Final Encore (11 page)

TWENTY minutes later, Bily was walking toward Ian

with the opened bottle of wine in one hand, a plate of

pasta and garlic bread in the other, and another icepack

over his arm. He handed Ian the plate of food, refiled

his wine glass, and replaced the icepack, then went

back to the kitchen and made himself a plate. When he

reached the couch, he refiled his wine glass as wel.

They ate in continuous conversation about the day, the

perfect views, and the accident. Like clockwork, Bily

removed and replaced Ian’s icepack every twenty

minutes.

When they were through with dinner, Bily

gathered the empty plates and loaded the dishwasher.

In a very short time, the kitchen was clean. He then

positioned himself behind the couch and, with his hands

on Ian’s shoulders, began to gently rub what he knew

would be sore muscles in the morning.

“Do you have any hand lotion?”

“I think there’s some under the sink,” Ian said.

“Why?”

“You ask too many questions, Mr. Dilon.” Bily

laughed and went back to the kitchen, reached under

the sink, and found what he was looking for. When he

returned with the lotion, he repositioned Ian with his

legs at the opposite end of the couch and put a pilow

behind his head.

“Lay back and relax,” Bily instructed.

Ian did as he was told, and Bily gently lifted Ian’s

feet and slid in under them, examining Ian’s ankle. The

sweling seemed to have stopped, but the ankle was stil

very swolen and discolored. Bily opened the bottle

and squeezed a smal amount of lotion into his hands.

Rubbing his hands together to warm up the lotion, he

took Ian’s foot and began to massage.

“That feels great,” Ian said. “I didn’t realize this

was going to be a ful-service date.”

“I’m a ful-service type of guy,” Bily replied.

“No, seriously, you’ve taken such great care of

me; I don’t know how I’l ever repay you.”

“I can think of a few ways right off the top of my

head,” Bily said.

Ian yanked his foot away. “Okay, okay, I’m just

kidding.”

Bily frowned. “I didn’t mean….”

“No, it’s not that, it just tickled for a second,” Ian

insisted, and they both laughed.

Just then the phone rang. Ian looked at the caler

ID and saw it was Jean. He pressed the “talk” button

and said, “Hey, dol.”

“Ian, are you okay?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m fine. Bily has taken great care

of me.”

“Jules told me you wouldn’t go to the hospital.

Oh, Ian, you’re so stubborn.”

“I’m fine, Jean, and just so you guys wil relax, I

promised Bily that I would go to the doctor tomorrow

to have it checked. I’m sure it’s just a sprain. It’s feeling

better already.”

“Is Bily stil there with you?” Jean asked.

“Yes, ma’am, and he’s a great nurse.”

“Wel, I feel much better knowing you’re not

alone. You get some rest and cal me when you get

back from the doctor tomorrow, okay? And give my

best to Bily.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ian replied. He added “Good

night” and pressed the “off” button on the phone.

“Jean sends her best,” Ian said as he put the

phone back in the carrier. “They’re both such

worrywarts, but we’re very lucky to have them in our

lives.”

“They are great people,” Bily said. “We are

lucky.”

Bily finished rubbing Ian’s left foot and said, “No

way am I touching that bad boy,” referring to Ian’s

injured right foot.

“Smart,” Ian replied. “Now it’s your—”

Before Ian could finish, Bily said, “Nope,

tonight’s al about you.” He slid out from under Ian’s

feet, repositioned him once again on the long end of the

U-shaped couch, and in one smooth move stoked the

fire and then refiled their wine glasses before returning

to the couch. Sitting next to Ian, he put his hand on

Ian’s leg, propped his feet up on the leather ottoman,

and said, “You gave me quite a scare this afternoon. Do

you know what happened?”

“Not realy,” Ian responded. “It was like

something or someone slapped Firefly on her

hindquarter, hard, and she reacted. It was very

strange.”

Bily thought before he spoke. “Firefly is very

gentle, and I’ve never seen her react to anything quite

like that.”

“I guess we’l never know, but it al turned out

fine,” Ian replied. “And besides, if this hadn’t happened,

I wouldn’t be getting al this attention.”

“We’l see about the attention you’l be getting

after we get you to the doctor tomorrow,” Bily replied.

Touched and concerned at the same time, Ian

said, “You don’t have to take me to the doctor. You’ve

done so much already. I’m pretty sure I can manage.”

“How?” Bily said. “First of al, you can’t put any

weight on that foot, and I don’t see any crutches

around. Second, you can’t drive with your left foot,

unless you are extremely talented. Not that it would be

safe anyway. And third, how are you going to get down

the stairs?”

Ian’s expression changed immediately, and the

realization hit Bily like a ton of bricks. Embarrassment

flooded his face, and he started to speak as he stood up

to pace in front of the couch. “Oh man, I’m realy

sorry,” Bily said. “I shouldn’t be pushing myself on you.

I’m the caretaker type, and I get carried away

sometimes. I’m sure you have plenty of friends you can

cal. Hel, Jean and Jules would be here in a flash if you

needed them.”

It took Ian a moment to understand that Bily had

sensed his apprehension. Before he could say anything,

Bily leaned over the couch, picked up the phone, and

said, “Can I borrow this? I was in such a hurry to get

you home, I left my cel phone in the truck. I’l cal the

ranch and see if I can get one of the guys to drive out

here and get me.”

“No, wait,” Ian said as he jumped up from the

couch on one foot, got tangled in the chenile throw, and

stumbled forward toward the leather ottoman. Bily

watched Ian as if he were moving in slow motion.

