The Acquittal - 18. Chapter 17

Kyle arrived at the office a little after nine in the morning. Admittedly that was a little late for him but he forgave himself considering he was supposed to be on vacation instead of here. The morning hadn’t started all that well with Matt being peevish about what he would and would not eat. Kyle stayed as patient as he could be since the boy had been effectively spoiled for the better part of a week at his grandfather’s house and now had to be satisfied with what was available on a lower budget. It wasn’t hard for either of them leaving the day before. Things had just started to turn around with Jacob and then he had to see that disappointed face when he had to pack up his things and go back home with his son.

Now, here he was in his office, checking his messages for any news on his new case. He started sifting through the notes on his desk. He noticed more than a few of them had Mike’s name on them. He smirked a little to himself as he sat in his chair and started working through them. He set his briefcase off to the side of his desk and skimmed through most of them. Nothing caught his eye as to being all that important.

A rapping on his door broke him from his examination as he looked up to see Stephanie smirking at him. “How’s it going in here?”

He frowned slightly in irritation. “Right now, it’s not going anywhere. How come you’re not helping me with this?”

She shook her head with a helpless look on her face. “I do what I’m told. I took your assault and battery case and a couple breaking and enterings so my docket is pretty full. I see you have a cute new intern at least.”

Kyle rolled his eyes, understanding now why she was in his doorway. “Let’s see if he’s any good with his work and we’ll go from there.”

“Oh,” mild surprise tinted her voice, “I thought you were off the market what with burying the hatchet back at the ranch.”

“Orchard, not a ranch. We don’t raise livestock.” He started tossing away any notes he found useless.

“Whatever. Answer the question.” She grinned slightly.

“I never heard a question,” he quipped, “only an assumption and I’m not inclined to confirm or deny any assumptions.”

“You’re no fun,” she said peevishly as she stepped back to allow Mike into his office.

“Good morning, Kyle,” the younger man said with a bright smile. “Good weekend?”

“Yeah. It was a good weekend,” he replied looking past Mike at Stephanie.

She laughed saying, “that’s what I wanted to hear.”

“Don’t you have someone to put in prison,” he asked her in irritation before she waved and walked out of the doorway.

Mike looked back at the empty space left by her passing and back to Kyle. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing,” He said with a small grin. “So, what’s on the agenda for you today?”

He pulled out a notepad and scanned over it. “I’m going to go to the hospital she worked at and start asking around. She if she mentioned anything to any of her co-workers there.”

“That could end up being a full day for you.” He looked at Mike and pointed an admonishing finger at him. “Don’t try and rush through it. Take your time and ask the questions we went over the other day.”

He nodded. “And if I see or hear anything that sounds suspicious to call you.”

“Right. Meanwhile, I’m going to go bug the coroner’s office to see what they have for me and check back with the police one more time.”

“Do you want me to meet you back here when I’m done,” Mike asked as he rose to his feet.

“Depends,” he responded. “Before five I should be here. Any time after that I’ll be home with my son.”

Mike’s head shook slightly as he stared at him in surprise. “I’m sorry, did you just say, ‘your son?’”

“Yup,” he said with a chuckle. “My little Matthew. Who’s pissed because I can’t make eggs on demand every morning.” Kyle stood, putting his suit jacket on to leave.

“Oh,” Mike still stared at him in surprise, “uh, well, ok then. I’ll hopefully see you later.”

“Good luck,” Kyle patted him on the back as he made his way out of the office. He smirked a little to himself as he walked towards the elevator. He hoped the knowledge of him having a son would dissuade the younger man from any ideas of their relationship going as far as he might imagine.

He didn’t waste any time getting to the police station to check in on Detective Harris and see if he had more to report. Privately, he admitted to himself that he wasn’t looking forward to any of this. It was looking like an almost impossible task to figure out the motive much less put together a list of suspects. And he also had to admit that his mind was fully focused on his work. A part of him wished he was back home with his family.

He walked into the station, showing his ID to the duty officer to get buzzed in and headed towards the back of the station. He had been here before a couple times and knew some of the staff but not all of them. He spotted Harris at a desk in the corner and strode past the others. “Detective, anything new to report?”

Harris looked up at him as he reached over to pull a file out from a small stack resting on one side of his desk. “Not much more than I did a couple days ago. These things take time. Still no lead on the murder weapon. All the knives in the house were clean. Forensics is still going over what we collected. Medical examiner should be calling soon. You planning on sticking your nose in there too?” The last was said in a slight sarcastic tone.

Kyle smirked slightly at the ribbing, “sorry if I’m stepping on your toes but I wanna be a little more hands on with this.”

“Your choice,” the older detective shrugged, “just remember you don’t carry a gun so don’t go doin’ anything that you might regret.”

“I will keep that in mind, thank you.” He sat down in a chair near the detective. “What do we know about her?”

“Oh, that I got plenty for ya.” He opened up another file and laid it flat on his desk, leaning on his elbows as he read. “Theresa Mayfield. Born in Philly, studied to become a nurse, worked at UPMC for the last three years. Couple friends on the block, some at her work. Other than that, she lead a pretty quiet life according to statements from the neighbors.”

“No boyfriend, girlfriend, parents, siblings?”

