Chapter 133

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It was a pleasure watching my lover in action.

He went from window to window, making sure the almost invisible strings of gum he’d placed there were intact, and removing them. Finally, he squatted down in front of the door.

“Gum’s still here.” He tugged it off, straightened, and unlocked the door, still cautious. I didn’t tease him about it. Only when he was satisfied the cabin was unoccupied did he say, “Go on in. I’ll get the bags from the hardware store.”

I set the bags from the Peking Dragon on the table. In spite of the electric heat Wally had promised us, it was cool in the cabin, and I went back out to find the woodpile. I might have been a city boy, but Grandfather had taught me to prepare and light a fire in the big fireplace in the living room at Shadow Brook. “It behooves a gentleman to know how to care for himself and his loved ones in all manner of situations,” he’d told me.