Stone Cold Foxe Read online

“Keith Fletcher,” Sidney answered.

  “…and Keith Fletcher.” She typed. “For Saturday, October twelfth… Are we morning, afternoon, or evening?”

  “It’s a luncheon,” said Sidney.

  “Sidney,” whispered Skyler. “You can let me answer.”

  “Is she your best man?” asked Janet, leaning in confidentially, even though her voice was still loud. She widened her already wide smile further. Her teeth were blindingly white and big as a fence. “I love it. And how many guests? Approximately?”

  Sidney sat back, looking to Skyler to answer. “Oh, uh, we’re looking at about a hundred. And a buffet.”

  “Excellent. And you’d like the ceremony here as well? Perfect.” She set the tablet on her lap and leaned forward. “We do a very nice set-up of chairs and a beautiful arch for the wedding upstairs from the reception in the main room, and then have the tables, dance floor, and DJ space below. In fact, it’s set up now and we can go take a peek. Shall we?”

  They rose. Sidney held tight to his arm in the expectation that he would bolt. He gave her the evil eye. He wasn’t going to do any such thing. But her tight grip was comforting, especially since he felt light-headed.

  They walked into the barn-like space and Skyler looked around, enchanted. The brick walls, the ceiling beams, combined to give it an old-world look without being tired and rundown. Little white lights draped from the ceiling in long sweeping arcs from one beam to the other. Each round table was set up with lovely centerpieces and electric candles. There was plenty of room for a dance floor. They went upstairs and saw how it was decorated for a wedding, with wooden folding chairs set up in rows, an arch with tulle and flowers standing in the end of a central aisle, and little lights hanging and twinkling all around, like a fairy wonderland. It was pretty but tasteful, and he felt both his mother and Keith would approve.

  “I love this,” he said breathlessly, hoping it wouldn’t all disappear.

  “It’s lovely, isn’t it?” said Janet. She looked down at her tablet. “It’s pretty much how you’d see it here, with your special colors for the tablecloths and flowers, of course. Buffet tables over there, bar over there. We have DJ services if you haven’t chosen one, and I’ve got several menus for you to go over. So, what do you think?”

  Skyler looked around, liking it more as he checked out each corner. It looked like a fun space to dance in, to have a party, but it was tasteful, too. “Can I just take a few shots and send it to my boyfriend…I mean, fiancé? He’s still at work.”

  “Oh, go right ahead. In fact, I’ll leave the two of you here to look around. Come back to my office when you’re ready to fill out the paperwork. But I wouldn’t wait too long. We’re bound to get booked.”

  She clacked away on her heels and Skyler turned to Sidney. “What do you think?”

  “What do you think? It’s your wedding, sweetie.”

  “I like it. I really do. And the prices from their website seemed comparable to everything else.”

  “Then take your pictures and send them off to loverboy.”

  Skyler did and heard back from Keith promptly with “Go for it!”

  “He’s so good to you,” she said, head shaking.

  “I know. I don’t deserve him.”

  “Oh, honey, of course you do.” She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I’m so happy for you, Skyler. I really am.”

  “Okay, cut it out. I don’t want to cry here.”

  They both wiped at their eyes anyway and walked arm in arm toward the office to finalize the deal.

  Chapter Five

  SKYLER STOOD ON THE TOP OF A STEPLADDER AT home, trying to dislodge a platter from the highest shelf of the cupboard when the doorbell rang. He froze, stuck in the limbo between heaven and earth with a heavy platter in hand and a dangerous step below. A doorbell ringing was like an unanswered text and Skyler couldn’t let it go. He carefully balanced the plate and the step and made it to safety as the doorbell rang a second time.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he muttered, placing the unwieldy platter on the dining room table. It couldn’t be Keith, because he’d just pound on the door as if he didn’t believe in doorbells. Besides, Keith wasn’t due back from football practice for another hour. Unless something happened to one of the kids. Skyler kicked into teacher mode, considering all the steps Keith would have to take, and it certainly wouldn’t involve coming home from the high school.

  But what if Keith was the one going to the hospital? What if he was hurt? Skyler’s heart gave a lurch. Big, strong Keith. Nothing could happen to him. His boyfriend had fought off danger and criminals. His FBI training would kick in, even though he was a sort of waiting-in-the-wings kind of agent these days.