“Just hold your horses there, counselor, I’m gettin’ to it,” he flipped a few pages and continued, “No known boyfriend. Parents are still alive, the poor things, one sister, lives in Columbus Ohio. She’s married, hasn’t seen her sister in about six months.” He flipped another page and muttered, “People at her work described her as kind and outgoing. She worked in the children’s ward the last eight months.”

Kyle nodded as he listened. “Parents were notified, I take it,” he asked in a subdued tone.

Harris nodded. “The place was wiped clean for all we can tell. We did get a partial print on that toilet seat but that’s gonna be a long shot.”

“I figured it would be,” he sighed, feeling despondent. “So, what do you think? Will we ever find the killer?”

Harris smirked ruefully. “Oh, we will. Proving he did it might be a little difficult though.”

“I guess it’ll be up to the coroner,” Kyle said absently.

The phone on Harris’s desk rang a moment later. “Yeah,” the detective said as he answered it. His eyes glanced over to Kyle as he said, “well, speak of the devil. Took you long enough. What’ve you got?” Kyle watched him intently, trying to discern what was being said as the detective nodded and muttered a couple times. “Yeah, I got the ADA sitting here right next to me. Sure. We’ll be on our way in a minute.” He hung up the phone and stood up, grabbing his jacket. “Well, let’s get down there.” Kyle was on his feet and waiting with some impatience for the man to get moving before the headed out of the office at a quickened pace.

It was a short trip from the station to the coroner’s office downtown. They were shown in and directed downstairs. Entering the cool basement, Kyle noted nothing much about the room had changed since his last visit down here nearly a year ago. The old white tile of the room gave silent testament to the time that had past in these walls. The number of bodies brought here for identification and examinations. “How many murders have been brought into this one room over the years,” Kyle thought to himself idly as his eyes took in the vast expanse of it all.

“Betty,” Detective Harris called out. “What’ve you got for us?”

An older woman nearing sixty suddenly came around a dark corner wearing blue scrubs and a matching cap over her hair. Slight of build and much shorter than Kyle or his associate, Betty has been with the medical examiners team for nearly three decades now. Nearing retirement, she didn’t seem nearly as old as her countenance would suggest. Betty carried herself casually with a wisdom mixed with levity that Kyle assumed must come as a requirement when working with nothing but dead bodies every day. “You got here just in time,” she smiled as she eyed the men. “Hello, Kyle. Haven’t seen you in awhile.”

He smiled politely, “yeah, well this isn’t usually my field. What did we get here just in time for?”

Betty stepped over to a nearby desk and picked up a couple pieces of paper and handed them to the two men. “Blood work just came in. It came with a surprise. And I’m betting another charge to add for the DA’s office.”

Kyle stared at the pages curiously. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“Blood work came back and showed the victim was pregnant at the time of death,” she said simply.

Kyle’s head looked up at her from the papers in his hands. “Oh, fucking great. A double-homicide now.”

“Yup. With your permission, I’d like to hold the body for another day or so to see if i can find any fetal tissue so we can run another DNA analysis.” She shrugged as she looked over to one of the refrigeration doors. “While I’m not an OBG/YN, I have had a couple kids back in my day and from the looks of her,” she paused, opening the door and pulling out the long metal slab with a body covered in a black zip-up bag, “she couldn’t have been more than eight or nine weeks along. The odds I’ll manage to find something that small is remote, but I can give it a try.”

Kyle pondered it and finally nodded. “We have to release the body at some point for her parents to claim but for now I think we can put it off for at least forty-eight hours. You got that much time to find the needle in the haystack before we have to give her up.”

She nodded in acknowledgement. “Would explain the knife wounds, though,” she remarked casually.

Kyle’s face frowned in thought before he added, “you mean, like the killer knew she was pregnant and was wanting to kill the child as well as her?”

Betty shrugged as she unzipped the bag, exposing the young woman’s face. Eyes closed with a deep, jagged hole in the middle of her neck. “You got me. Those two stab wounds in the abdomen were made after she died. That’s why there was so little blood coming out of those wounds. It looked like jelly in there when I got my first look.”

Kyle grimaced in disgust, trying to avoid the mental image. “Any other forensic reports on this yet?”

She shook her head. “Those’ll be awhile. Just got the blood workup and that’s it.”

He nodded absently but his face made his disappointment known to them both. “Not much you can do to rush these things, Howard,” the detective said trying to lessen his disappointment.

“Well, in the meantime, I can start getting subpoenas for her phone and bank records,” he muttered. “See if there’s any hints there.”

The remainder of the day was slow and uneventful. Kyle started working with Mike to draw up the subpoena for the victims phone and bank records since it was his first time. Mike reported that there were some co-workers he didn’t meet at the hospital so Kyle advised to let the detectives handle those and pass on any notes he took from the day to him. Kyle finally called it a day around five and told Mike to do the same.

After picking up Matt from daycare he returned home to clean up and get dinner started. The evening went without incident though Matt was a little uncooperative at bedtime. He had gotten used to his grandfather’s more lax attitude towards bedtimes for children and the sudden insistence that he go to sleep at the same time he used to threatened to spark a tantrum. Kyle headed it off by reading to him from one of the books his father used to read to him when he was a child. He wasn’t through the first book before Matt had fallen asleep. Relieved, he silently slipped out of the room and headed back downstairs for some quiet time of his own before bed.

