. And I have to say, I love how serious you are about it.”

Colin stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before nodding. “Yeah. I am.”

Joshua shifted, propping himself up on one elbow. “What planted this seed in your mind?”