Page 64 of Road to a Cowboy

Austin

Of course it got delivered five minutes after I decided to head out for an early dinner.

Ah, fuck. Cal had missed him by minutes. He sent another message.

Cal

Where’d you go?

When Austin gave him the name of the place, Cal looked it up on his phone and found that it was in the neighborhood, easily walkable. So he tucked his suitcase behind a potted planter on the porch and started walking.

* * *

Austin wouldn’t normally choose a pizza joint when he was abroad—he could get pizza back home—but the restaurant had been highly recommended by Hedda’s parents. Austin was still jet-lagged after only two days in Europe; he wanted a quick dinner and then a bed. He had another four days in Trondheim—plenty of time to try the local cuisine.

His weekend with Ben had been much needed. They’d talked, strolled through Regent’s Park, cooked together, and just hung out. Ben had even taken him to the pub he worked at, and they’d shared lunch on the patio before they’d been forced inside when it had started to rain. It had been nice to spend time together. Frankly, two days weren’t enough, and Austin was already trying to figure out when he could take his next longer trip to London.

Trying to convince Ben to schedule a visit home was impossible.

He didn’t have the money.

He had to work.

He was attending festivals with friends.

Austin’s rebuttals of “I’ll pay for it,” “Take a week off,” and “Schedule your trip around them,” hadn’t made much headway.

His flight from London this afternoon had been an easy two and a half hours non-stop. He’d only been in Trondheim for three hours, but already he could see the appeal of the city. Wasn’t sure if he could see himself living here, though he was looking forward to playing tourist once he’d had enough sleep. He’d invited Hedda to join him for dinner just to have some company—even though he knew she’d try to sell him on the job again—but one of her kids was stopping in for a visit tonight.

The pizza place was in a brick building along the Nidelva, a river that started twenty or so miles away and emptied into the fjord. He’d opted to sit on the patio, which while covered, nevertheless provided plenty of natural light. The tables were rustic, yet the chairs were plush. The restaurant even gave out blankets for those evenings that turned chilly.

Hedda had warned him that summers in Trondheim weren’t the same as summers in Windsor. Norway was way, way, way farther north—apparently, average temperatures in July were similar to average temperatures in May in Windsor. Austin could get on board with that.

His server arrived with his beer, and he nodded his thanks before his gaze strayed to a group of friends sitting at a nearby table, chatting in what Austin assumed was Norwegian. One of them said something that had the other three laughing, and suddenly, Austin missed home with an acuteness that left him breathless. He missed brunch with his parents and working his stall at the market with Marco, and inviting himself to the ranch to bug Cal and keep Whitney on her toes and ass-crack-of-dawn walks with Cal on Fridays.

If he moved here, he’d have none of that. No support network, no family, no one to laugh with over pizza and beer after a long day.

Those were the reasons why he always returned home after a photography trip. Traveling was great, but after a while, he wanted his home. His people.

Would he last two semesters here without some kind of network in place?

Hedda didn’t count. She was one person, and although they were friends, their friendship skewed toward mentor/mentee. Austin wouldn’t call her to chat or to invite her for a night out or a casual stroll through town on a Saturday afternoon.

The one bright side to moving here—aside from the teaching gig that would give him the experience he needed to teach back home—would be the proximity to Ben. He couldn’t lie, even to himself—that was one of the biggest selling points.

But he wouldn’t have a lot of opportunities to visit home. Two weeks at Christmas and a week at Easter.

Ten months without Cal, aside from two short visits, maybe more if Cal could get the time away to come see him.

“Mind if I join you?”

Dragging his gaze away from the table of friends, Austin looked up... and up... and up, past well-worn jeans and a checkered shirt, and met a pair of gray eyes so warm Austin was convinced he was seeing things.

“Cal?” The cowboy hat was missing, which was strange as hell. Austin blinked hard and shook his head. “How...? When...?” His brain had stalled at the sight of those eyes and he didn’t know which way was up or down. “How...?”

Cal’s smile widened and he held his arms out. “Surprise?”

Austin rose, grabbed the front of his shirt, and kissed him.

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