John, the young waiter working for his father at Louis’, took Rory’s reservation, but had to throw a little shade at Rory while doing so. “Sorry, sir, but we don’t take reservations for the patio at dinner time. First come, first served—that’s always been our policy.”
“Always?” Rory laughed. “What about last month when I had dinner with Nolan Carborne with a reservation for seven-thirty?” Oh, wait, that was after your bedtime, huh?”
“Well, it may be a newer policy and only refers to parties with dogs.”
“Ah, I see. Well, this of course means I’ll have to take Cary somewhere else, and I was hoping you’d get a chance to see someone I expect to be Hollywood’s newest sensation, a kid like Cary who’s also beautiful and shy and is innocent enough that he’d probably fall for your blandishments. He’ll be part of our party. But, well, that’s the breaks. He’ll have to fall for some other waiter at some other restaurant.”
“Wait. Did you say six-thirty? Ah, that’s okay then. The no-reservations policy doesn’t kick in till 6:45. I guess I can just squeeze you in under the wire.”
Still laughing, Rory said, “Thanks, John. See you then.”
Harper was already there bantering with John when Rory, the boys and Morris arrived. One of the reasons Rory liked Harper was that she didn’t have the practice so many women seemed to have of being perpetually late to everything. She was usually early and had answered Rory’s question of why with, “I get to choose which chair I want this way.”
John seated them and gave Morris his water. Harper and Rory had cocktails, the boys Cokes, and Rory ordered a couple of appetizers for the table. All the while, Trace seemed out of his element, and John was switching his eyes between Cary and Trace. Rory snickered, and John gave him a dirty look, making him laugh. Trace looked confused.
Over their meal, the boys answered Harper’s questions about what they’d done and what they’d seen. She actually got Trace to tell her his favorite memories of the trip. Rory was surprised. He’d thought Trace would say the water parks or the amusement park. Instead, he talked about saving the toddler in Yellowstone. “Rory saved her, but I helped Cary keep the woman from running after the girl and making the situation much worse. I don’t know how Rory knew to tell us to do that when he was already figuring out how to save the child.” He looked down at his plate, then muttered, “I see why Cary’s in love with him.”
“Only as a father,” Cary quickly said. “But the rest, yeah.”
Harper grinned. “That’s Rory,” she agreed. “Mr. Helpful.”
Rory jumped in, never liking or knowing how to handle praise. “Okay, enough of that. We have to talk about what comes next, not what’s in the distant past. I have to figure out where we’ll live. I got Cary’s father to agree Cary can live with me, and Trace will, too. My house in the hills just isn’t suitable for all of us. I guess I’ll have to sell it, but then where will we go? What’s best for the boys? I’m not sure Trace is suited for the hustle and bustle of a large L.A. high school. I think a quieter setting would suit him better, let him get his feet on the ground. What do you think, Trace? What would you like?”
Trace shook his head, and Rory said, “Trace?” in a voice that needed a response.
Trace met his eyes for a moment, then dropped his again. Rory had felt he’d made progress through the short time they’d been together, much of it confined in the car, but now he seemed to have reverted. Rory guessed it was the fact Harper was there, and so his shyness was back. If one friendly adult made him react this way, how could he ever survive what he’d have to endure in one of L.A.’s crowded high schools?
The tone of voice Rory had used repeating his name, however, did get him to speak. “I don’t know. Having lots of people around makes me nervous.”
Rory nodded. “So we’ll have to figure this out. But I think I’ll put my house up for sale.”
“That house would be perfect for me. I’m tired of renting and building no equity. I can rename it Harper’s Folly. How much do you want for it?”
“I have no idea. I’ll see what an appraiser says. Maybe hire a Realtor. Then we can bargain. Give me sleepover rights once a week, the price can be lower.”
“Hah! You wish! Though actually you don’t. What would Nolan think?”
“Huh?”
“You do know he has a crush on you, don’t you?”
“No way. We’re just good friends. Neither of us have any intention of it being anything else.”
“Well, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. But maybe I’m wrong. I’m much more aware of what women are thinking when they look at someone than what men think.”
Trace had been listening to all this and was confused. “Who’s Nolan?”
Cary answered. “He’s a movie director. He directed Leaving Home. He and Rory are good friends.”