  The doorbell rang a third time.

  Skyler snapped out of his increasingly horrific daydreaming. Why did he do this to himself? This never used to happen before he hooked up with Keith.

  He grabbed the door and swung it open.

  Two women stood on the landing. The light-skinned one was poised to knock. She had shoulder-length brown hair that reminded him of Sidney. But there the resemblance ended. This woman’s face was round, not angular like his friend. Her wide eyes were hazel, and she wore no make-up, but lots of rings and bangles on her hand. Her short nails were painted black and her clothes were loose; cargo pants and a gauzy top. Her companion, on the other hand, was a stunning African-American woman, with short high-top dreads sprouting on her head like a hedgehog, wide five-inch diameter hoop earrings settling over her white tank top, and many necklaces of beads and charms.

  They both stepped back and stared wide-eyed at Skyler, who looked from one to the other. Then the women glanced at each other, cracked smiles, and studied Skyler up and down again, a long perusal that made him a bit uncomfortable.

  “Um…can I help you?”

  The light-skinned woman smirked. “You have to be Skyler Foxe.”

  Skyler clutched the door. “I do?”

  “Oh, baby,” said the other. “Twink down to the cream filling.”

  Skyler felt his cheeks heating. “Excuse me,” he said indignantly. “But who are you and what do you want?”

  The bracelets clanked as the brown-haired woman laughed and moved her hand. “Don’t worry, Skyler. We don’t mean any harm. We just figured you have to be Skyler Foxe. Keith is pretty…well, consistent with his choice of boyfriends.”

  He frowned. “You’re friends of Keith’s?”

  “Yeah, is he here? Didn’t he talk about us? I’m Sheryl Anderson, and this is my girlfriend Tamika May.”

  It was Skyler’s turn to be wide-eyed. Keith had talked about his friends from San Diego and how hard it was for him to get the time to see them. “Oh! Well, Keith isn’t here, but you can certainly come in and wait for him.” He opened the door wider and gestured for them to enter. This was a first. He didn’t think he’d ever had lesbians in his apartment before.

  Tamika made herself comfortable on the sofa, tucking her foot under her, while her girlfriend Sheryl sat regally in the wingback.

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Skyler asked.

  “That would be lovely,” said Sheryl.

  “I have iced tea. Is that all right?”

  “Anything,” said Tamika, fanning herself. “Hoo lord! It’s hotter than my mama’s oven on a Sunday out there.”

  He quickly fixed their drinks, offering them on a tray with sugar, lemon, and long spoons. “So,” he said, clutching his own sweaty glass, “this is the first time I’ve met any of Keith’s friends.”

  “He doesn’t have many,” said Sheryl. “And no offense, but Redlands is a good piece of driving from San Diego.”

  “I know. I’m just surprised he didn’t say anything. We could have gone out to meet you.”

  “I hear you been busy,” said Tamika. “He said you go out and solve crimes. A real Sherlock Holmes.”

  “I don’t. I mean, I did. A couple of times. It’s no big deal.”

  “Keith
seems to think it is. Says you pretty clever.”

  “He did?”

  “Yeah,” said Sheryl. “He sounded impressed by you. But that’s our Keith. We knew by the tone of his texts and emails that he was falling pretty hard, pretty fast.”

  “He did? I mean, I know.” Skyler’s belly wriggled pleasantly with the thought of Keith falling for him. It was still fresh and new enough to make him squirm.

  “And you cuuuuuuute!” said Tamika. “Mmmm mmm. Keith got him some Twinkie goodness.”

  “Tamika!” said Sheryl, scandalized. “Ignore her, Skyler. She and Keith used to get into lots of trouble in college.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  “Oh baby, you don’t know the half of it.”

  “Well, it’s really good to finally meet you. Obviously, you’re going to be there at the wedding.”

  “Be there?” said Tamika. “Baby, I’m your officiant.”

  “My…what?”

  Sheryl sipped and put down her tea. “Tamika’s got one of those online officiant certifications. Ordained minister from the Universal Life Church.”

