Page 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Will

Tom was already waiting outside when Will pulled up. He slid into the passenger seat and leaned toward Will, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. “Good morning.”

“Same to you,” Will replied, pointing to two to-go cups in the console. “I stopped for coffee.”

“Thanks. Another cup is always welcome.”

“Did you have time for breakfast? We can stop somewhere if you want to get something to eat.”

“I’m good. Unless you need to get something,” Tom said.

“No, I ate with my mom before I left the house.” Will glanced over. “I figured I could park in the B and B parking lot, and we can start by walking down Main Street. See if anything looks interesting.”

“That works. Oh, and I got a text from Char just before I left the house. Cee Cee’s boss called her in to work this morning, seeing as they were so busy yesterday. But it won’t be for all day, so she promised to let me know when they could meet up with us.”

As they exited Will’s car, they saw Clay walking down the path from the front door of the guest house.

“Hi, guys,” he called out to them.

“Hey, Clay,” Will said. “What are you up to?”

“I’m meeting Finn at Cuppa Joe’s for breakfast,” Clay told them. “He’s working the gingerbread contest this afternoon, so we figured we’d spend some time together this morning.” Finn was a vice president at the bank where the contest was being held.

“We went to see all the entries last night,” Tom said. “There are some great ones for sure.” They walked together, continuing their conversation.

“I’ll walk over to the bank with Finn after we eat so I can take a look.”

“We may go back today,” Will said. “The aroma of gingerbread is amazing. I just wanna stand there and take it all in.”

“You should stop at the Cask and Larder,” Clay said, chuckling. “Finn told me that Mitch is selling gingerbread cookies this weekend along with hot cocoa and hot mulled cider.”

“Oh yeah. We’ll definitely stop there.”

“Okay, here’s my stop,” Clay said, veering off to Cuppa Joe’s door. “See you guys later.”

The guys continued along Main Street. “It’s so nice to see everything decorated for the holidays,” Will said. The town’s streetlamps were strung with boughs of evergreen and shiny burgundy bows. Each was festooned with a banner proclaiming Midwinter Magic: A Yuletide Festival that fluttered in the morning breeze. Many of the businesses continued the holiday decor with wreaths and lights. An occasional menorah or Kwanzaa candles in shop windows added to the festive displays, and even Earthen Roots, the holistic store in town, paid homage to the Winter Solstice in its window display. Hawthorne Bluff happily celebrated it all during YuleFest.

“It is,” Tom agreed. “The only thing I don’t like about it is that when it all comes down after New Year’s, everything looks so bare.”

“You’ve got a point there. So let’s just enjoy it while we can.”

They stopped in at the Cask and Larder where, as Clay had told them, there were gingerbread cookies and hot mulled cider for sale. So what if it wasn’t even lunchtime yet? Armed with their sugary treats, they turned the corner past the bank, where near the small park across from the beach, they spotted a rainbow-hued school bus.

“Look, there’s Hook’s Traveling Book Nook!” Will exclaimed. “Let’s go there.”

Before heading over, they sat on one of the park benches, finishing up their cookies and cider while watching people milling about. A farmer’s market of sorts had sprung up in the park, and several vendors were selling their wares.

After tossing their trash in a nearby receptacle, they made a beeline for the bus.

An older woman was standing outside, handing out flyers about the Hook’s.

“Howdy,” she said as they approached. She was dressed in a long, red winter coat with a bright rainbow-striped scarf and matching wool cap. “I’m Cybil. Come on in. Jane’s inside and can show you around or answer any questions you might have.”

“Thanks,” Tom said, and they climbed aboard.

Inside, there were shelves of books filling almost every nook and cranny, interspersed with a few seats here and there. Another woman, in matching scarf and cap but sans coat, sat in the bus driver’s seat.

“Hello, I’m Jane, Cybil’s better half.” She chuckled. “Though she might say otherwise. Welcome to Hook’s Traveling Book Nook.”

