Page 67 of Something Like Winter

“Oh, well, she’s only down for the weekend, and I’m making your father drive us down the coast to Matamoros. Emily still hasn’t seen Mexico, so I’m taking her across the border.”

“Sounds fun,” Tim tried, but he already felt a pit in his stomach.

“What are you going to do? Eat with some friends? Should I send you some money so you can all go out?”

Eric was having a party, but Tim hadn’t committed yet, saying he needed to check the family plans. “What are you guys doing for Christmas?”

“Your father wants to see snow. Isn’t that mean? He’s taking me to —”

Tim barely heard the rest of the conversation. Once again, he would be on his own for the holidays. What angered him most was that he kept getting his hopes up, still caring if he saw his parents. Events played out like this every year, and foolishly, he kept putting himself through it. Ella kept chirping happy thoughts into the phone, Tim making just enough noises to prove he was still there. Then Travis brushed past him on the way to class. Maybe there was hope after all! As quick as he could, Tim got off the phone and ran to catch up with him.

“Hey!”

Travis looked at him like he was crazy. “Long time no see,” he said sarcastically. “What’s it been? Half an hour?”

Tim grinned. “I know. You should stop by my place sometime.”

“We live together.”

“Do we?” Tim played dumb. “Funny, I never noticed.” This earned him a smile, so he pressed on. “My parents are bailing on me for Thanksgiving. Isn’t that lame?”

“Mine are being cheap,” Travis replied. “They said they could either fly me home this week or for Christmas, but not both, so I’ll have to drive up there to see them.”

“What is that, a fifteen-hour drive?”

“More like eighteen.”

“All that for some turkey.” They stopped at a crosswalk, the morning traffic too heavy to cross without the pedestrian light turning green. Tim wished it never would. “You could hang here with me. A friend of mine is having a party. It’ll be more fun than a long boring drive.”

“Nah, I’m flying up there,” Travis said. “Thanksgiving is the only time the whole family gets together. My sister lives in Minnesota and doesn’t come down for Christmas anymore, and my brother is heading to boot camp in December. I’m thinking I might spend the winter break slowly driving up there, maybe seeing the sights along the way.”

“Or you could stay with me.” Tim said it with enough meaning that Travis’s expression became guarded. They hadn’t slept together for weeks now—drunk or sober—and Tim felt like he was trying to catch one big Kentucky catfish with a shining, spinning lure made of sex. “I’ll get a place for us, somewhere away from here. Somewhere secluded. Just you and me.”

The light turned green. Travis started crossing the street. Over the idling engines, Tim just barely heard him say, “I’ll think about it.”

Tim let him go. To catch a fish, sometimes you had to let up on the line before yanking it in.

* * * * *

Eric’s kitchen had come to life, pots bubbling and steaming, ovens baking and grills snapping. There wasn’t a burner or surface not in use. Eric moved from spot to spot with baster in hand, even when he wasn’t working on the four turkeys, but before long he’d be back at the ovens, squirting juice on the birds’ roasted skins.

“It’s good that you came early to help,” Eric said over the din.

Tim glanced at the small army of caterers and cooks Eric had hired for the party. So far Tim hadn’t been much use at all. “You owe me,” Tim said, hoping for a laugh, but Eric had singed a finger and was sucking on it sullenly. “I have big news.”

Eric pulled the finger from his mouth. “Do tell!”

“He said yes.” The way Tim grinned, anyone would have thought he had successfully proposed, but Eric understood.

“Travis is letting you take him on a trip?” Eric passed the baster to one of the cooks and joined Tim at the kitchen’s edge, dragging along a stool to sit on. “I know you said not to, but I called my friend about that cabin in Colorado Springs. It’s still available.”

Tim had checked out the website the first time Eric mentioned it to him. The cabin was secluded and beautiful, perfect in all aspects except for one. “I’m hoping to find something cheaper.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “I told you I’d pay for it. It can be my Christmas present to you.”

“And I told you no. Get me a pair of socks or something. I’m not letting you spend that kind of money on me.”

“The offer stands,” Eric said with a shrug. Then he nudged him. “Well, it looks like you have something to be thankful for today.”