Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

Under his blazer he wore a black T-shirt with the lips from Rocky Horror on it. His jeans, I'd noticed with some quickly-squashed disappointment, were not tight.
    Which reminded me— I handed over Aunt Lilia's care package, bigger than last week's that was bigger than the week before. Alan's eyes lit up. I had a few words with my inner movie projector, which was insisting on reminding me what was under Alan's fashion choices of the evening.
    "Now do you have enough cookies to share?" Tania asked, dragging back 'her' chair. "Guys, this is my nephew Lance." A gangly teen stood behind her with a shy smile and a red stripe in his short afro. "He's with me tonight, doing homework." She pointed at the chair beside hers, and Lance sat obediently.
    "Hi, Lance." Alan lifted a hand from unwrapping just far enough to wave at the boy, and went back to unwrapping. "No, Tania, there are clearly not enough cookies here to share."
    Tania snorted. "Be right back," she said, and joined Mallory in front of the pastry case. I introduced myself to Lance, told him Alan's name, and asked what he was working on.
    "Trig," the boy said, making a face as he put a book on the table. "Will I be in the way here?"
    "No, we have plenty of room," I said. Alan was still fighting Lilia's wrapping. She'd done it on purpose, after I told her how eagerly he tore into the last package. Lilia had an odd sense of humor sometimes. I caught myself noticing Alan's hands and forced my eyes to my laptop and the schedule I'd laid out, blending everyone's calendar. Alan's "gay agenda" of "indoctrinating school children" was scheduled for Friday. I didn't know if he had real appointments at those times, so I'd put everything in.
    "Oh, we get Lance tonight?" Mallory returned with a cup for herself and one for Alan. "Hi, Lance!"
    "How old is Lance?" Alan asked, finally reaching the note Aunt Lilia had wrapped around the cookies.
    "I'm seventeen, sir."
    "Sir!" Alan flashed the boy a grin. "I like this one. Lance, sir, have you seen Rocky Horror ?" He stuck a whole cookie in his mouth.
    "Yes, sir." If someone of Lance's coloring could blush, I'm sure he was. He definitely smiled and dropped his eyes to his book. "Three weeks ago."
    "Oh, then you saw an Alan night!" Mallory bumped Alan with her shoulder. "Your fame is spreading!"
    Alan, his mouth full, pointed from Lance to me and back, raised his hands and his eyes heavenward, and fell back in his seat, eyes closed and hands clasped on his chest.
    "I think that means, 'Snickerdoodles and virgins, oh my!'" Mallory translated as Alan sipped his coffee.
    "De-flowered virgins!" Alan managed. "And I popped you both!"
    "Don't talk like that around Lance." Tania smacked the back of his head lightly.
    "He's heard worse from me already," Alan winked at the kid. "In my lingerie, no less."
    Maybe Lance didn't blush, but I did. Alan winked at me too, and ate another cookie. Tania muttered, set a cup in front of Lance then sat with her own. She tapped his textbook with two demanding fingers then looked to Alan as Lance bent to his work.
    "Enough small talk," she said. "I can't stay all night, so let's get going."
    "Righty-o!" Alan picked up Mallory's hobo bag and pulled a portfolio from it. "So we went and got some stills of the graveyard and the church." He laid out a fan of photos. "I want to get some footage of the place before the leaves fall, Lukas, so we have some contrast if we want to use it. I'm guessing you'll want to run your camera again, so if you could set something up with my assistant…." He waved at Mallory then tapped another folder. "I've done preliminary work on a T-script draft, fitting Mrs. Brooks' treasured heirlooms into the larger history. Tania, you're the research goddess. Will you have a look and see if I'm headed in the right direction?"
    Tania rolled her eyes and picked up the folder. I reached for the photos.
    "Handwriting?" Tania grumbled. "Are you kidding? Do you want to borrow my grandmother's typewriter?"
    "His writing is perfectly legible," Mallory defended. "Don't be a snob."
    "Yeah," Alan said, grinning at the note Lilia had sent, "or you'll get the next draft in Comic Sans."
    "Ooh," Mallory crowed, "getting nasty in here!"
    Handwritten drafts? A few barely-noticed facts finally clicked together in my head. Alan was the only one who never brought a laptop to meetings. Every time I saw him go somewhere, either Mallory drove him or he walked. He worked full time or close to it, the only other