So Jase stopped and they wound up spending another hour and a half at the flea market. When they were ready to leave, Jase put the last of the six massive Cinderella pumpkins Luis had purchased into the Tahoe, along with a full case of homemade dingleberry jam Luis couldn't resist. It was really raspberry rhubarb jam, but it had been made and packaged by a small Pennsylvania Dutch company called “Dingleberry's.” He also bought two antique wrought-iron tables for the patio at Cider Mill Farm, and a large painting of the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside for Jase's office in New York.
When Jase closed the back door, he sent Luis a glance and said, “Maybe we should have brought along an extra trailer to cart all this shit.”
Luis just smiled at Jase and rubbed his stomach. He hadn't had this much fun since he'd been in Alaska the previous summer. Then he climbed into the car and promised he wouldn't stop anywhere else until they reached the cabin.
But how could Luis resist not stopping in a town called Intercourse? When they stopped at a red light and Luis saw the sign that read, “Intercourse,” with an arrow pointing to the right, he begged Jase to let him check it out. Jase must have given up, or else he was curious about Intercourse, too. So Jase stopped there and Luis shopped for a while. Luis bought another quilt for Isabelle: a Christmas gift. After that, Jase stopped so Luis could browse through the stores in another town called Blue Ball. Jase didn't complain once when Luis asked if they could check out a mushroom farm, and he didn't say a word when Luis asked if they could pass through a town called Bird in Hand to see what kind of shops they had. At this point, Jase seemed to be having almost as much fun as Luis. At a little shop in the town of Bird in Hand, Jase spotted a shelf filled with wet bottom shoo-fly pies and smiled. Then he leaned into Luis's ear and whispered, “Let's get another shoo-fly pie. And tonight I'll wet your bottom with it in the cabin.”
Luis's eyebrows went up, and he almost choked. There were people all around them in the shop. He glanced at the old woman with blue hair standing on his other side and smiled, hoping she hadn't heard what Jase had just said. Luis patted Jase on the arm and said, “I have other plans. Let's go.” He wasn't lying, either. Luis had something extra kinky planned for Jase that night that didn't include a wet bottom shoo-fly. But it was just as much fun, and he didn't want to spoil the surprise.
After all the stops they'd made, when the back of the Tahoe was filled with treasures, they didn't reach the cabin until well after seven o'clock that night. Part of the reason it took so long was because they had trouble following the directions Jase's employee had given them. And it had begun to rain, which didn't help matters. They kept circling a creepy little town that looked as if it only had one street lined with deserted old Victorian homes. Most of the shops in town had closed down years ago. The only building that looked halfway decent was a white church with a tall pointy steeple and a fenced-in graveyard. At least Luis noticed a small cafe not far from the town square, where all the lights were on and a sign read, “Open until Midnight.”
“When we're settled in the cabin, maybe we should go back to that cafe for something to eat,” Luis said. They'd just passed the cafe for the fourth time, still looking for the turn-off that would lead them to the back road where the cabin was located.
“Didn't you bring food?” Jase asked.
Luis shrugged. Jase always expected him to think of these things. He'd been planning Thanksgiving dinner all week. He hadn't had time to think about the trip. “I figured we'd just eat out, or stop and buy a few things. I had no idea it was going to be this remote.” There wasn't a shop, grocery store, or gas station for miles, and all the roads were so narrow and dark Luis clutched his seat belt and sat with his knees pressed together.
“Neither did I,” Jase said. “At least there's a cafe in town. I don't feel like driving all the way back to Lancaster to eat. I feel as if I've been sitting in this car for two weeks instead of a day.”
Luis didn't want Jase to get stressed, so he removed his seat belt. Then he leaned over the seat, put his arm around his shoulders, and kissed him on the cheek. “We'll have dinner at the cafe in town tonight, then go out and stock up tomorrow so we have enough food in the cabin.” He caressed Jase's face, and ran his hand down Jase's shirt and rubbed his chest. “Besides, we're not here for the food. We're here for the love and the romance. I told you I have a nice surprise for you tonight.”
Before Jase had a chance to reply, two young men walked into the street and Jase hit the brakes so hard, Luis had to hold Jase's shoulders so he wouldn't fall over. Good thing Jase hadn't been driving fast. When Luis looked through the windshield, the two young guys were staring at the way Luis had his arms around Jase. The guys both had long hair and sharp features. The one on the left wore a heavy plaid shirt and the one on the right wore a black leather biker jacket. They watched Luis remove his arms from Jase's shoulders and slide back into the passenger seat slowly. The guy on the right poked the guy on the left with his elbow and they both started laughing.
“Just make believe nothing's wrong,” Jase said. “These are good old boys, and they aren't used to seeing men hug and kiss each other. Don't say anything. Let me do all the talking. I know how to deal with guys like this.”
Luis's heart was racing and his mouth felt dry. He sure hoped Jase knew how to handle guys like this, because he didn't. Jase could be cocksure and self-confident in ways Luis couldn't. Luis would have hit the gas and sped away. He hadn't felt this way since he'd been followed down Christopher Street in the Village one night by a gang of guys who tried to mug him. He'd been lucky that night. He'd hailed a cab on Seventh Avenue South and gotten away just in time. But he felt trapped now, and they were in the middle of nowhere, without a cab in sight.
The guy on the left in the plaid shirt walked up the driver's side, and the guy on the right in the leather jacket went to Luis's side.
“I'm going to lower the windows and ask them for directions,” Jase said. “I'm sure they're local.”
Luis had to admit they weren't bad looking, in a scruffy, unkempt way. But he didn't mention this to Jase. Luis doubted they'd showered or shaved in at least a week. He wanted to climb back up on Jase's lap where he felt safe.
When Jase's window was down, the guy in the plaid said, “Sorry about walking out in the street that way. We don't get many cars through here at night. We should have looked.” He spoke with a country accent, but fast.
Jase smiled. “You guys okay?”