The Last Handful of Clover - Book 1: The Hereafter

1.22 Canceling Out

January 2016

With the porch lights off, the water in the hot tub looked like fresh espresso. The inky water was a stark contrast against the snow that had piled up right to the edge. The steam rose into the frosty night air, catching the scant light of the stars and the slanted rays of the upstairs window.

The ski town of Park City was just thirty miles from Salt Lake. It was a former mining town that had blossomed into a skier's paradise in the 70s, with insane property values and what Richard thought of as the very worst of the rich and privileged classes. But as fate had chosen, it was in a rustic wooden hot tub in Park City that Keith Woo and Richard Pratt fell in love.

It all started with an invitation from Cindy Morgan, the bibliographer at the University library who specialized in classics and linguistics. Over the years, she and Richard had worked together on more classes than he could count, and right from the beginning, they had hit it off as friends. Besides the shared professional interests, they were also politically and culturally aligned. Cindy called herself "a big ol' dyke," and shared Richard's passion in the same progressive causes; from the wealth divide in the country to the rampant racism that was invading every aspect of American life. They were just as likely to talk about how the rich were robbing the country blind as they were about how and when the Romance languages took on their special character.

Cindy was young, fresh faced, and enthusiastic about everything from academics to politics. She was blessed with an endless supply of both passion and energy. In contrast, her girlfriend Kate was a dozen years her senior, and much more sedate—working as (of all things) an auto mechanic. And she didn't share any of her girlfriend's passion for either academics or politics.

To Richard, Cindy and Kate were a fascinating couple. He was especially interested in their age difference and asked them about it often. They insisted they didn't think much about it, and there was certainly no imbalance of power in their relationship. Kate was no "sugar momma," since she made less money than Cindy. But there was still an unspoken dynamic between them that Richard found fascinating. Kate may not have been a "sugar momma," but there was still definitely a "mommy" vibe going on between them. It was a dynamic that Richard had seen in the gay community very often, and especially among his circle. "Daddy bear and cub" was a pretty common relationship configuration among his friends.

Richard's interest was more than academic.

His own tendency to fall in love with young men had caused him no end of both joy and heartache. But ever since Justin, he'd been afraid to let himself get close to another young man, the way he had back then. The hurt was still too fresh, even a dozen years later.

Richard had been invited to parties at Cindy and Kate's house several times, but he was especially surprised when Cindy told him, over a Christmas break, that she had won a condo weekend rental in Park City, as part of a charity raffle the library had been running. They told him it was a three-bedroom condo, and he should come up and spend the week skiing with them. "It's three bedrooms!" Cindy said with glee. "I have another friend from the library that is going to come with us, but you can have a bedroom to yourself. You can even bring a date!"

So Richard had gone that weekend and had even found a date. He was a guy named Seth who he'd met at the LGSU, the gay faculty and student group on campus. Seth was a graduate student in Chemistry, and there had certainly been no lack of chemistry in their sex, which they'd been having off and on for about a month. But like many of Richard's relationships in the past decade, he didn't want anything to come of it. The sex was great, but he knew the relationship had almost run its course.

For his part, Keith would later tell Richard that he had not wanted to go at all. Skiing wasn't his thing, although he'd been a few times. But Cindy had told him she was tired of him being such an introvert, and that if he didn't get out and meet people and be social, he would be doomed to turn into a dusty old librarian.