Kyle sat there quietly on the couch watching TV when he heard his phone ring near him. He glanced over to see who would be calling him so late in the evening. As he lifted to phone to read the screen he saw the display showing the name of the caller. Jacob. His hand seemed to move faster than usual as he answered it. “Hey.” A small smile crept onto his face and into his voice.

“Hi,” the voice was a little low but pleasant. “How are things going?”

“It’s going okay. Is everything there alright?”

“Oh… yeah,” Jacob sounded as if he was a little unsure of himself. “I… Ok, well, fuck. I’m calling because I just wanted to, not because I wanted anything.”

“You make it sound like a crime,” he laughed softly. “You called too late if you wanted to talk to Matt before bed, though.”

“I didn’t call to talk to Matt. I called because I wanted to talk to you.”

“Missed me already,” he asked with a little sarcasm in his voice, “here I thought you were glad to be rid of me so you can work in peace.”

“Yes,” he replied, his smile evident in his voice. “Besides, we got interrupted the other night when we were talking. Seemed weird that we didn’t…”

“Oh,” he blushed slightly suddenly remembering, “uh, yeah. I’m… I’m not entirely sure where that was going.”

“Seemed pretty clear to me where it was going,” Jacob quipped.

Kyle chuckled, feeling a little foolish. “Ok. Yeah. I guess so. I mean, I kind of wanted to. Well, I really wanted to. But, it just seemed so…”

“...rushed?” Jacob supplied.

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t have stopped it if we hadn’t been interrupted. But, thinking on it now, it just didn’t seem like it was the right time yet.”

“I think you’re right. Maybe. I kind of wish you were still here.”

“Only kind of,” he asked with a grin.

“Ok, yeah,” he said with a mock-exasperated tone, “I wish you were here. I don’t want things left unsaid between us anymore is all.”

Kyle sat up a little on the couch, his smile still fixed in place. “Well, when I’m there next weekend we can talk more. Or we can pick up where we left off.”

There was a hesitant silence on the line for a moment before Jacob responded in that gentle voice Kyle could remember from so long ago. “I know we both don’t like talking about this… But I think we should.”

“Talking about what,” Kyle asked.

“What happened between me and your dad. And what caused it.”

Kyle started to feel a little uncomfortable. “We… we don’t have to…”

“I think we should,” he said with quiet confidence. “I need to understand what you went through. And I’m sure you probably have questions of your own.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Kyle…” his voice softened slightly, “It’s important to me that we end it here and now. I love you. I’ve always loved you. You asked me if I missed you earlier and my first response was going to be, ‘I’ve been missing you for thirteen years.’ I want to understand what happened to you that night.”

Kyle was silent for a moment before he answered hesitantly. “I… I guess you could say I kind of lost my mind. I just… felt I lost everything. I loved you so much and I failed to be a good boyfriend for you and me being away for so long… I dunno. I went nuts. And I saw no way to fix things and I didn’t, I couldn’t look at you and Dad again thinking you had found love with him instead of with me.”

“Ok,” Jacob responded. “I’m not going to patronize you and tell you I understand how you felt because I can’t. What I can say is that while I don’t remember what happened exactly because of my condition, I do know that I loved you then just like I loved you when we were in high school together and how I love you now. That’s never changed and it never will.”

Kyle smiled a little hearing that. “Thank you. I don’t know exactly how bad it gets for me. I probably need to get help at some point.”

“I’d agree,” Jacob said. “You know if you’re scared to get help, there’s a bunch of people here who love you and will be with you through whatever you have to deal with.” He chuckled a little and added, “just like they surrounded me and made me realize how bad I’d gotten.”

“What turned you around?”

“Andy, Brian, Dad and Troy.” He was quiet for a second before he continued. “They showed me what I looked like and I realized I’d become my dad. And at some point, I was going to hurt someone I loved if I didn’t end it. By the way, you know I totalled the Ranger, right?”

“Is that what happened?” Kyle was a little surprised. “What did you do?”

“I totalled it here in town on my way home from the bar one night. Hit a lamp post and that was that. Dad was upset but glad I only had a couple scrapes. I was more upset about it than he was.”

“Why?”

“Because of us. All the memories we had together in that truck.”

He heard a coy smile in Jacob’s voice and it didn’t take much to guess what he was thinking about. “Well… there’s no use complaining about it. I think maybe we can make new memories together at some point. So, how come you can’t control your drinking? I mean, you haven’t had one drink in nearly three years?”

Jacob laughed softly. “It’s not a matter of self-control, Kyle. It’s a disease. And I never want a drink. I want twenty drinks. I want to drink everything there is in the house and then go look for more. It’s a compulsion because of the way it makes me feel. And it’s impossible to stop once it gets started. So, I don’t drink. I find other things to do instead.”

“So, if you had one drink right now, what would happen?”

