Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

then let Josh herd him inside. Josh locked the door gratefully behind them.
    "Hey, this is pretty cool." Trey turned in a circle, looking around the space.
    Josh had to admit it was impressive. The hayloft floor, if there had ever been one, had been removed so the whole barn was open overhead to the full height of the cone-shaped roof, pierced with new skylights. That airy open feel was different from other dark little antique stores he'd been dragged through by Aunt Julie, back in the day. Staying with her as a kid had always included going to garage sales and at least one Saturday trip through some Ye Olde Stuff place, long before she opened her own. Hers was a definite step up.
    "Aunt Julie told me when she found the place it was just a big empty barn but she had a 'vision' and made Uncle Ted agree to put in a bid the next day."
    At floor level, enough of the old wooden aisles and stalls had been left in place to create rooms and nooks, which were now lined with shelves. The array of items on display ran from trays of old jewelry, locked under glass near the register, to old horse collars, stained glass windows, faded vintage draperies and shelves of tin soldiers. Josh grinned. "Uncle Ted says her vision has dragged them all over the state for the last two years stocking this place."
    "She found some cool things." Trey went to the nearest alcove and ran a hand over an old horsehide-covered rocking horse. "I'd have loved this as a kid, although..." He checked the price tag. "whoo, boy, yeah, not at that price. I guess it's more for decoration."
    He turned in another slow circle. Josh couldn't help smiling at the stunned look on Trey's face as he stared at the glorious array of stuff. Children's toys in wood and tin lay next to old mixing bowls. Glass inkwells shared shelf-space with miniature collectible spoons. Furniture of every description and condition filled the corners and old rugs and paintings hung on every free wall. It was a fascinating, mind-boggling jumble.
    Eventually Trey looked back at Josh, frowning slightly. "Do you have some kind of key for where things are?"
    "Not a clue," Josh admitted. "If a map exists somewhere other than Aunt Julie's head I haven't found it yet."
    "I guess she thought her assistant would be around. Maybe we could go talk to him?"
    Josh shook his head. "The guy had a bad concussion. No visitors, at least until Tuesday. I checked." Last night, seeing all this stuff, he'd just about had a panic attack and had called the hospital in desperation. No luck though. "I'm damned glad you're here," he admitted.
    Trey gave him an odd sideways look, but said, "I'm beginning to think this place is not to be missed. And I haven't even seen the goats yet."
    Josh laughed. "They're actually mini goats. They're pretty cute for being livestock. It's the pony that will get you if you don't watch out. He's nasty. But they're all fed and watered for the morning." At least Uncle Ted's instructions had been clear enough.
    Trey nodded. "So what do you need from me right now?"
    Josh looked at him. The skylights let the morning sun stream down. Trey was standing in a puddle of mellow light, his dark hair highlighted with red streaks, every muscle under the tight T-shirt picked out in brightness and shadows. What do I need? For Trey to really see him, to accept all of Josh, the straight and the gay, and be that friend he'd missed for so long. For Trey to finally move on from the kids they'd been to a different adult relationship. Josh shied away from thinking about what that relationship should look like. "Maybe you could see if you can figure out the register before we have to open up? You're better than me with computers. I'll walk around and see if there's any actual organization to the place."
    "Sounds good." Trey jumped as there was a series of loud thumps on the front door. "Fuck, who's that?"
    "It seems as if antique hunters either can't read or assume the posted hours don't apply to someone who can knock loudly enough. Just ignore them. Being open from ten to five will be more than long enough."
    Trey took another wide-eyed look around him. "Oh, yeah."
    By ten a.m. they had each wandered the store enough to know they would need about a month to become familiar with the stock. "I give up," Josh sighed. "We'll just let people browse and they get whatever they find."
    "What if they want to bargain for prices? What if the price stickers have fallen off? Do we just wing it?"
    Josh stared at Trey. "Are