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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Will

Will sighed with relief as he walked out of the classroom on Tuesday morning. His Calculus 101 exam was over—it was his last of the semester—and while he didn’t ace it like he had his English final, he felt good about it and thought he’d earned at least a C for the class, maybe even a C-plus. Tom was still in class; they’d promised each other that whoever finished first would wait for the other, so he headed to a small sitting area near the stairs to wait for his boyfriend.

Wow, that’s feels good! Will was glad that they had finally talked about what they were to each other even if it did start out with a heavier conversation about Tom’s mom. How could his mom make him feel that way? It almost seemed like she didn’t want him to be happy. Not to mention the fact that she feared being alone again.

He sat at one end of the sofa and pulled his worn leather journal from his backpack. Using his favorite fine-line black rollerball, he wrote in a neat cursive, detailing his thoughts about that morning’s exam as well as his growing feelings for Tom. Then skipping a line, he drew a small asterisk with an extra little dot at the end of each arm. This was his code for an entry about whatever story he was working on. The little graphic made it easy to find these lines later. He entered a few lines about one of the characters—details he’d worked out in his head in the shower that morning and didn’t want to forget. Some folks liked to divide their journal into separate sections, and while Will did that for his class notebooks, for his personal one, he preferred what he thought of as “stream of consciousness” writing—just writing things down and sorting through it all later.

“Come here often?” a voice said to his right. Tom was standing there, smiling and looking gorgeous.

“Only when I’m waiting on your slow ass.” Will smirked. He stuffed the journal and pen into his backpack and stood. He hugged Tom, kissing him lightly on the lips. “How’d you do?”

“I think I did okay although that last problem was a bitch.” Tom sighed. “How ’bout you?”

“Same. I’m really glad we decided to study together. It definitely helped. Not to mention that we got to know each other,” Will said.

“And then some. So are you ready to go?” They had driven to school together that morning and both were heading to work in a few hours.

“Yeah, we should have time to stop for a bite to eat on our way. I wanna add your upcoming shifts to my calendar since next week is gonna be a little different,” Will explained.

“Me too,” Tom agreed. With classes over and the upcoming YuleFest, they had both been able to adjust their schedules so they could provide coverage where they worked but still have time to enjoy the annual holiday celebration. Since they’d both been at their jobs for a few years, seniority definitely had its privileges.

They ended up at Cuppa Joe’s since it was close to where they each worked. They got coffee and sandwiches and split a bag of sour-cream-and-onion potato chips, sitting at a small table along the far wall.

“Okay, tell me again when you’re working,” Will said as he bit into his chicken-salad sandwich.

“I just had an idea,” Tom said, crunching a chip. “You put your work schedule into your calendar, right?”

“Yeah. I have a separate calendar called ‘Work’ for that. Why?” Will asked.

“Why don’t you just share that calendar with me? I have one I call ‘Whale’ for my shifts there, and I can share that with you.”

“Brilliant!” Will exclaimed. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?”

“As long as we’re doing it now.” Tom smiled.

Will walked over to the front counter and came back carrying a flyer. He held up the brightly decorated paper with the event’s official title splashed across the top: “Midwinter Magic: A Yuletide Festival.” Since that was quite a mouthful, most folks just called it YuleFest. “Here’s the schedule for YuleFest. We can figure out what stuff we want to see and add that to our calendars too.” There were things going on in both Plymouth and Hawthorne Bluff, so they’d need to make the best use of their time to see as much as they could. “Once we decide what we want to do, I’ll check with Char and see if she and Cee Cee are interested in any of it.”

“Perfect.” Tom scanned the schedule, pointing at one of the items. “What’s this thing called ‘Hook’s Traveling Book Nook’?” he asked.

“Oh, I actually know this one,” Will said, smiling. “Jeff was telling me about it at work the other day. It’s a big yellow school bus that’s painted like a rainbow. It’s run by these two women— from what I’ve heard they’re a married couple—and they travel all over, sharing books and spreading love.”

“That sounds amazing! Looks like they’re around all weekend. We have to stop and see them.”