They finished their meal with John recommending desserts. Rory suggested getting four different ones and that they all nibble from each. That’s what they did. However, along with the four desserts, John brought another just for the boys. He’d been trying to catch Trace’s eyes all evening without success. He was frustrated: how could he flirt with someone who wouldn’t meet his eyes? Well, if he couldn’t physically, he thought he could at least try gastronomically.
“This is a chocolate budino, a rich Italian pudding with candied walnuts,” he told them. “It’s a specialty dessert for two very special young men.”
Trace did look up then, and John gave him a dazzling smile, which caused Trace’s face to turn bright red and his eyes to quickly return to the table.
Rory overheard Cary ask Trace on the way back to the car if he’d liked the dinner. Trace said, “I still can’t get accustomed to this. I’ve seen and done more in the past few days than in my entire life before this. I think that waiter was flirting with us!”
“You think! Yeah, he does that. That’s John. That might not happen in Indiana, but you’ll get a lot of that here. Especially because you’re so cute.”
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Rory thought it was about time to reestablish contact with Nolan to find out how things were progressing with the picture he’d spoken about before Rory had left. The next morning, after his run, he called him.
Nolan answered, then laughed when he heard it was Rory. “Hey, you got to get with the times. No one calls anymore. They text.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not me. I’m more direct than that. You are, too. So, anyway, I’m back in town. You get the contract for the new picture you told me about?”
“Nah, that fell through. They did hire me, and I accepted but with an out clause if I didn’t like the script. After doing Leaving Home with you and that script we built, this one was dreadful. It was by a name screenwriter, too. I think you spoiled me. But I read the script, told them there’d have to be lots of changes, and they said no, the script was locked, and they wanted me to make the picture using that script. So, I backed out. I’m at loose ends, looking for something else, waiting for the phone to ring.”
“It did, and it was only me.” Rory laughed, then looked sheepish. “Sorry about that.”
“Hey, with you, the word ‘only’ never fits. How are you doing? Relaxed and revitalized from your vacation?”
“That I am. I picked up another kid, too, and Cary’s now with me pretty much all the time. I’m like you, looking for work. I was sort of hoping you’d got that picture and did want me to help with it. You know, to pick up trash on the set or something.”
“I will want you once I get called. And that’ll happen. The studios are always looking for directors, and Leaving Home made me a known quantity in town. But I don’t have anything going right now. I can mention your name to people, though, certainly for script work. Probably have a job for you by tomorrow. You’re not doing any writing, then? Don’t have a script to sell?” He laughed.
Rory said, “Well . . .”
Nolan’s voice changed just that fast. “You do?! I want to see it. No one else! Me! I can come over right now!”
It was Rory’s turn to laugh. “It isn’t quite finished yet. Maybe two thirds.”
“Twenty minutes. Or you want to meet somewhere?”
“It’s not finished!”
“Close enough. I need to see it. Where and when?”
They met at a coffee shop about halfway between them. “This is very rough, a first draft,” Rory said. They were in a booth. “You’ll get the idea of the story, but it needs polishing.”
“Enough! You’re equivocating. Let me have it.” Nolan grinned and stuck out his hand.
Rory handed it to him, then took that day’s L.A. Times out to read while Nolan devoured the script. When he’d done that, he laid the pages back on the table and looked at Rory.
“How do you do this?” he asked.
“Whadya you mean? It’s just a story.”
“It’s so much more than that. It’s wonderful. Really, truly wonderful. How does it end?”
“I haven’t decided. Boy gets girl. Boy gets boy? No one gets anyone? How do you want it to end?”
“Oh no, I’m not barging in on your creativity. Your judgment is what makes your writing special. I’ll trust whatever it is you decide. But what you have makes my hair stand on end. I’m ready to go hire a production team. I don’t want to go to a studio with this and let them dictate anything at all. We’ll go independent on this. You and I will call the shots. This has to be done on location, too. I’ll hire a location scout; he’ll find the perfect ranch where this will be set.”
“How soon will that be done? See, I’ve got sort of a problem now. Harper wants to buy my house, and I need to find a place for me, two boys and a dog. At some point, we’ll probably have two dogs. A ranch sounds perfect. Can we live on the ranch you use for the film? I mean, well, maybe I could buy it.”
Nolan looked at him without speaking for a moment or two, then said, his voice softer, “Maybe we could buy it.”
Rory shook his head. “I need a place for me and the boys. You’d be buying it for control and an investment.”
“Okay. No pressure. Just a thought. But if I get a scout busy, I think he could find two or three places within a week or so. These guys spend all their time looking for places that have photographic appeal. They’ll already have possibilities in mind. There have to be places where the owners are old and want to be done with running a ranch. You want me to start him looking?”