  “Uh huh.” She snapped her fingers. “I’m gon’ marry you two.”

  “Oh. Well, okay. Thanks.”

  “No problem, baby. Now when is that Keith of yours coming home? I have all kinds of shit to give him for being such a girl about all this.”

  Skyler smiled. He couldn’t wait to see that.

  “Sorry I’m late, babe,” said Keith, kicking the door closed. His arms were full of binders up to his chin. But as soon as he turned, he spied the women. “Hey! You got here.” He dumped the binders by the door—ignoring Skyler’s sound of disapproval—and took both women in his arms, spinning them to squeals of delighted laughter.

  “I can’t believe you guys made it at last.”

  “And I can’t believe you’re getting married,” said Sheryl as he plunked them back down.

  Tamika put her hands at her hips and cocked her head. “I can. Parade the best looking blond boy in front of him and he’s gone.”

  Skyler sighed to himself. He supposed this was just as annoying as Keith having to put up with Skyler’s past tricks. “Ahem. Said Twink is standing right here.”

  Keith took two steps and enclosed Skyler in his arms. “So, you met my best friends.”

  “Finally. And we’ve had quite a nice long chat.”

  “Uh oh.” He pointed a finger at them. “What have you been telling him?”

  “Baby, we been telling him all sorts of tales on you,” said Tamika.

  “Well, isn’t that just perfect.” He shrugged toward Skyler. “It’s all lies, you know.”

  “Oh, of course it is.”

  They decided to go out to dinner. Piling into Keith’s giant black truck, Keith glanced across to where Skyler usually parked. “Car still in the shop?”

  “Weirdest thing. They said the brake line was broken off.”

  “Ooooh,” said Tamika. “That sounds like a job for Sherlock Foxe.”

  “No, I don’t think so. The garage guy said it could have been mice or even squirrels. Gnawed through. Apparently, they like the taste of brake fluid.”

  Keith frowned as he settled into his seat and grasped the steering wheel. “Weird, though.”

  “I know.” Skyler buckled himself in and glanced out the window toward the step on their stairwell that had yet to be repaired. He had watched as Keith screwed in a board under it to secure it. The break had been remarkably clean before it had torn and splintered under his weight. If he had a suspicious mind…

  “Are you guys staying in town?” asked Keith over his shoulder as he pulled away from the curb. “It’s a school night, I mean work week. Did you get tomorrow off?”

  Sheryl rested her arms on the back of their seats. “We decided to skip tomorrow, hoping to crash at yours.”

  “You’re welcome to the sofa. It does become a bed.”

  Keith glanced at Skyler sidelong. “It does?”

  “Yeah. Didn’t you know?”

  He shook his head. “The things I’m still learning.”

  “Y’all moving fast here,” drawled Tamika, “if you didn’t even know about your own sofa, homey.”

  “You know I never paid attention to that stuff.”

  “Oh baby—Skyler—one time in college, this one—” and Tamika pointed to Keith, “had a slice of pizza stuck to the back of his recliner for a week before he noticed, and that was only when someone pointed it out to him.”

  Skyler grimaced. “Seriously?”

  “Unless it was blond with a cute butt, he never noticed shit like that.”

  “Tamika!” Sheryl hissed.

  “I’m just telling the truth.”

  “That’s not the same recliner?” asked Skyler, trying to keep the bile down.

  Keith shook his head in amusement. “No, Felix, it isn’t.”

  Skyler looked back at the girls through the rear-view mirror. “So how did you guys meet?”

  “Met at an LGBT mixer at school,” said Sheryl. “The attendees tend to parse themselves out by gender, but Keith went all over the room. People came up to him, too, because they remembered him from the football team, and were, I think, stunned that a prominent jock could be gay. He helped me open a beer.”

  Skyler grinned. “Always the gentleman.”

  “I was probably standing in his way, but he was kind enough to help. I made a joke, he bantered back, and we were off and running. It was all our first time at a mixer like that, and it was such a relief meeting guys that weren’t going to hit on you.”

  “And baby, we were barely together then, but the girls were all over you.”

  Her cheeks blossomed into a blush. “They were not.”

  “I was beating them back with a stick. But when you were talking to Keith, they didn’t approach. So, I heartily approved.”