“Yeah, for sure. Oh, look, there’s a presentation called ‘Early Winter in Plymouth Colony’ at Plimoth Patuxet Museums on Friday afternoon. Do you wanna go to that?”

“That could be interesting. From what I remember from my Early American history class, there wasn’t a lot of celebrating of Christmas going on back then. And Tavino’s,” Tom said, mentioning the Italian restaurant in Hawthorne Bluff, “is gonna have a food truck in front of the Hawthorne Bluff Bank and Trust on Saturday. They’re giving out free samples of their pizza. If we go there around lunchtime …”

“I like the way you think, Tom,” said Will. Well, I like the way you do a lot of things.

“Why don’t we focus on things in Plymouth on Friday and then Hawthorne Bluff on Saturday?” Tom said. “I know it’s not far, but that way we minimize our traveling back and forth. And on Sunday there’s the special Jingle Mingle Buffet for breakfast at the Whale. I can get us in if you want.”

“Perfect. Clay mentioned that Finn’s mom was having an open house on Sunday afternoon and invited me, so we can stop by for a little while if you’d like.”

They continued to plan out their weekend before heading off to work.

The rest of the week sped by, and before Will knew it, it was Friday morning. A whole weekend off, and I get to spend it with Tom! Will bounded out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to get ready. He practically flew down the stairs and greeted his mom, who was sitting in the kitchen sipping her coffee, with a hug and kiss before pouring a cup of his own dark brew.

“My, aren’t you in a good mood today!” Emily exclaimed, laughing.

“Of course, I am, Mom!” he replied, face beaming. “My exams are over, YuleFest starts today, I’m off work for three whole days, and I get to spend them with Tom!” The day was cold but clear, perfect for walking around YuleFest with one’s boyfriend.

“You’ve grown quite fond of him, haven’t you?” she asked.

“I have, Mom.” Butterflies seemed to dance in his belly just from thinking about Tom. “Remember when I went out last Sunday? Well, Tom had texted me and needed to talk. His mom is laying some heavy stuff on him, and he needed to vent. He’s thinking of getting his own apartment so that he’s not constantly subjected to the things she’s saying.”

Will paused to sip his coffee, considering what to say next. “Anyway, we chatted about that for a while, and then we talked about us. We agreed that we think of each other as boyfriends, so here we are.”

“Something tells me there’s more,” his mom said.

“I know I can trust you not to share this, Mom,” Will began. When Emily nodded, he went on. “Tom’s dad left when he was just a kid, and his mom’s been bitter about it ever since. She’s constantly telling him that relationships never work out, and that he’d be better off alone, so he’s never had a boyfriend for any length of time. I think he unconsciously sabotages any chance of anything good happening because he’s convinced himself—or his mom has convinced him—that it’s eventually gonna end anyway.”

“That’s awful.” Emily shook her head. “Why would a mother do that to her child?”

“I dunno, Mom, but I told him I wasn’t going anywhere, and that we’d figure it out together. I just hope he believes me, ’cause I really like him. It might even be more than just ‘like,’” Will admitted.

“You’re a good man, Will. You need to invite him over for dinner soon. I want to get to know him, seeing as you’re getting serious about him.”

Just then there was a knock on the back door. Tom was standing there, looking as handsome as ever. “Hey,” Will said. “Come in.”

“I, um, well ...” Tom stammered.

“Come in, Tom,” Emily said from inside. Her voice was warm and friendly.

Tom stepped in and said, “Hello, Mrs. Hargrove. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Tom,” she said. “And please, call me Emily. Will and I were just talking about you.”

“You were?” Color rose in Tom’s cheeks.

“Nothing bad, silly,” Will said, hugging Tom. “Mom just told me that I need to invite you to dinner soon.”

“Oh, um, sure.”

“I’d like to get to know the guy that’s dating my son.” Emily smiled.

“That would be nice, Mrs. Ha—um, Emily. I’d love to,” Tom said as Will shrugged into his winter jacket.

“Perfect. Now you boys go on and have fun. I have a few things to do here, but Melissa’s coming over this afternoon, and we’ll go out and see some of the sights at YuleFest, too, so I may see you later.”