“If it’s a place where the kids and I could stay, yeah. We could live there while we make the film, then find something else at the end of the shoot. What I need right now is something suitable for the kids. I can use the time we’re filming to look for something. You planning to finance this film all by yourself?”
“Maybe. I’ll start with that, and if I need more, I’ll find more. Maybe you’ll want to help with that.” He wiggled his eyebrows. Then, more seriously, “I’ll get going with the scout. You—finish the damn script! I can almost taste another Oscar.”
« »
It took three days, and then the location scout—Nolan said to call him Hig, which was short for Jason Higgins—had four places for them to look at, all located north of L.A. proper, all ranging between an hour-and-a-half to two hours from Studio City. An hour’s drive to much of L.A. from many other parts of L.A. wasn’t uncommon; this longer distance was certainly workable.
Rory fell in love with the third one they came to as soon as he saw it. The house was closer to Santa Barbara than L.A. The property had been owned originally by an executive chef at a top restaurant in Santa Barbara. Currently, the property owner was a woman.
It was fifty-two acres of rolling soft hills covered in wild oat grass, the grass a burnished gold color in summer and was part of the scenic wonder that grew wild on the California pastures and hills. There was a large, stately house and stables, all well maintained and modern. There was also a second house not far from the main one that they were told was for staff—such a large property needed both house and land maintenance.
The woman who owned the property appeared to be in her sixties, looking strong and healthy with skin that had been in the weather for many years. She was wearing blue jeans and a man’s button-up shirt and boots. Her name was Lillian.
“My husband died last year. I thought I could run the place by myself, and I can, but it’s not as much fun by myself. We did everything together out here. It’s too lonely, has too many memories. I’m better off not thinking about the past all the time. My sister wants me to come live with her and her brood, and I think I might enjoy that more than this.”
“This place looks great to me,” Rory said. “Do you have horses? I see the stables, but I don’t see any horses.”
“We did for a time. I sold them off when he died. Sold all the animals. I miss them, too.”
Rory, Nolan and the boys walked around looking at the place. Nolan looked at it with a filmmaker’s eye, Rory as a place to bring up two boys who might or might not be interested in either ranching or caring for livestock, boys who’d probably be headed for college in just a couple of years. Neither boy knew what he wanted to do with his life. Rory thought both should get a good education. But after that? Maybe they’d want to live here, maybe not, and if not, he could sell the place and move on. But what was here was perfect for them now, perfect for a shy, maybe gay boy to find himself, perfect for Cary to be away from the bother of constant auditioning and dealing with teen magazines, perfect for finishing the script he was creating and for outdoor shots for the film Nolan wanted to make. And if they stayed on after that? Well, if he wanted to continue writing, what better place could there be to do that?
The boys went into the stables. There remained a faint odor of horse, a pleasant smell. There were six stalls. Trace looked at them and, some of his shyness returning, asked Cary if he wanted to live here.
“I like what I’ve seen so far. If we each had a horse, we could ride on the hills here. Explore. No crowds around, just us. For me, that would be perfect. We’re close to the ocean, not that far from Santa Barbara. I’ll bet we could see the ocean from the top of the tallest hill. I’ve been in a large city all my life; lots of people, lots of traffic. I think I’d like getting away from the bustle and crowds and traffic noise and work-work-work pressures. Living here, a slower life—yeah, I’d like to try it. It wouldn’t be forever unless we wanted that. College isn’t that far off, anyway.”
There was a pause, as Trace didn’t answer immediately. When he did, there was hope in his voice. “You said we.” Then Trace stopped, but his eyes were bright. He took a quick glance at Cary, then turned to look at the empty stable in front of him. He didn’t like what his glimpse of Cary’s reaction had shown.
Cary could read Trace’s body language and was very used to boys having crushes on him, boys who didn’t know him at all. He spoke softly to Trace. “Hey, I thought you’d lost some of that shyness around me.”
Trace didn’t turn to look at him. “I thought so, too. But what I just said and how you looked, I guess I’m still shy about that. I don’t know what you meant by us being together. Then you talked about college, and it sounded like you meant we’d go away for that. I guess I’d like to know what you meant, how you feel. Feel about us.”
“Okay. I understand now.” Cary didn’t want to hurt Trace’s feelings, but he wanted to be honest. “And, I guess I didn’t mean it that way. I wasn’t thinking about us being together forever. I don’t know about that. We still have to grow up.”
