Page 19 of Stronghold

I jump a little on the stool when Skyler holds out his hand toward me.

"Hi, I'm Skyler."

I look at it and then at him. He's smiling, but his forehead is crinkled into a couple of lines.

Is this what he wants? A fresh start?

Recently, I've been wondering if there's more to what happened ten years ago. After all, Skyler seems hurt that I left. I'm not sure I'm ready to face that particular memory, but I think I'd like to meet the adult version of my friend.

"Hello," I say, shaking his hand. "I'm Judson."

"Nice to meet you. Can I call you Jud? You look like a Jud."

I narrow my eyes, and he laughs.

"Okay, so maybe we're not there yet."

"Tell me about the place. You said you work here. What do you do? Other than exquisite interior design, of course," I ask.

Skyler smiles. "Of course. I do have good taste for a late-blooming gay."

I snort and nearly spit my coffee. "When did you come…sorry, that's probably not…sorry."

"How about we do the now stuff, and when we're both ready, we do the before stuff?"

I nod my agreement, and then laughter I can't hold in bubbles out of me.

"Sorry," I say. "It's just that, considering everything, we're being such adults. When the fuck did we grow up?"

Skyler's smile leaves him, and I wonder what it was I said to make that happen.

"First year of college. Christmas break."

I stare at him. So he did go to college.

"That's when I grew up," he says.

"We don't have to talk about it. We decided on leaving the past for now."

"Have you finished your coffee?" he asks.

I give him my empty mug, and he puts both of them in the sink.

"Come on. Let's go for a walk outside."

I follow his lead, putting on my coat, gloves, and toque.

The snow is crunchy under my feet. I have a sudden desire to grab a handful and throw it at Skyler.

He's a few feet ahead of me and keeps looking back. I don't know if he's onto me or if he's afraid that I won't be here anymore if he stops watching.

We head into the forest, which is mostly just made of maple trees. There's no other vegetation around, and I wonder if he cleans the forest ground. I almost laugh at myself for having the thought.

Why on earth would anyone do that?

"My dad has a gambling problem."

I almost bump into Skyler's back when I don't realize he stopped.