“I dunno,” he said with a sigh. “A nightmare unleashed. It scares me to think that one sip from a bottle of whiskey could undo years of what I’ve accomplished. And I would hurt so many other people… That’s what keeps me from doing it. I don’t have a drink because I don’t want to see the disappointment on Dad’s face. Or Brian’s or Andy’s. And, swear to God, if it was you, it would kill me inside. The guy’s wouldn’t be able to leave the kids in my care anymore because there’s no guarantee that I wouldn’t be drunk while taking care of them. And Matt? God forbid, Kyle. I never want to put you through that. And in a way I did put you through that and I’ll never do it again. You’re too important to me to throw away because I can’t control my disease.”

Kyle heard what he said and it affected him deeper than he thought it would. His eyes stared at the wall blankly as he thought about Jacob. Not the Jacob he saw just days before but the one he first met. The quiet, sullen, dark haired boy whose eyes always seemed to be pulling him in. The boy he didn’t give up on when he seemed unwilling to talk or would sometimes be hard to reach but also had the best laugh he ever heard. In his mind’s eye he can see the teenager still sitting next to him under an apple tree, watching the sunset and talking. He can still remember what it felt like to dance with him under that tree in their tuxedos. Looking back, those were the happiest days of his life. He knew he loved Jacob in ways he couldn’t describe or even understand. And he could have it all again if they really wanted it.

“Are you still there?” Jacob’s concerned voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I’m still here.”

“Ok,” the voice registered a sense of disappointment.

“Jacob,” he could feel his heart swell in his chest as his voice dropped to a whisper to prevent the tears that suddenly sprang to his eyes from falling. “Would it be ok if…”

“Are you ok?” Jacob’s genuine concern was heartfelt and it caused a few tears to escape and run down his face.

His voice took on an almost silent plea. “... could we go for a walk? Next time I’m there?”

“All you ever need to do was ask,” he responded softly. “I haven’t been there in a while, though. Might take awhile to find it.”

“Oh, I know exactly where it is,” he smiled as he wiped the tear from his face.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. First chance we get,” Jacob said with a confident tone.

“Sounds like a date to me,” Kyle snickered a little.

“Sounds like it.” Jacob cleared his throat and then muttered quietly, “I feel bad for yelling at you the other night. I realize it was a mistake and I know I hurt your feelings even though you stood there and took it. I should have found a better way to say it.”

“Does that mean you’re done being angry with me,” he asked with a chuckle.

“Oh, hell no,” Jacob said, “I’m sure there’s gonna be things you’ll do in the future that will piss me off.”

Kyle laughed softly, “Ok, yeah, I probably will.”

“I just promise I won’t fly off the handle like I did last time.”

“I promise I won’t go out of my way to piss you off.”

“Ok. You should get to bed.” Kyle could hear movement on the other end of the phone. “I should to. I have a ton of work tomorrow with the pickers starting this week.”

“Where are you right now,” he asked Jacob curiously.

“I’m in bed,” Jacob muttered. “Lights are out now.”

“Ok. I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Kyle.” The phone call ended, Kyle looked around the room before shutting everything off and heading up to bed. As he lay there, thinking about Jacob, he wondered if he’ll get to sleep next to him again.

****

“You gotta be kidding me with this.” Kyle was sitting at his desk with a sheet of paper in his hands, looking up at Detective Harris’ placid face. He had already been walked through the forensic report before moving onto the bank records and finally to the phone records he had in his hand. He had waited all week long for word on the case and now, with two hours left in his day before he leaves to go home to his family for the Labor Day weekend, everything he thought about this case was tossed out the window.

“It’s nothing conclusive yet,” the detective said gruffly with a pronounced frown on his face. “But that’s our main suspect. Still haven’t found the murder weapon yet. He either ditched it or he’s still got it.”

“We still haven’t gone through all the text messages yet,” Mike interjected, sitting next to the detective. “That’ll take awhile to correlate and figure out if there’s any clues there.”

“But,” the detective pointed a finger at the young intern, “you can’t deny the odd coincidence that his calls and texts all stopped an hour or so before she was killed. Hasn’t called or texted her since.”

“Well, if they were as close as you claim, he’d know from the news or friends or something. I don’t suppose there’s anyone else that could be considered a suspect,” Kyle asked in a flat tone, already guessing the answer.

Harris shook his head as he explained, “all other potential suspects were ruled out.”

Kyle let out a heavy sigh, looking at the detective’s face for a moment to gauge his attitude. He could tell Harris wasn’t exactly thrilled with the results of his investigation but he was confident in his findings. Cursing silently to himself, Kyle picked up his office phone and punched a few buttons before waiting for a response. “Hey, it’s me,” he muttered to the person on the other end. “I need Jeff in my office right away. Tell him we have a suspect in our murder case. Yeah. Thanks.” He hung up the phone and sighed again. “Well, gentlemen. This will be a hell of a case if we’re right.”

“What about the DNA testing,” Mike asked, “we still haven’t gotten that back.”

“And we won’t for a couple months,” Kyle remarked. “Jeff could see about rushing it but those things take time. There’s hundreds of DNA tests in line ahead of ours and they all take time to do.”

“So, we’re gonna charge a state police officer with first degree murder,” Mike asked with a little awe in his voice, “without any solid evidence.”

“Hell, no.” Kyle said with a smirk. “I wanna make it a rock solid case before I file charges. I’m just wondering how the press is going to react when I do file charges.”