Before he had time to think, the phone was flying

through the air and he was instinctively diving for Ian.

Ian tried to get his balance as the two men landed on

the edge of the ottoman, propeling it forward and

leaving them on the floor with Ian on top of Bily.

Ian looked down into Bily’s eyes and said,

“You’re not going anywhere, cowboy.”

Bily looked up at Ian with a wary look on his

face.

“I didn’t mean…. Bily…. I… I’d love your help

tomorrow. I just didn’t want to be a burden.” Ian

shrugged. “I’ve spent the last eight years learning to

fend for myself, and in doing so, I’ve convinced myself

that I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

Confused, Bily asked, “Why would you convince

yourself that you don’t need anyone? Did something

happen to you? Did someone hurt you?”

Ian simply shook his head and said, almost in a

whisper, “I just don’t want to be a burden.”

“I don’t think you’re a burden. Have I been

acting like I’d rather be anywhere else?”

“Of course you haven’t, you’ve been incredible.

But we’ve only known each other for a couple of days,

and wel, to be truthful, I’ve only had myself to depend

on for so many years, I’m not used to having anyone

take care of me. It’s been easier for me that way, for a

bunch of reasons.” That one sentence told Bily more

about Ian than anything he’d said to him since they’d

met.

“Okay, Ian, I get it, or at least I think I get it,”

Bily said. “You’re used to taking care of yourself, so

I’l back off some, but you have to understand that this

is just the caretaker in me. It doesn’t mean that I want

anything from you that you can’t give,” he continued.

“You’re right, we’ve only known each other for a very

short time, and I don’t know why, but I feel this strong

connection to you. If we see one another for a day, a

week, or a year, I wil never pressure you to give more

of yourself than you can give. That’s not the kind of

person I am.”

Ian opened his mouth to speak, but Bily put his

hand up and said, “Please let me finish. It doesn’t take a

rocket scientist to figure out that, in the past, someone

hurt you pretty badly. And by the look on your face

right now, I would imagine that the scars run pretty

deep. One more thing, and I’l shut up. You don’t ever

have to say a word, but when and if you ever want to

tel me what happened to you, I would like to be here

to listen.”

Ian sighed and said, “Deal” with a bewildered

look on his face. He gently kissed Bily on the lips and

slid to one side to alow him to get up.

Relieved that he’d said everything he needed to

say, Bily stood and reached out to help Ian to his feet.

Ian braced himself on the arm of the couch, balancing

on his left foot with his right leg bent at the knee. Bily

found the phone, which remarkably stil worked, and

placed it back in its cradle. He then turned al his

attention to Ian and wrapped his arms around him and

held him tight.

As Bily felt the tension leave Ian’s body, he

thought,
One day I hope he trusts me enough to talk

to me
. Ending the embrace, he eased Ian back down to

the couch, picked up the throw, and covered him again.

“C’mere, cowboy.” Ian tugged Bily down to

kneel beside the couch, resting his head in Ian’s lap.

They both settled into the silence, and Ian began

to stroke Bily’s hair. Bily lay there for the longest time,

staring up at Ian, and he finaly said, “Tel me about

your childhood.”

There was a long moment of silence before Ian

said, “Not much to tel. I grew up in a very conservative

Christian household with three brothers and a sister. I

went to Bob Jones University but never graduated, and

I don’t talk to my family.”

“Is it because you’re gay?”

“Partly,” Ian said. “Now your turn.”

Bily

thought,
He clearly doesn’t feel

comfortable talking about himself, so hell, I’ll bore

him into talking with my story
. “I grew up in a

Catholic family in New Orleans with two sisters; one

has a son and one a daughter. I married at nineteen and

divorced at twenty-one. My entire family stil lives in

New Orleans, and we’re al pretty close to each other,

in our own way. I talk to them a couple times a week,

and they’re very supportive of me and my dream.”

Bily paused to take a breath, and Ian took

advantage of the pause. “Back up one minute. Did I

hear ‘married’?”

“Yep,” Bily said. “I was very confused about my

sexuality at the time. I was young and she was pretty

and it seemed like the right thing to do. I was the last

Eagan boy in the family to carry on our family name,

and for some reason that was very important to my

father, so that only reinforced my decision,” he

continued. “My mother is a sweet, fun-loving, nurturing

woman. I can talk to her about anything, and we’re

good friends in addition to being mother and son. On

the other hand, my father is a man’s man. He bred

quarter horses for most of my life, and together we did

the rodeo circuit for a time. But what I remember most

about our relationship growing up was trying so hard to

earn his respect. Looking back now, I can see that my

need for his approval and respect drove me to do most

of the things I did. Then I got, in the famous words of

Miss Tammy Wynette, D-I-V-O-R-C-E’d, and I

thought he would consider me a failure, but he didn’t.

He just said, ‘Son, if you’re unhappy, then do

something about it.’ The funny or sad thing, depending

on how you look at it, is after al the things I did to try

and gain his respect, the one thing that did it was my

moving away to folow my dreams. He said he’d never

had the courage to do it, and that alone made him the

most proud.”

“Wow, that’s quite a story,” Ian said.

“I guess so,” Bily replied. “There’s a lot more,

but you don’t get to hear it until I get more about you.

Deal?” Bily raised his hand to shake on it.

“We’l see,” Ian replied, but he shook Bily’s

hand anyway.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Ian said. “What say we

head upstairs?”