He sighed. “Look, Trace. We’ll certainly be together for at least a few years yet. Those years will tell us what’s what. I know I like you. I also know I don’t love you, not now, but I don’t know about a few years from now. Maybe living together, I’ll feel different then. Maybe I won’t. Love happens. We’ve only known each other for a few days. Our feelings will change, one way or another. We’ll get closer, or we won’t. Things will change. They’re bound to.”
Trace didn’t turn to look at him. He spoke to the stables more than to Cary. “I do like you.” Trace’s voice was stronger now. “And, well, I do have a crush on you. There, I said it, and it’s scary as hell because you’re going to say you don’t feel the same.”
“Trace, I said I like you. I do have feelings for you. But a crush? I don’t know. No, that’s not honest. I don’t have a crush on you. But the more time I spend with you, well . . . I do like you, but right now it’s as a friend. The more time we’re together, the stronger that friendship is becoming. But, hey, we’ve got lots of time to get to know each other better. Let’s not try to rush anything. Let’s just be together like we are now, be friends, and see if anything more than that develops.”
“Okay.” Trace was a little disappointed but not surprised. He hadn’t picked up any crush vibes coming from Cary—not that he knew exactly what those would be—but expected there would be something if Cary was feeling anything of what Trace was feeling; but there had been nothing like that.
Still, Cary hadn’t rejected him and simply said to let what might happen occur on its own time schedule. That made sense.
He still had to answer Cary’s question, though. “I do like this place. I like the idea that you and I would be together a lot. I think we could talk Rory into getting horses. You seem to be able to get him to do whatever you want. I like Morris, and maybe we could get another dog. Maybe a cat. I know I’m free now to want things and have those wants come true, but this is all so new to me. I’m still getting used to it.”
“So, you want to tell Rory to buy the place?”
“You want to?” Trace looked like he was hoping Cary would say yes.
And he did. “Sure. Let’s tell him.”
Before they left the ranch, Nolan asked Lillian what she wanted for the place. She said the Realtor she’d hired had named a figure—several million dollars, actually—but that seemed extreme to her. She’d probably take less if the offer was for a quick cash sale. An offer at the Realtor’s suggested price might take years to come.
Nolan told her they’d discuss it, that they still had more properties to visit as well, but they’d get back to her soon.
They drove back to town in the limousine Nolan had hired. Nolan said the property would be perfect for the film as he was visualizing it. Rory said he thought it would be fine for him and the boys to live in.
“What do you guys think? Want to live out in the country, no one around for miles, or do you want to be closer to the ice cream shops, the movie theaters, the parks for pickup soccer games, the malls for hanging out?”
“We like it,” Cary said, “as long as we get horses. That’s the deal breaker. You get us horses.”
“Horses you want, horses you shall have.” Then he looked at Nolan. “You still want in on the purchase?”
“Absolutely.”
Rory thought for a bit, then said, “You know, they have that extra house next to the big one. I don’t plan to do all the cooking, and heaven forbid, I’m not going to let the boys poison me. Do you think we could get live-in staff? A cook, maybe a jack-of-all-trades to do odd jobs?”
“I know the perfect people for that. My mother has a friend who has a son who’s at loose ends. The mother cooks, the son is your age, and he needs a change of scenery. They live in an area with gangs; he’s gay and is afraid to go outside. She’s been looking for a way to move. This would be perfect. They could live in that other house; he could do the stuff that needs doing and maybe come out of his shell. You could get some chickens, maybe start a garden, and he could take care of all that. Learn to ride, do chores on the ranch if that appeals to him.”
Rory considered that, then said, “If the kid’s okay with that, it does sound like a good solution. So, you want the place. You think we should make an offer? If we do, I want it in the contract that I can buy you out anytime I please if I refund your part of the purchase price plus or minus how the market has moved since the purchase.”
Nolan grinned. “You’ve got a deal. Now, do I get to choose which bedroom is mine?”
“Hey! The boys and I are the ones living there. We may approve of a visit now and then. Maybe you can bunk in with the woman.” He grinned at Nolan.
“That’s fair when we’re not shooting.” Nolan was now being serious. “Makes sense, though, for me to be living there when we’re shooting on location.”
“That’ll probably be fine. We’ll talk about it.”
“Okay then.” Nolan grinned at Rory. “I do believe we’re about to become ranchers.”