Page 97 of Stick By Me
LEO
After spending the day in the hospital with Sam and Archer, watching Christmas movies and helping the nurses get Sam moving, we left Sam with Tad and came home for dinner. Tonight, I was making salmon and roasted potatoes with a dill cream sauce and I had a little surprise for Archer. We stepped into the kitchen from the garage. “You know what? You never showed me around.” Sure, I’d wandered around while Archer was out or in the shower, but he’d never given me the tour.
He scoffed. “Fine.” Snatching my hand, he led me into the main room. “Here’s the family room. All the decorations and the furniture in this house were done by my mom. Dad hasn’t changed a thing.” He pursed his lips.
“Yeah?” I perused the room with modern, but rustic furniture, then strolled to a brick fireplace and a picture resting on the mantel. “This is your mom and dad, right?” I held it up and twisted around. There were a lot of photos in the house, and I wanted to know who was in each one of them.
Stepping to me with his hands behind his back, Archer said, “Yep, Mom and Dad when they were in their late twenties. Probably a year or so before I was born.”
I examined the photo more closely, his mother had his features but softer, the same brown eyes, and wavy blonde hair. She had a thinner, but obviously athletic build and was tall for a woman, almost taller than his dad. “You look like your mom.”
“Yeah. Funny how everyone always told me that and very few people said I looked anything like my dad. Guess now I know why.” He sighed and took the photo from me. “Which reminds me.” He set the photo on the mantel and fell into the end of the couch, sliding his phone from his jean’s pocket. “I wanted to take a closer look at Richard.”
Maybe going around looking at old photos wasn’t such a smart thing. He was still trying to process the fact that the man he knew all his life as his father, wasn’t. I sank in next to him, hooking my arm around his shoulders, then peered into his phone. A photo of Richard Dupont was pulled up, him in his hockey uniform without a helmet. The resemblance was uncanny, the jawline, the lips, the facial structure, except Richard had darker hair. “He looks like he was about your age in this picture.”
With a quick inhale, Archer said, “Funny, but I didn’t see it before. It’s like my brain refused to process it.” He snapped his gaze to mine. “But you saw it, right away.” He cocked his head, lips bowing down. “Leo, what am I going to say to him?”
“You’re going to tell him what happened and that you know he’s your biological father. It didn’t sound to me like he was a dick about it, and he obviously wants to be in your life.” Why else would he be trying to give Archer a chance on his team? Wait… “If it comes out that he’s your father, can you still be on the Coyotes?”
Archer shrugged. “Yeah, it happens. There’s been quite a few times when an NHL coach had his son on his team.” He smirked. “Hockey families are a thing, Leo.” He bumped my shoulder with his own. “I’m sort of hungry and after you told me about the salmon you were making tonight?—”
“I know, I’ll get on it.” I pressed a hard kiss on his lips.Maybe it was best to have him show me the house little by little and I’d give him his surprise after we ate.
After fillingour bellies with salmon and cleaning up his father’s modest kitchen, we decided to make a fire in the fireplace. Tad had called during dinner to let us know Archer’s dad needed rest and gave us the night off.
We brought logs into the house from outside in a covered rack constructed of PVC piping his uncle had made and stomped the snow from our sneakers on the covered patio. I was starting to like having it all cold and snowy outside when I could be warm and snuggling next to Archer inside. We’d already changed into sweats, and I was ready to relax.
I set my pile of logs into a gold holder next to the hearth and slid out of my parka. “Can I help you with anything?” I snuck my hand into my pocket and fingered the present I’d picked up for him. I hadn’t found the right time to give it to him yet.
“No, you just make yourself comfortable.” He piled logs into the fireplace, then stuffed a fire starter underneath them and lit it with a long lighter.
I rubbed my hands together, still shaking off the cold from outside. “Since we’re not going back to the hospital tonight, do you want a beer?” We’d refrained at dinner, but now I didn’t think a beer or two would hurt.
“Sure.” He tended the fire, moving logs around with his fingers. “On second thought, my dad usually has some good bourbon in the cabinet in the dining room. How about some of that?”
“Absolutely.” I strolled into the dining room, off the kitchen, and perused a tall, dark wooden table with a China cabinet behind it and against the wall. Bending over, I peered through the panes of glass on the doors. It looked like they’d turned it into a makeshift bar with liquor bottles and nice glasswareinside. I found the bourbon in a fancy bottle with a pewter horse and rider on the top and a few crystal lowball glasses, then returned to the family room and set everything down on the coffee table.
The fire popped and sizzled, the flames reaching high up the flue. Warmth spread through the room.
Archer stood up and swiped his hands on the ass of his maroon joggers. “There, that outta do it.” With a broad grin, he stepped to me and grabbed both my hands. “Hi.”
I smiled back at him. “Hi.” I ran my gaze over his gorgeous face, his thick lashes surrounding his brown eyes, the fire lighting up gold flecks in them, then down to his plump lips. We still had things to figure out when we got home, but tonight, it was just the two of us. “Archer, I uh, have something?—”
“Let’s pour the bourbon and sit on the couch.” He popped the cork top off the bottle and poured the golden liquor into the glasses, then handed me one. “To you, Leo. Thank you for taking such good care of me and always having such a level head. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.” His eyes grew glossy.
I blinked, my heart blooming with emotion. “You’re welcome. I’d have it no other way. I love you, Archer.” With a soft kiss on his lips, I tapped my glass to his.
Locking our gazes, Archer sipped his bourbon at the same time I did.
Now was the right time. “Let’s sit down.” I motioned at the couch and sank into the corner while tugging out the present. “I got you, or I should say, us a little something.” I unwrapped the two thick silver chains from each other.
“Leo, that’s not fair. I wasn’t able to go Christmas shopping.” His eyes grew wide as I held up the matching chains, each one having a love knot tied within it. He fingered the necklace. “It’s so cool.” He wiped under his eyes.
“It’s a love knot and I got it because you travel a lot now and I know, when you start playing for the Coyotes, you’ll betraveling even more.” My throat tightened and my chest ached. Fuck, when I’d bought these, I’d wanted it to be special, but the full force of what I was saying to him was just hitting me after the long day we’d had. I swallowed and breathed in deeply. “Love knots started in the eighteenth century when sailors would be away from the people they loved. They started making knots with ropes they’d tie on themselves to remember their loved ones at home.” My vision became hazy. Fuck, don’t lose it. “So, I guess?—”
Crashing his lips to mine, he slapped his hand around the back of my neck and kissed me deeply, his tongue sliding against mine. After a moment, he broke the kiss and pressed our foreheads together. “I love you so fucking much, Leo. You have no idea. This is perfect.” With a wide smile, he turned around. “Put one on me, then I’ll do you.”
“Okay.” I wrapped the necklace around his neck, then clasped it. It looked good on him, not too bulky, but thick enough it was noticeable.