“Hi, I’m Will, and this is Tom,” Will said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Ah,” Jane sighed. “New love. I’d recognize it anywhere. Happy you stopped by, boys. Now take a look around and let me know if you have any questions. If you see something you have to have, feel free to take it. This is a library although we don’t often get our books returned, seeing as we travel around so much. But we do accept donations of both books and cash so we can replenish our stock. We’re all about spreading the love around.”

“Thank you,” said Tom.

They proceeded down the central aisle, noting books of all sorts along the way. There were nonfiction titles covering both major and minor holidays as well as lots of fiction books that spanned the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

“Oh my God, this is incredible!” Will gushed. “The idea of this bus traveling around and sharing all of this is just so amazing.”

“I know, right!” Tom agreed.

Will found an anthology of queer short stories that interested him, so he carried it with him as they made their way back to the front. Cybil had joined Jane, sharing the seat with Jane’s arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“So, ladies,” Will began. “I did find a book that I’m taking, but I’d like to make a donation to your traveling library if I could.” He pulled some cash out of his pocket and handed it to Cybil. “Please use this however you can to help keep this going.”

Tom took out a couple of bills and gave them to the ladies as well.

“Thank you both so much,” Cybil said, accepting the donations. “We’ll put this to good use.”

“I do have a question or two,” Will continued. “First, how long have you been together? And next, how did this”—he gestured around the bus—“come about?”

“Let’s see …” Jane started. “Cybil and I met many, many years ago. Before either of you were born, that’s for sure. For me, it was love at first sight, but it took her a little while to come around.” Cybil laughed, nodding her head.

“Yeah, I was the stubborn one back then,” she said, grinning widely.

“After we retired—you boys were probably still in grade school when that happened—we wanted to do something to spread the word that love is love,” Jane picked up the story. “You see, it was quite different when we were younger. For many years, we had to keep our love secret.” Jane took Cybil’s hand. “We’ve seen lots of things change during our lifetime, but there’s still more that needs doin’.”

“So we got this idea,” Cybil continued. “We took some of our retirement savings and bought this old bus. Some friends helped us get it renovated and painted all pretty like it is. Didja notice there’s a door at the back wall?”

Tom nodded.

“Well, we’ve got a small bedroom and kitchenette back there along with the tiniest bathroom you’ve ever seen.” She chuckled. “But we don’t need much. So we travel around, sharing our message of love with everyone we meet.”

“And we occasionally splurge on ourselves and stay in proper lodging. We eat at restaurants pretty regularly too,” Jane added. “In fact, we’re staying over at the B and B in town for the weekend.”

“Oh, Bradley House?” Will asked. When the ladies nodded, he said, “I work there. But I’m off this weekend, so I didn’t get to see you when you checked in.”

“We met the nicest man Friday morning when we arrived. Clay was his name,” Cybil said.

“Oh yeah, he manages the guesthouse for his grandmother. He’s my boss. You might see him and his boyfriend, Finn, today or tomorrow. I’m pretty sure they’re planning on stopping by.”

“And now I have a question for you. Nothing nefarious, just to ease an old woman’s curiosity.” Jane smiled at them. “As I said when you boys came in, I recognize new love. How long have you two been dating?”

“Well, we met just a few months ago. We were taking a class together in college and became study partners,” Tom said.

“We just decided about a week ago that we are boyfriends. So you’re right, Jane, this is very new,” Will added, taking Tom’s hand.

“We love seeing new love blossom!” Cybil effused. “Now you boys run along and enjoy the rest of your day. And thank you again for your generosity.”

Cybil and Jane stood and hugged Tom and Will goodbye.

“That was so nice,” Tom said as they walked away. “I’m really glad we went there and met them.”

“Me too,” Will concurred. “You know, Tom, Cybil and Jane are actually a great example of how relationships can work between two people.” He held his breath, hoping he hadn’t gone too far.

“Oh my God, you’re right! They’ve been together longer than we’ve been alive. My mom’s been drumming that crap about relationships in my head for so long that I can be blind to good when it happens right in front of me. Thanks for reminding me of that!” He threw his arms around Will, hugging him tightly.