Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

cup for the car. I can smell it on the drive in."
    "Sure." Daniel got busy with the grinder and the filters, brewing a big cup. Trip was right– he would no doubt be glad of it. Behind him he heard Jacob moving around, slow hesitant steps and the squeak of rubber cane-tip on the linoleum. "This will take a minute," Daniel said. "Why don't you sit down. Take a load off."
    "I'll be doing enough sitting for the next month or so." Jacob's footsteps paused. "Hey cat, get out from under my feet, you parasitic hairball."
    Daniel smiled down at his coffee filter. "She loves you. She's worried about you going away."
    "She loves the treats I give her. She has barely three neurons to rub together. In a week she won't remember who I am."
    "Sure she will. Remember when you went to Seattle? She was thrilled to see you back."
    "She was thrilled to see the dried shrimp."
    "Well, that too. She's a cat. She'd be a traitor to the breed if she didn't hold out for material rewards. But she slept on your chest instead of mine for a week."
    "That was a compliment? I thought she was trying to smother me in my sleep so she would have you all to herself again."
    Daniel snorted. "You are such a cynic."
    "You're such a romantic."
    "Yeah. Isn't diversity grand?"
    "Yes." Jacob's voice was soft. Daniel turned to look. Jacob was staring at him with such warmth in his eyes. But when he caught Daniel's gaze he smiled and let it turn to heat. "Turn around again. I want to look at your ass for a bit before we leave."
    "It's a good thing one of us is a romantic." He turned obediently, wiggling his butt at Jacob as he lifted the cone off the mug and tossed the filter in the compost. Sixty-nine years old and his man's eyes still lit up like that. There was something to be said for lust as well as romance. If you'd asked him forty years ago about old guys having sex he'd probably have scoffed. But that heat was still there. Even if it was mostly a matter of hands and mouths these days. Although, hey, if Jacob's hip was better they might try something else again.
    But even though his mind wandered through the possibilities they might get back if Jacob's hip stopped hurting, sex was not the main thing on his mind as they prepared to leave. He jiggled the car keys in one hand. His other hand firmly clutched the file folder with all those essential papers that might, just might, give him the right to be with Jacob if anything went wrong. He saw Jacob take a last look around. Those dark eyes paused on the wall tile they had installed together, the floor they had refinished last year, the little dark-furred cat curled up on the kitchen windowsill. And Daniel held his breath for just a moment and prayed. Because he and Trip both knew, the world could change in a moment.
    ****

CHAPTER 16
    July 25, 2011
    Jacob woke to the sensation of someone pressing a gas mask over his nose. He swung randomly (but not too hard) with his arm and swore under his breath. As expected, his bleary eyes opened to find the brightest hazel pair in the known universe looking down at him.
    "You need to wear the damned thing," Daniel said. "It does no good sitting on the nightstand."
    "It bugs me." Jacob shoved the CPAP sleep-apnea mask in Daniel's fingers away irritably. "I'm done sleeping now anyway, you know. It does no good when I'm awake."
    "Well, aren't you the grumpy bear this morning."
    "Just because I'm not all bubbly and perky at seven a.m. does not make me grumpy. I'm eighty-seven years old. I'm allowed to wake up slow. And you're not the one having your nose rubbed raw every night. I can't sleep with it."
    "Wear it for me." Daniel put on an exaggerated pleading face, big eyes under his bushy silver eyebrows. Then his expression melted into something tender. "That apnea is hard on your heart. Wear it for me because I want you around until you're a hundred and seven"
    "Damned blackmailer. Okay, okay, I promise, I won't take it off once tonight."
    Daniel bent and kissed him lightly. Jacob kept his mouth shut, because morning breath took on a whole new dimension when you slept with your mouth open all night like he did these days. But Daniel's tongue tip touched Jacob's lip and Daniel tasted of mint and love. Unwillingly, Jacob smiled. "You still know how to ungrump me."
    "There's more where that came from. But you have to get up and shower and brush those teeth first."
    "You're such a romantic."
    Daniel's smile was bright. "You have no idea, babe. Wear something nice for me today.