Page 101 of Ancient Obsession

A couple of days after Robin’s visit, Oliver let Dave know Robin had passed all the courses they’d signed up for. After that he had sighed and shrugged.

“Maybe next year.”

He’d dropped his courses the week after the attack, taking an incomplete for both. Dave hoped he’d take more classes in the near future but tabled that discussion for another time.

After the third week, Dave decided to act. He told Oliver he was going to run errands and received a distracted smile and a chaste kiss in response. Driving to the Critter Catchers office, he walked in and said to his brother, “I need your help.”

Cody stood slowly and held himself a bit stiffly, but there was no hesitation when he said, “You got it.”

Dave drove them out to Parson’s Pond, and they walked the trail that circled the water. Cody flinched every few steps, and Dave frowned.

“You sure you’re healing all right?”

“Oh, yeah. I got a good report from Zenona this week. The scratches are healing, but they feel tight, you know? They pull sometimes.” Cody grinned. “Don’t worry about me, little brother. I bounce back pretty well.”

They came to a spot almost opposite of where Dave had parked and stopped. Trees framed a stretch of soft grass. Sunlight turned the still water to fire. Birds flitted between trees and called to each other.

“This is a good spot,” Cody said. “What do you think?”

“Yeah.” Dave nodded. “I like it.”

A week after his visit to the pond, Dave packed a picnic lunch of deli meats, cheeses, olives, pickles, and bread. He included a bottle of wine, a couple of plastic cups, and two big bottles of water. At the last minute, he remembered to add the corkscrew.

He found Oliver sitting on their bed with his back against the headboard, knees up to support a notebook he was writing in. Oliver smiled when he saw him, and a cool, quiet sense of relief worked its way through Dave, loosening his muscles and making it easier to breathe

“May I interrupt?”

“Of course.”

He leaned in the doorway. “Feel like getting out of the apartment today?”

Oliver closed the notebook and set it on his nightstand. He didn’t even hesitate before saying, “I’d love that.”

While Oliver was in the bathroom, Dave snuck the picnic basket down to the car. He returned to the apartment to find Oliver putting on his shoes. When he was ready, he gave Dave a quick kiss and said, “Let’s go.”

During the drive, they talked about friends and updates from Dave’s family—Roman was still complaining and vowing to never set foot in Monster Town again. Brady had been checking in more often, and wanting to know more about the things they’d dealt with in the past. Grant suggested a variety of cannabis strains and offered to drive them out.

Dave was able to draw deeper breaths than he’d managed in weeks.

He suggested they drive around Parson’s Pond to enjoy the late spring weather, and Oliver agreed. The windows were down, and Oliver rested his elbow on the frame, the wind ruffling his sandy red hair. Sunlight made the whiskers of his scruffy beard shimmer like copper thread.

Dave took the curves slowly, feeling the tires slip a bit in the sandy tracks. When he reached the spot he and Cody had picked out, he pulled off onto the grass and cut the engine. The sun was high and bright, a light breeze playing through the leaves.

They got out and Dave removed the picnic basket from the trunk.

Oliver watched with one eyebrow raised and a corner of his mouth lifted. “I think you may have planned this.”

“What? No. I just remembered I had this in the car, so I figured we may as well use it.”

“Uh huh.”

They chose a spot in the shade of a tall tree and spread the blanket. Oliver watched as Dave pulled each dish from the basket. When he brought out the wine and corkscrew, Oliver took both and set about opening the bottle.

They didn’t talk much at first, but Dave was okay with that. It was nice to be sitting outside together and enjoying the day. Eventually though, Oliver started talking.

“I know I’ve been distant lately.” Oliver glanced at him, but Dave simply nodded, allowing him to have the space he needed to go on when he felt ready.

“It’s nothing you did or didn’t do. I don’t want you to ever think that. I needed to process what happened, kind of one step at a time. Those awful murders, the questioning and arrest, all the accusations from Dr. Brennan and Dylan.” He blew out a breath and pulled a few blades of grass. “It was a lot. Not to mention the disaster of our wedding day.”