Page 8 of For the Love of a Boy

The day so far had been as perfect as he could’ve hoped for. Even the week leading up to the festivities had held their own magic. In an effort to make Seth’s first Thanksgiving extra special after the bitterness of his old life, Malcolm had come up with a few fun ideas. Part of Malcolm’s plan had been to purchase items such as burgundy colored linen napkins with pewter rings, and a new set of fine china to use for celebrations.

While they’d gone shopping for the other staples they’d needed for the meal, Malcolm had surprised Seth by adding the housewares to the list. His boy’s excitement had been worth every minute of it. Even though Seth had protested it was too much, Malcolm had seen the truth in his eyes when he’d been asked his opinion on which designs he preferred. And honestly, Malcolm hadn’t cared about any such niceties since Everett had passed. When he’d celebrated holidays, it’d typically been in other people’s homes.

Or at Woody’s.

Malcolm chuckled to himself. He imagined Larry was probably thinking he’d been abducted by aliens. He’d never again set foot in his old haunt since the night he’d met Seth there.

“Daddy? Can I have another slice of turkey, please?”

Seth could pack it away, but Malcolm didn’t want to discourage him from eating. Seth was plenty active and when they’d first met, he’d been a bit underweight for a man of his build. Malcolm was sure it had been due to a lack of funds. In addition, being only twenty-three meant Seth could get away with eating a lot more than he himself could.

“Yes, baby.” Malcolm reached over his plate, then grabbed the fork off the platter with the meat he’d carved earlier. He plucked a piece of breast, which Seth had told him was his favorite, and indicated for him to hold up his dish.

“Gravy? And if you say no, I’ll be worried about you.”

Seth laughed, one of Malcolm’s favorite sounds in the world.

“I wouldn’t dare have it without gravy.”

“Good boy.” Malcolm poured the liquid over the slice, then set the container down. “I’m going to sit back and relax while you finish up.” Malcolm patted his stomach. “I think we did an excellent job at preparing this fine meal.”

Seth ate a couple bites, seemingly lost in thought as he chewed away. “Daddy? Do you think someday we could invite people over for a nice dinner? Especially now that you bought all these beautiful things. Nate and Tina for sure. I still feel bad about them coming here before and me messing everything up.”

“Nothing was messed up. That’s the sort of thing you let your Daddy worry about. If there was an issue, it would be up to me to decide how it should be handled. Fortunately, though, there wasn’t a problem.”

Seth nodded. “I’m still figuring all this out.”

“Which is to be expected.” Malcolm leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table, folding his hands underneath his chin. He couldn’t help but notice the slight widening of Seth’s eyes. “What?”

Seth laid down his knife and fork. “It’s nothing, really. Just one of those leftover things from my father and how he raised me.”

“Bet I can guess. I committed the horrible crime of putting my elbows on the table.”

Seth chuckled. “Yeah.” His smile fell. “It’s odd. My stomach tightened and I had a flash of fear that you’d be in trouble and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

Hardly a day went by when Malcolm didn’t want to drive up to Idaho and kick Seth’s father’s ass all over the state and back. Which reminds me. Malcolm made a mental note to check in with Tina to see if there’d been any progress on the investigation. She had a detective friend in Boise and had explained the whole story to him. He’d promised to contact the Twin Falls authorities and let her know what they said.

“I’m sorry that happened, baby. But we’re working on it, right? This week I’ll be sure to call the therapists from the list Pastor Callum gave me, see if we can’t set up an appointment soon.”

Seth nodded, but he set down his fork, having seemingly lost interest in his food. Malcolm pushed back his chair then went to Seth. He kneeled on the floor next to him, leaning on the arm of the mahogany chair.

“What do you need from me right now, sweetheart? I’ll do anything. I can hold you all night, run you a bath, give you a massage—or all of those things.” Malcolm rubbed Seth’s knee. “Let Daddy make it better.”

“You’re the best person in the whole world,” Seth whispered. He covered Malcolm’s hand with his own. “I think…I think I’d rather stay out here, keep having our Thanksgiving Day.”

“It’s our day no matter what, baby. We can make it whatever we want. Don’t feel as if you have to experience it a certain way.”

Seth nodded again, giving Malcolm’s hand a squeeze. “Yeah, you’re right. However, I think it would make me feel better to do what we’d already planned.” Seth regarded him. “It’s a way for me to fight back, to not give in to how his anger scarred me.”

“You’re very brave.” Malcolm reached up to stroke Seth’s cheek. “But remember, there’s no shame if you change your mind.”

Seth offered him a soft smile. “I haven’t had your famous pie yet. I can’t miss that.”

Malcolm laughed. “You’re so right.”

The ringtone of Malcolm’s cell interrupted the moment. The winery was closed, but he hadn’t spoken to his folks yet, so he decided to check to see who it was. He rose then went to the kitchen where he’d left his phone. Sure enough, the screen showed it was his parent’s number.

“Hello.”

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