“It’ll turn into a feeding frenzy,” Harris said with a sardonic grin. “You’ll be on the front page again before you know it.”

“I wasn’t on the front page of anything,” Kyle said dismissively.

There was a knock at the door before it was opened as the district attorney stepped inside and asked, “good news I take it?”

“I’ll let you decide on that,” Kyle said. “Close the door. Mike, give your seat up to Jeff.”

“Uh oh,” Jeff said with a small smirk on his face as he moved to sit down. “Sounds like bad news now.”

“Detective Harris spent the last week running down leads and going over the records we got from the victims phone.” Kyle was working himself up to saying what he was dreading to say. “Going over all the evidence we have right now, while still waiting for other evidence like DNA and a few more interviews, we feel we have a suspect. His name is Adam Gordon.” Kyle watched Jeff’s facial expressions carefully.

Jeff frowned slightly in confusion. “Am I supposed to know that name?”

“No,” Kyle continued, “but the sticking point here is that he’s a state trooper.”

Jeff leaned back in his seat as his eyes widened slightly. “Well, hell.” Jeff turned to the detective and asked, “what do you have that makes him your primary suspect?”

“Phone records show dozens of calls between them every week,” Harris started explaining, “all times of the day and night. From a few sources at the hospital she worked at, we’ve deduced she was in a relationship with someone but she was very cagey about who it was and wouldn’t give a name about who it was she was seeing. A month ago, she was acting strangely and calling in sick a lot. Wouldn’t say much about that either. I guess she wasn’t the type of person to be so private since the people I talked to made it sound out of the ordinary.

“About that time, one of the nurses she worked with overheard her on her phone having a disagreement with whoever she was on the phone with. According to them it happened a couple of times. The last night she was at work she said something about how she was going to have a serious discussion with ‘someone’ and get things settled.” Harris paused. “I asked for approximate times for some of those calls and they line up with calls made to Adam Gordon. His last call made to her phone was about an hour before her death.”

Jeff frowned thoughtfully as he muttered, “that’s barely a case at this point. Definitely not something you want to do to a fellow cop. What’s the motive?”

“It’s possible she was pregnant by him and he objected for some reason,” Kyle offered as an explanation. “We don’t know much about him at this point.”

“Well, it’s simple to find out,” Jeff said as he stood up. “Keep digging. But don’t hang your hat on this suspect until you have more proof. And don’t breathe a word of it outside of this room. Last thing I need is a press hungry for a juicy story with no substantial proof.” He headed to the door to Kyle’s office and said as he opened it, “go on home for the day. Come back fresh after the holiday and see if anything pops up.”

After Jeff was gone, Kyle looked at the two other men and said, “motive, means and opportunity. We need to get those questions answered before we do anything else.” He stood up and started putting the information in front of him into a file which was destined for his briefcase. “Mike, go on home. Don’t talk about this with anyone. Harris, next week you might wanna start sniffing around to check on Gordon’s duty schedule for the last few months. Do so quietly, please. In the meantime, we’ll delve more into cell phone towers, text messages and see if we can put a pattern together.” He closed up his case as the two men started heading for the exit. “Oh, one more thing,” Kyle said having a sudden thought, “over the weekend, figure out Gordon’s address and plot a couple of the fastest routes between his place and the victims house. Canvas the routes and see if maybe we can get lucky enough to find the murder weapon.”

Harris nodded and waved as he walked out with Mike not far behind him. Kyle looked at his briefcase ominously. He knew he should take it with him and go over her text messages but he wished he could focus more on spending time with Jacob and the others. Just when he felt like he would leave without it, he grumbled and grabbed the case and then headed out of the building, on his way to get his son and head back home again.

****

David had had a long day by the time the sun had started to set. The week before Labor Day tended to be a busy day in the orchard and pretty profitable. By his tally, nearly two hundred people had shown up to go picking apples in his fields. At a decent price he usually got a good crowd but today had been busier than he could remember in the last few years. Jacob had been indispensable keeping Blake occupied and helping to maintain order with everyone out picking. Of course, the people who came to buy and pick one single basket only scratched the surface of what was still on the trees, it was something he honestly enjoyed doing and kept him in touch with the community.

He was a little surprised to discover that his ordeal in the hospital had been the topic of some area gossip. Nearly everyone he ran into had asked how he was doing which just gave him a reason to stop and chat in his casual friendly manner and boast about his family and his grandson as grandfathers are want to do. Everyone seemed to have a kind word to say or delighted in the pictures he had on his phone of his grandson. One of his greatest thrills was towards the end of the day when he suddenly saw a streak of flaming red hair run past him towards the parking area off of the side road. He started to give chase wondering what had possessed the boy when he noticed Brian standing at the edge of the fields leaning down to grab the child and pull him into a hug. David’s cheerful smile softened slightly watching their little reunion before stepping up them. “Andy didn’t tell me you were coming to pick him up today,” he said as he stood next to them.

Brian held Blake on his hip as he regarded David curiously. “I hope you don’t mind,” he replied.

“Not at all,” grinning as he leaned in to give the little red headed boy a peck on the cheek. “He seems to have grown on you.”

Brian’s gave David a sardonic smile as he muttered, “shut up.”

