Page 46 of Finding Basil
“Honey, that is exactly what I want. You and only you for the duration.”
Basil laughed and turned to face him. “The duration?”
“Of our lives, Basil. Damn, do you need it in writing?”
“Eventually. Yeah.”
He’d ducked his head as he’d said it, and Herb knew in that moment what he meant.
A marriage certificate.
The thought of it scared him, but excited him more. Thinking about thequinceanera, the way his family celebrated, it was exactly what he wanted.
“We have a way to go, but I can see it.”
With his eyes slowly moving up Herb’s face, Basil’s smile showed he was happy Herb had interpreted what he’d said. “Yeah. Me too.”
“Best get your family ready to have another party one of these days. I want it twice as big. After all, it’s a wedding, not just a birthday party.”
“Herb. It wasn’t just…”
He saw Herb laughing and playfully smacked his arm. “Ass.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Chapter Twelve
Basilstayedandwalkedto Herb’s house with him. They cleaned a little in the kitchen and he helped Herb make phone calls to the various contractors, who were surprised he already needed them again.
While Herb was washing the walls of the soot, Basil went upstairs to rinse out their buckets. The kitchen water was shut off while they waited for the insurance to take bids from the contractors.
When he was finished filling the bucket, he shut off the water and heard a creaking from above him. He listened, hearing the creaking move from east to west, along the top of the ceiling over him.
He was about to call Herb when it stopped, and he got a chill down his spine. Oh, he didn’t think it was a ghost. Of course it wasn’t, but still, it was something.
From room to room, Basil searched until the last bedroom down the hall, where he saw the closet door was wide open. Ashe neared it, he heard the creaking again, up the hall, away from him. Slowly, he stepped to the door and peered into the closet to see a ladder there.
That wasn’t all he saw, however. At the bottom of the ladder was a shoe, like someone had climbed so quickly, they’d lost a shoe.
The shoe was not only familiar, Basil had brought the pair a year before at a shoe store in Northern California, where he’d gone on vacation.
With Steve.
He’d bought a pair for himself and a pair for his then boyfriend, and Steve hadn’t worn another pair since.
The shoe was all the clue he needed to know who was in the attic.
He left the room and went to the kitchen quickly, telling Herb he wasn’t feeling well.
Herb nearly freaked out on him, grabbing his arms and looking into his face. “What’s wrong? Do you feel like you’ll vomit, or too hot?”
“Mostly just tired, but yeah, a little sick to my stomach too. Maybe the fumes from the cleansers.”
“Fuck, I should have gotten masks for us. Come on, let’s walk back to Lila and I’ll make you some tea.”
“That’s perfect.”
As he sat sipping the tea, he tried to think of what to do about Steve. He couldn’t allow him to continue to squat in Herb’s house, trying his best to hurt Herb or whatever was happening, but if he told Herb, the first thing his new boyfriend would likely do was call the cops.
