Page 108 of Hope & Harmony

“How do you know it wasn’t my decision?” The nearly identical Morelli brow lift on June’s and Levi’s faces—the same their mothers had long ago perfected and wielded on all of them—made him laugh out loud. “Fine, yes, it was Bennett’s call, and initially I panicked. Middle Cut has been our life for more than two decades, the music for three, but the music doesn’t stop just because Middle Cut stops touring. Hell, we’ve been doing fewer shows this tour and the music is even better. There’s space for the music to grow again,” he said, explaining to them what he had to Roscoe at the start of the tour. Two months in and five new songs later, it was without a doubt the truth. But that wasn’t the only thing growing. “And there’s space for me and Bennett to grow too, together and individually, even at our ripe old age.”

“I feel the same.”

Gino twisted where he sat on the end of the bed and spied his husband standing in the doorway, wearing his favorite smile. The one that had appeared more and more often on this tour. The one he’d do anything to keep, for both their sakes.

He held out a hand, and Bennett stepped the rest of the way into the room, twining their fingers together and moving into the circle of his arms. “Touring like this...” Bennett mused. “I’m not ruling it out in the future, but I want to take some time for us and our family too.”

Gino couldn’t disagree, not sitting here with the love of his life and his family. Especially not with the warm San Diego sun on his face and the smell of home in a red and white paper bag filling the room, Rick carrying in June’s In-N-Out behind Bennett.

“Just so long as you understand,” June said around a mouthful of fries. “You’re on birthday party entertainment duty.”

“Free concerts!” Rick said, holding his hand up for a high five with Levi.

June waggled her brows. “And more babysitters.”

“Sounds perfect,” Bennett said as he dropped a kiss on his head.

Gino stared up into his husband’s happy, hopeful hazel eyes. “It does.”

CHAPTER 9

It was almost ten when Bennett turned the key in their front door. An unexpected visit home but no less welcome. Standing a second longer on the porch, he inhaled a giant gulp of salty sea breeze, then stepped inside, flipping on lights as he juggled the box of leftover pastries Marsh had sent them home with.

Gino entered behind him and rolled their luggage to the foot of the stairs. “How many hours have we been awake?”

Bennett groaned as he set the pastries on the kitchen island. “I lost count somewhere around thirty-six.” In truth, they were closer to forty-eight with only catnaps randomly stolen over the past two days.

Gino’s arms circled him from behind, his chin resting on his head, the two of them staring out the windows at the moonlit Pacific, the lights of tankers and oil rigs twinkling far off in the distance. “We’ll just have to sleep for the next day and a half to make up for it.”

Tipping back his head, Bennett kissed the underside of Gino’s scruffy jaw. “We have to be in Seattle tomorrow.” He chuckled at Gino’s heavy sigh and turned into him, burying his face in his chest.

Gino dropped a kiss on his crown. “We can resch?—”

“No, we’ll make it,” Bennett said, glancing up and seeing the worry in Gino’s eyes, realizing he’d misconstrued Bennett’s need for closeness. It wasn’t distress driving him into the warm embrace. It was contentment, pure and simple, after spending the entire day celebrating new life with their family, with those who had welcomed him with open arms these past thirty years. And now he was home, in the place he loved most, with the person he loved most in the world, and he wanted to share that peace and happiness with him. Something that had seemed impossibly out of reach just a few months ago. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep in our own bed, then catch a flight up in the morning.”

Arms tightening around him, Gino started walking them toward the stairs. “Something else I’d like to do with you in our bed first.”

Bennett liked the sound of that.

Liked the sound of the knock at their door a whole lot less.

“Awfully late for visitors,” he said.

Brow creased, Gino released him and crossed back to the door.

Bennett couldn’t see around him, but the distinctly Midwest “Yo, G-man, welcome home!” clued him in to their visitor’s identity. He grabbed a pastry out of the box, then moseyed over to Gino’s side. “Hey, Casey,” he greeted their neighbor.

Casey was a walking SoCal stereotype. Blond hair, sun-kissed skin, blue eyes, and a big smile, and if you saw him at sunrise or sunset, a wet suit hanging from his waist. This late at night, he was in board shorts and a tee, the latter advertising a surf gear company. “Didn’t expect you guys back for another couple weeks,” he said.

“Brief detour,” Bennett said around his bite of kouign-amann.

“June had the twins,” Gino explained.

“Oh, yay, congrats, dudes.” He extended his fist for bumps, each of them returning one. “Well, I was just bringing this over.” He held out the stack of mail in his other hand, then ducked back out the door to bring in a large box. “Figured you might want this package sooner rather than later.”

“You figured right,” Gino said, and Bennett glanced up to see his husband smiling wide. It wasn’t a poster tube, obviously, but Bennett wondered if it might be another memento like the ones Gino had been gifting him all tour long. “Thanks, man.”

They made plans to catch up with Casey for coffee in the morning before heading to the airport, then closed the door and locked up behind him. Not a minute too soon, Bennett’s curiosity killing him. “What’s that?” he said, gesturing with a sticky finger at the box.

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