David laughed heartily and gave Brian a fatherly kiss on the forehead. “You’ll make a great role model for sure.”

“Kyle’s not here yet,” Brian asked to get him off the topic. The boys had endeared themselves to him and he did find a certain amount of happiness when he would see Blake’s expressive face light up after a long day at work. All that aside, he still wasn’t sure he was up to the task of fatherhood Fate seemed to have laid out for him.

“He said he was on his way a couple hours ago. So he should be here soon.” They spoke a little more together before Brian had to leave to get home to Andy. After that, he and Jacob worked to get the small community entrance closed up for the evening before they made their way back to the house. Now, he sat in his chair on the porch, noting the nearly imperceptible chill that was started to creep into the night air. He told himself he was just sitting there enjoying the sunset but in reality he was waiting for his son to arrive. By his estimate he should have been home over an hour ago. His impulse was to call him and keep calling but he forced himself to remain calm. Any number of things could have happened to delay him. He knew from experience the trials of getting a three year old organized, fed and out the door. Being a single parent could get messy when you least expect it.

As the last sliver of the sun dipped behind the mountains David heard a car approaching the house. His lips lifted into a smile as the sound came closer and closer. A flash of headlights alerted him to the car coming up the driveway to the house as he lifted himself up from his seat on the porch. He watched as Kyle’s car pulled over the rise and parked close to the house before he stepped over to the ramp that lead down the porch. His heart felt a sense of relief and joy to once again see his baby boy home. David suspected someone else would be just as happy to see him safely returned as well.

Kyle shut the engine off and slowly climbed out of the car, smiling as his dad approached. “Sorry I’m late. Someone…” his gaze going to the backseat of the car and back with a meaningful look, “wasn’t being very cooperative.”

David chuckled as he embraced his son. “I’m shocked to find out that a small boy can be a pain in the neck to get moving,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Kyle snickered and returned the hug before breaking away and opening the back door to get Matt out of his carseat. As soon as he was free, the boy scrambled over his dad and reached out for David who expertly scooped him up and into his loving arms. “There’s my baby boy,” he said in a warm voice and warmer smile.

“I thought I was your baby boy,” Kyle said with a slight pout.

“You’re a little old for that, don’t you think,” David chuckled. He leaned over to his giggling grandchild to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Did your daddy feed you before you left home?”

“Yes, I fed him. That’s what took so long,” Kyle said in a grumble as he started pulling bags out of the car.

“You know,” he continued, ignoring Kyle as he started to carry the grinning boy inside, “if your daddy was smart he’d just leave some of your stuff here and then he wouldn’t need to unpack the car each time he comes. I think I got some cookies for good little boys in the kitchen. Do you know any good boys?”

Kyle groaned as he heard his son’s ecstatic response. He pulled the bags out of the backseat and closed the doors before following them up to the door. The glow of the sun having already set over the hills cast a darkening light around them and Kyle noted the soft dim green glow already starting to begin to shine from the back door. Seeing it suddenly made him more eager to get inside. “Where’s Jacob,” he asked as he shut the door behind him.

“Probably upstairs cleaning up,” David remarked, though he was looking at Matt as he said it. “He worked hard today with all the people coming to get their fill of apples. Had a couple hundred folks today.”

“Sounds busy for sure,” Kyle remarked. “You didn’t overdo it did, you?” His face took on a reproachful look as he waited for his answer.

David pulled a few cookies out and put them on a plate, setting Matt up at the kitchen table to eat them. “I’m fine,” he said simply.

“Dad…” his eyes narrowed in a slight warning to his father. “What did the doctors say when you went for your check up this week?”

David shrugged as he pulled down one of the children’s cups and got the milk of the fridge. “Everything is ok.”

Kyle’s face took on a slightly more concerned expression as he took a few steps closer to his father, knowing a dodge when he hears one. “Dad,” he said in a softer voice, “seriously. What did they say?”

“My heart is mostly back to normal,” he replied as he regarded his son’s concerned look. “They said not to worry about it because these things take time. I can go back in a couple more weeks for another exam to make sure it’s back to normal. I’m not as tired as I was, I’m taking the medication they told me to and I feel fine.” He smiled through his mostly gray beard as he put a hand on his son’s head, pushing a few stray hairs back in place. “There’s nothing for you to worry about here, son. I’m going to be ok.”

Kyle got a slight sense of relief. He had a hard time believing everything his father said or rather he felt he was leaving something out but he felt it was best to leave it alone for now. “Alright,” he said with a small smirk. “I’m gonna take all this upstairs.”

“You do that. We’ll be heading into the front room for some movies before bedtime,” he said as he turned to give Matt his milk to go with the cookies.

Kyle trudged his way up the stairs and into his bedroom, setting his briefcase and bag on the bed before heading down the hall to the bedroom farthest down the hall to put Matthew’s things away. Looking around the room, he noticed it was a little plain compared to the other bedrooms. It was the smallest bedroom and usually used only if all the other rooms were occupied. The furnishings were probably the oldest in the house with the full size bed and the small dresser. He figured with it being the smallest and the farthest in the back of the house, there would be less chance of noise downstairs waking Matt up if he slept in this room instead of Brian’s or his room. He began unpacking and putting some of the clothes into the small empty dresser in the room.

