Page 32 of A Small Town Spring

“Kingston and Pete—” The thought had never occurred to me before, but it’s not impossible that they could have been together at one point, though Pete’s obviously devoted to his husband now.

“No, I don’t think so.Just friends.”

I can’t help an audible sigh of relief.Something about picturing Kingston with anyone else makes my intestines feel like they’re tied in knots.

“So Beck was right,” Van murmurs lowly.“He swore you weren’t straight.”

I’ve been the topic of their speculation?That’s enough to take my attention off Kingston and Ivy to fully focus on Van.“I’m bi.”It seems important to be clear.“Always have been.”

“Awesome,” he says easily.“But you need to be careful if you’re thinking about hooking up with Kingston.”

I cough on my sip of iced tea, and it takes a moment before I can get a word out.“I’m not—Kingston and I are friends.He’s giving me a place to live.We’re just friends.”The denials come out as fast as I can make my tongue move.

Van’s blue eyes soften in something like sympathy.“Kingston is the most together person I know.He’s also one of the best men I know.But he hasn’t always had the best luck in love.And I like you, Toby, but it’s my job to watch out for him, if you get my drift?”

“Of course.But—” I’m about to deny everything when out of the corner of my eye I catch Kingston’s profile as he browses the buffet.I think about how we’ll go home to the same house, how he’ll be only a few rooms away for the next several weeks.He and I really are becoming friends, and this time is supposed to be about work for me.I can’t afford to destabilize my life even more right now.And Kingston doesn’t deserve to have even more of my chaos foisted on him.

Van’s right—I’m borrowing trouble.But I can’t help it.Kingston’s in my head and I don’t know how to get him out.The best I can do is keep my feelings to myself.

I offer Van what I can.“I’ll be careful.”

He slaps my back.“Good man.”

Kingston appears at our table like a jump scare.“What are we talking about?”he asks, elegantly settling into the chair to my right.

I freeze, then take a big bite of pasta salad to avoid having to answer.

Van smoothly steps in.“Did you know Beck and I got a dog?”

“Mazel tov,” Kingston says.“Tell me more.”

“Her name is Molly, and she’s a sweetheart.We’re still getting used to each other, but so far so good.”

I tune them out while they talk about Molly’s many fine qualities.Kingston and I are friends, roommates.No matter how my feelings for him seem to grow by the minute, I’m going to keep them locked down.

Sixteen

Pete meetsme at Ivy’s garage the next day.We put on some music and start sorting through the scores of paintings I’ve amassed over the past few years.I had what I thought was my best work shipped from England when we moved here, but I’ve barely looked at it since then.It’s strange to study those pieces now.I see the technical proficiency in them, but there’s also something different about them from the pieces I’ve worked on in the States; a different feel, a different energy.Almost like they were painted by someone else.

Pete has a good eye, and he’s not emotionally attached the way I am, so he combs through the canvases faster, indicating two general types he thinks we should present to Fernanda—my English coastal landscapes and my New England architectural paintings.

“What’s that?”he asks, pointing to the canvas on the easel with the foam board covering it.

“Oh.Well.Something new.”I bite my bottom lip.

“Can I see?”

I can’t think of any sensible reason why he shouldn’t.

“It’s not quite finished,” I warn.I don’t know why I haven’t been able to complete it.I pull the cover away.

Kingston’s face looks back at us, three times life-size.Today the set of his lips seems knowing instead of contemplative.

Pete makes an aborted sound, then takes a couple of steps back from the painting.“It’s… not what I was expecting,” he says, glancing at me quickly.“Not that I was expecting anything.But wow, it’s—you have to show this to Fernanda, Toby.”

“Why?I don’t have anything else like it.”

“For one thing, it’s gorgeous.”Now he steps closer to the painting and peers intensely.“You know the way you have of making your buildings look more real than real?You’ve done the same magic trick with this.It’s Kingston, a Kingston that looks so real he could start talking to us.But it’s not a photograph.It’s remarkable.”

---