Sunday ...

It was a beautiful fall day, and I took Keith to the park for a walk. Keith seemed content to let me take his handand lead him in whichever direction I decided. I headed for the lake because I knew Keith liked to feed theducks there, though he would rather die than admit it. We were standing on the side of the lake, throwing in the crumbs we had brought and admiring the view, whenI felt Keith stiffen. I looked at him, and then followed his gaze. Coming towards us was John with a younger manin tow, whom I recognized vaguely as Danny. Keith turned away in a panic, but I tightened my grip on his hand and pulled him with me as I started forward tomeet them. As we neared, Keith hung back, trying to hide behind me. I looked down at him, amused at hisefforts. ‘You might as well get it over with, darling,’ I murmured softly, while he glared at me. I winced as I felt Keith’s sharp fingers pinch me on my side. ‘Ow’ I said, playfully slapping his hand away, then catching it again, and drawing his hand through mine so hehad no choice but to stand next to me. I saw Keith flush as the other couple reached us, then he turned an even brighter red and stood rooted to theground with his mouth open. I looked over and saw to my surprise that Danny too was blushing furiously andstaring at Keith. John and I raised our eyebrows and waited. ‘D…Daniel?’ Keith stammered. Danny suddenly let go of John’s hands and stood awkwardly alone, a sheepish, embarrassed smile on his face. ‘Keith Fenton?’ ‘You two know one another?’ John asked, starting to break into a chuckle. The two young men looked anything but pleased at John’s humor, and Danny all but squirmed when John triedto put his arm around his shoulders. ‘Don’t be silly,’ John admonished sternly, effectively quelling Danny’s efforts to disengage himself. I felt Keith stir and tapped his arm warningly. ‘So how do you know one another?’ I asked. ‘School,’ Keith mumbled, eyes darting everywhere. ‘Yeah. College too. Umm … So how have you been, Keith?’ Danny asked shyly, and blushed as John pulledhim closer. ‘OK. Not bad.’ Keith was trying hard not to look at them. John burst into a laugh, apparently enjoying our partners’ discomfort. ‘Well then, looks like there is no need forintroductions after all. But we should still get together, drinks perhaps. What do you say, Dusty?’ ‘Absolutely!’ I said enthusiastically, earning myself a fiercer pinch from Keith. I smiled down at him warmly. ‘But first, Keith has something to say to you, John.’ I was sure I heard Keith gag as I pushed him slightly forward. He ducked his head, then looked directly atJohn and painfully stammered out a disjointed apology. I nodded at Keith as he strayed back to my side andI quickly slid my arm around his waist. To my surprise, he leaned hard against me, oblivious to Danny’spresence. I gave him a gentle squeeze. John looked at Keith severely for a moment then his face relaxed and he smiled. ‘Well, I guess I do understand. Dusty has already called me about this yesterday. It would have been so much easier for everyone if you hadsaid something right at the start.’ Keith flushed and mumbled something unintelligible. John continued smoothly. ‘But we won’t say anymore about it, as I’m sure Dusty has said enough for all of us!’He winked wickedly at me. ‘Sorry,’ Keith muttered again, looking at his shoes. ‘So,’ I said cheerfully, ‘I think drinks are in order, and it’s on us!’ ‘Great idea! I’ll take you up on that.’ John said, wrapping both arms around Danny, obviously enjoyingmaking him blush again. ‘Let’s go to Piper’s, shall we?’ Piper’s was a favorite haunt of ours and we met there for happy hours once or twice a month, or sometimes alate supper. We turned and strolled towards the car park; John made a comment, and I replied. Before werealized it, we had shifted positions and John was alongside me and the two young men had fallen behind us. Thankfully, by the time we arrived at the car park, Keith and Danny had shaken off their initial awkwardnessand were chatting much more easily with one another. We shared a cozy evening in that hip joint, and ended up ordering dinner there as well. The crowd was decent,and our brats were quite happy to fill one another in on their missing years, while allowing John and me to indulgein a little catching up of our own. By the time we got up to leave, Keith’s eyes were animated and he had a veryattractive flush in his cheeks. And for once, he had not badgered me to leave early from a night out with John. I took that as an encouraging sign. Without any prompting from me, Keith held out his hand to John once we had exited the building and said,‘John, I really am sorry about what happened on Friday. I didn’t mean to put you and Paul to so much trouble.I’ll call Paul tomorrow to apologize as well.’ I glowed with pride. That was the Keith John never saw, the one I knew and loved. ‘Well, well,’ John rumbled, looking slightly surprised too. ‘Thank you, Keith. I appreciate the gesture.’ Danny, who was huddled against John, no longer shy, suddenly said. ‘Hey, I just remembered my division isexpanding and is looking for an extra buyer. Would you be interested, Keith?’