  They pulled up to the parking lot of a tiny storefront Greek restaurant and went inside. Amid ouzo, spanakopita, eggplant, and souvlakia, Skyler got to know Keith’s friends. He liked their easy camaraderie, something a bit different from the SFC but no less tight. He drank and watched Keith laugh, his eyes sparkling, as he reminisced about his college days. The girls told more tales that sent them all into hysterical laughter, making more than one head turn to look at their table. He liked learning about Keith in this way. Spending time with the man’s family in Seattle had been enlightening but brief. After all, family saw you in an entirely different light than friends.

  He watched the girls, too. Sheryl was definitely the feminine one. She kept brushing her hair from her face, and touched both Keith and Skyler frequently when she leaned in and spoke directly to them in her soft way.

  Tamika was beautiful, with high cheekbones, full lips, and a long slender neck. She was brash and loud, and sat back in the seat like a warrior, as if she was challenging the room, with an arm tossed over the chair back, legs wide. She reminded him a lot of Sidney.

  “But enough about us,” said Sheryl, pushing her plate aside to grasp Skyler’s hand. “Tell us about Skyler Foxe.”

  “Oh.” He downed the last of the wine and set the glass aside. “Not much to tell, really. I’ve lived here in Redlands all my life. Always wanted to be a teacher, became one, and now teach at my old alma mater.” He shrugged. “The boring life of Skyler Foxe.”

  “Now what about this Skyler Fuck Club I keep hearing about?” asked Tamika much too loudly. People turned their heads and Skyler shrank a little in the booth.

  Keith sighed. “Dammit, Tamika.”

  She shrugged innocently. “I just wanna know. He says he’s boring but he was a pretty heavy player in the scene, and he solves crimes. That don’t sound boring to me.” She leaned on her arms. “So how many men have you fucked?”

  Keith kicked her under the table.

  Skyler knew his face was now scarlet. His eyes darted from table to table, imagining the judging going on from one prim face to another. “Uh…I…”

  “Don’t answer tha
t,” growled Keith.

  “He probably can’t,” said Tamika.

  Keith didn’t look pleased. “Why are you doing this?”

  “All kidding aside…” She looked fiercely at Skyler now, her intense glare holding him rigidly in place. “Players don’t become monogamous overnight. And I don’t want Keith hurt. Because I’ve seen him with players before and I don’t want to see this man with a broken heart ever again.”

  Skyler picked up his napkin and dabbed delicately at his mouth before setting it down again. In a quieter voice, he said, “Look, I can appreciate what you’re saying. But you don’t know me. Yes, okay. I was what you would consider a ‘player’, but when I met Keith, something changed fundamentally. I never knew I was looking for a relationship. As far as I could tell, I wasn’t. But he caught my attention in a way that no one had before. He was…different. In too many ways to count. I found myself attracted to him and only him. I haven’t even wanted to hook-up with anyone since meeting him. Maybe I was just looking for Mister Right and didn’t even know it. And with Keith…” He touched Keith’s arm and that large, warm hand covered his. “I found…home. You don’t have to worry that I’ll stray. I have no intention of ever doing any such thing. Satisfied?”

  “You don’t owe her any sort of explanation.”

  “Yes, I do. These people care about you. And I get it. I would have done the same thing for Sidney.”

  He gestured toward Skyler. “You see that? That’s the kind of man he is. He’s amazing. And I love him. And you will not interrogate him again.”

  Skyler leaned forward toward Tamika and looked her in the eye. “So…how many women have you fucked?”

  Tamika froze for half a second before she threw her head back and roared a laugh to shake the rafters. “You have balls, Skyler Foxe.”

  “So do you.”

  She laughed again.

  She reminded Skyler more and more of Sidney. He couldn’t wait for them to meet. Fireworks, for sure.

  They finished dinner and returned home. They only stayed up till one before Keith and Skyler had to beg off. Skyler made up the sofa bed and left their bedroom door ajar since the only bathroom was through their bedroom. Skyler felt obliged for the sake of propriety to wear his sweats to bed. But as the alarm went off in the morning and he sat up bleary-eyed, a very naked Tamika strode through their room on her way to the bathroom.