“About time you showed up,” Jacob’s voice broke the silence from the doorway.

Kyle started and turned to see Jacob leaning against the doorway, his hair still damp and only a towel wrapped around his trim waist. “Jesus Christ! Scared the shit out of me!”

Jacob laughed, his blue eyes sparkling. “Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t try and grab you. Might’ve gotten punched in the face.”

Kyle looked him over, noting that Jacob looked a lot more muscular than he remembered. He hadn’t paid that much attention last time he was here but now it seemed obvious that he had been putting on more muscle than he used to when they were younger. “I doubt you would’ve felt it if I had,” he remarked. “Are you planning on being a pro bodybuilder or something?”

Jacob grinned slightly in embarrassment as he looked down at himself. “I’m just gonna go ahead and take that as a compliment.”

“Fine with me,” Kyle said. “But, I am curious what’s up with all the muscle. You looked hot enough in high school and you weren’t nearly as big as you are now.”

His grin widened as he rolled his eyes slightly. “You know how they say if you get rid of an addiction you have to get a new one? Well, working out is mine. I had a serious beer gut going on for a few years when I was getting real bad. After I sobered up, I hated how I looked and how I felt. And this is what happened.”

Kyle tilted his head slightly, thinking for a moment. “That actually makes sense. You did love working out back then too.” He shrugged and added, “if it makes you happy, then it’s a good thing. Just don’t kill yourself ok?”

“I better get dressed before Matt comes up here.” Shaking his head, Jacob turned to walk away. As he turned, Kyle noted a pale line on the right side of his chest.

“Jacob, wait.” Kyle hurried out the room as Jacob turned, keeping one hand on the towel around his waist, looking slightly amused but also impatient. “Sorry. I just noticed. Your scar.”

“Yeah, it’s still there,” he said simply, unashamed. “Not a big deal. I barely notice it myself anymore. You were there when I got it, remember?”

Kyle felt a flash of guilt sweep over him for a moment. “Yeah. I remember.”

Jacob gave him an odd look before turning again and stepping inside his bedroom and closing the door behind him. Kyle stood there for a moment in the hallway trying to understand the sense of guilt he suddenly felt. Maybe he wasn’t as good of a boyfriend to Jacob as he had wanted to be years ago. He stepped back into the bedroom and resumed unpacking Matt’s things before returning downstairs.

His father and his son were settled in on the sofa facing the screen, watching a movie as he walked in. He regarded the duo with an amused smirk before laying down on one of the other sofas. He was thankful that after all these years his father had finally purchased a flat screen TV that was big enough for the large room. He got comfortable on the sofa and remarked casually to his father, “he should be down here in a minute.”

“Good,” David replied. “Matt’s already asked about his friends. I had to explain to him that they’re not here every day but he’ll see them tomorrow probably.”

He nodded. “He got along well with the other kids then last week?”

David chuckled, “it was like you and Troy and Andy all over again. He was a little shy at first but Blake’s natural personality kicked in and he befriended him quick enough. Carter follows Blake’s lead and the two older boys just do what they want most of the time. They all get along just fine with minimal fighting.”

“Just like the old days, huh,” Kyle grinned slightly as he glanced over at his dad before returning his attention to the screen.

They heard Jacob coming down the stairs clearly and Kyle looked back to watch Matt’s reaction. He wasn’t disappointed when Jacob entered the room. Matt’s brown eyes lit up as he scrambled out of his grandfather’s lap and jumped up into Jacob’s open arms. Jacob’s smile seemed brighter and happier than Kyle could ever remember seeing it in the past. Jacob had never been one to smile a lot back when they were in school as it was, so the rare smiles that came to him were always noteworthy in his eyes. This was almost like looking at himself and Matt together as he watched Jacob hold the little boy in his arms.

“I’m so happy to see you again, sweetie,” Jacob said as he gave the little boy a tender kiss on the forehead. Kyle watched their reunion feeling a familiar warmth in his chest. He could tell that Matt had missed Jacob just as much by how his hands clutched at Jacob’s shirt. Jacob sat on the couch next to David, turning Matt around so he could lean back against his chest as they watched the movie and talked quietly together. Kyle had a sudden fanciful notion of what it would be like to see the two of them together every day.

They passed the time quietly and before he knew it Kyle could hear a little sound from from the other couch. He looked back and noticed Matt was asleep, wrapped in Jacob’s protective arms. “Jacob,” he whispered quietly, “He’s asleep. Go ahead and put him to bed.”

Jacob looked over at Kyle as if to make sure he heard him right before nodding and gently getting up to take the sleeping boy upstairs to his bedroom. David watched with an amused grin until they were out of the room. “Pretty sure they’re in love, son.”

“Well,” he smirked slightly. “I saw him first.”

David laughed softly. “Which one of them are you talking about?”

“Both,” he replied.

David’s laugh softened to a quiet snicker. “Good point.” They were both quiet for a moment before he added, “he missed you this week. Didn’t say it but I could see it.”

“He called Monday.”

“Did he?”

Kyle nodded, “later that night after you were both in bed, I think.”

“What did you guys talk about?” David leaned closer slightly.

He shrugged slightly as he said, “nothing important. Just talked.”

David nodded, seemingly satisfied. “How’s work going for you?”

Kyle made a frustrated noise in his throat as he frowned. “Stressful this week. Lots of questions and no answers just yet.”

David watched his son’s face curiously. “Things not working out like you want?”

“Just not working out very well, is all Dad,” he replied with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Things were slow all this week. Don’t believe what you see on TV, the real thing takes a lot of time. Then today… got blindsided.”

“You wanna talk about it?” David felt his instinct to care for his son rise up inside him.

“I really can’t right now,” he said in an appologetic voice. “Things are up in the air and my boss doesn’t want any information going beyond me, him and the lead detective for now.”

“Well, just remember son, I’m always here for you no matter what.” David sat back on the sofa again. The familiar words gave Kyle a sense of security that eased the frustration he felt thinking about the work he has in front of him. He wished he could hear that every day at work.

Jacob returned a few moments later. “Took me a minute to get his pajamas on but he’s fast asleep again,” he informed Kyle in a hushed voice.

Kyle nodded and smiled up at him. “Thanks.”

Jacob looked for a moment and tentatively moved to sit on the sofa with Kyle who moved his legs to allow him to settle in on the couch with him. The time passed easily between the three of them as they quietly watched the movie making occasional small talk and discussions about the next days business. After the movie was finished David stood up. “Alright boys, time for this old man to get to bed. Goodnight.” Kyle and Jacob muttered their goodnights as they both got up to get something to drink from the kitchen. David nodded with a ghost of a smirk on his face before heading upstairs to his room.

The two of them got drinks and Jacob grabbed a bag of chips before they returned to the living room, shutting off the lights in the house as they went, knowing they would be heading to bed after they were done. “One more movie,” Jacob had urged him. “We don’t get to do this often enough.”

Kyle acquiesced with a small smile, watching Jacob’s face as he was talking, privately wondering if Jacob knew how attractive he was when he was this animated. Without discussion they both settled back on the sofa together while Jacob looked up a title on Netflix they could both enjoy. They sat together, sharing their chips silently. As the movie progressed, they slowly moved closer until Kyle felt Jacob’s arm slide around his waist. The sensation brought a smile to his face. His head rested on Jacob’s shoulder as he sighed peacefully.

“Hard week,” Jacob asked in a soft mutter.

“Yeah,” he replied softly.

Jacob rubbed his hand softly along Kyle’s side before pulling him closer. “Well, you’re home now,” he said softly.

Kyle’s thoughts and emotions started to swell up inside him. His voice was barely above a whisper as he said, “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this.”

“So have I,” he whispered back. They enjoyed the quiet, intimate moment together in silence. Each of them remembering how it felt to touch each other and all the emotions that came with each touch. Each of them feeling their heart yearning for more but not feeling it was the right moment. For now, this was enough. After a few moments, Jacob said, “tomorrow, after we’re done working, would you like to go to the gym with me for a couple hours? Just the two of us?”

“Sure,” Kyle said, his eyes feeling heavy suddenly as he stifled a yawn, “should be fun.”

“When did you start your day,” he asked as he looked over at Kyle.

Kyle turned his head to meet his eyes and found that their noses were grazing each other. Looking into those ice blue eyes and being that close made forming words a challenge. All he wanted to do was to stare into Jacob’s eyes for as long as possible. “About six this morning,” he managed to say.

“You should probably go to bed then,” Jacob said softly as he stared into Kyle’s eyes. He suddenly wondered why he never told Kyle how much he liked his eyes.

“Maybe we should go to bed,” Kyle responded. When he saw Jacob’s eyebrow arch he realized what it sounded like he was suggesting and moved back a little in embarrassment. “I, ah, I meant we should probably both… go to sleep. In our beds.”

Jacob didn’t respond. Taking the remote in his hand he shut the TV off and stood up, lifting Kyle to his feet with him. He tightened his hold on him for a moment, telling himself it was to make sure Kyle didn’t fall. As they made their way out of the room, Jacob double checked to make sure the lights were all off before following Kyle up the stairs, never taking his eyes off of him. As they reached the top of the stairs, Jacob stopped next to Kyle as they got to his bedroom door. Without thinking, he stepped up to him so that their faces were as close as they were on the couch. “Well…” he wanted to say something. He wanted to tell him what him being back here meant to him. How much he wanted Kyle to be a part of his life again and how much he loved getting to hold Matt in his arms and put him to bed. Tell him all the years they spent apart didn’t mean anything to him anymore. It was all behind them now and what mattered was their future. A future they could make together if they wanted. But he wasn’t ready yet. He wanted to do this right and make the moment special. He gave Kyle a small smile and said, “goodnight,” before stepping around him and going next door into his own bedroom.

Kyle stood there for a moment, wishing he hadn’t gotten ahead of himself. He was tired and wasn’t thinking about what he was saying. Now he wished he had just said, “yes, I want to sleep next to you tonight like we used to.” But he knew it wasn’t the right moment yet. He stepped inside his room and shut the door behind him. Not bothering to turn on any lights, he stripped down and got into bed. Sighing for a moment, he rolled onto his side, staring at the wall separating him and Jacob. As he drifted off he wondered what it would take to knock down that wall.