Chapter 7

Bright and early the next morning, Jack stepped out of the barracks in his black jogging shorts, grey tee shirt, a thick pair of socks and cross-trainers, determined to get back into the routine of running. The brisk morning air made him wonder if he should have worn a sweatshirt, but he didn't want to take the time to go back in and get one. He knew he'd warm up on the run anyway. Just as he was about to set out, Ennis wandered outside to feed the birds and squirrels. When he was sure that Ennis had noticed him, Jack waved. Ennis waved back, and Jack even detected a slight smile. Now that sure warmed him up, no need for a sweatshirt.

Jack took off on the edge of the two lane highway. He tried to stay out of the small weeds without making himself a target for the traffic of which there was very little, especially that time of the morning. He didn't head toward town, rather the opposite direction. He knew that the Ranger Station was up that way, and he wanted to kill two birds with one stone and get a look at it while getting his exercise.

His course took him on a gradual uphill slope, and he had a good sweat worked up by the time the building came into view. The trip back would be easier, all downhill.

The two story structure almost looked like a house rather than a Forest Service office, with a porch and railing around it. Large pines and aspen provided shade around most of the building, and a green lawn added to the pleasant, homey look. Jack jogged onto the property coming to a stop to catch his breath. In a secluded area not far from the building he noticed what looked like a small pond with a narrow wooden bridge spanning its width. He walked over to have a closer look while taking a drink from his water bottle. It was indeed a pond, and as he stood on the bridge looking down into the clear water, he could see that various fish made their home there. It was truly a charming place. He was lost in his thoughts and hadn't realized that anyone was approaching until he heard the clacking of boot steps. He turned toward the sound, and there stood Gavin.

"Hey, Gavin. Just getting to work?"

"Hi, Jack," Gavin said, slapping him on the back. "Look at you, out for a run, huh?"

Jack realized how he must look in his exercise clothes, all sweaty with his hair probably a mess. "Uh, yeah, I decided to go jogging. It's my day off." He wiped his face and neck with his towel.

"Yeah, well, I guess you were off yesterday too...I was surprised ta see ya sittin' in Del Mar's truck outside the Post Office."

Jack noticed Gavin's face take on a serious look. He thought he was getting ready to say something more about the fact that he and Ennis had been together, but it seemed like he changed his mind and commented on the pond instead.

Still looking serious, Gavin said, "You do realize we don't allow fishin' in this here little pond, don't ya?" Gavin appeared no-nonsense and businesslike. He went on, "If we catch anyone tryin' ta fish in here, we haul their ass off ta jail." At that point Gavin burst into laughter. Jack could tell how delighted he was to have pulled his chain like that. Yeah, he was very amused with himself as he sputtered on in laughter. After a few seconds Jack couldn't help but join in.

When Jack stopped laughing he said, "It's sure nice up here."

"You jog all the way up?"

"Sure did. I'm feeling it. Been out of practice."

Gavin gazed down at the cool and tranquil scene of the pond. "All kiddin' aside...are you a fisherman, Jack?"

"Yeah, I love to fish when I get the chance. Ennis and I went up to Lundy Creek yesterday." As soon as it was out there Jack realized that probably wasn't the wisest thing he could have said.

He noticed Gavin's eyes widen and his jaw drop a little. He quickly pulled himself together and laughingly said, "You and Ennis. That'll work!" Then he chuckled some more. When he finally got himself under control he said, "Did y'all get lucky?"

The blatant sarcasm was obvious, but Jack pretended not to notice. "We each got our limit."

"Good for you...good for him," Gavin's smile looked anything but sincere. "Musta just been gettin' back when I saw ya at the Post Office."

Neither said anything for a few moments. Gavin broke the silence, but he seemed subdued and cautious as he spoke. He leaned toward Jack. "Ya know, you could always come on up ta my place. I got a cabin in the woods...real private...real close ta some good fishin' holes. I like trying out my luck every now and then. Be fun ta do it together, don't ya think?"

When Jack didn't answer Gavin said, "Well, you think about it. You're welcome anytime. Just on up the road a couple miles and off ta the left."

Jack wasn't surprised at Gavin's invitation, but he really didn't know how to handle it, so he just said, "Thanks."

"How bout I take ya inside and show ya around, introduce ya to everyone?"

"Uh, I'm not really dressed for that," Jack said, feeling self-conscious in more ways than one.

"Ya look fine, my man," Gavin said, squeezing Jack's shoulder. "Come with me."

Jack didn't know what else to do, and he was very interested in seeing the inner workings of the place, so he followed Gavin inside.

...

The next day, Don called Ennis into the office to discuss how the new staff was working out. "Do you anticipate any problems when the buses roll in tomorrow?"

"No, I don't think so. These people are pretty much on the ball. So far so good anyway," Ennis answered.

"I know Gavin won't be in today, and I'm not sure about tomorrow. He volunteered to help fight the brush fire in Bridgeport that broke out last evening, about a hundred acres so far, so we might not be able to count on him."

That bit of news lifted Ennis' spirits. Although Gavin was a good worker, his abrasive manner left Ennis irritated and exhausted. He knew that it was a problem between the two of them, no one else, so it would definitely hurt the team a bit not to have his expertise during that busy time. He tried not to let Don see that he was glad that Gavin wouldn't be around for a day or two. He wasn't good at hiding it though, especially when Don knew him and the situation so well.

"Things aren't any better between the two of you, are they?" Don asked.

"Me and Gavin?" Ennis said, feeling himself get fidgety and wishing they could drop the subject.

Don's smile said he understood, and to Ennis' relief, he moved on. "The boys are good with their nature talks. I want each of them to take one tomorrow."

"They're all set. Rob's doing bird watching; Jack's doing the South Tufa walk."

"I'll be down to help out too," Don said. "You'd better get down there now. If you need anything, let me know. Have a good day."

"You too."

When Ennis got downstairs he was intercepted by Alma. "Ennis, can I have a word with you before we get too far into our day?"

Before he answered he noticed Lureen and Jack heading out to the patio. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Come over here with me so we can talk in private," Alma said.

They stepped into the mediaroom and Alma began. "Lureen and I thought it might be nice to go out on a double date tomorrow night, you know, to kind of celebrate this first week of work and that the first bus day is behind us."

Ennis didn't say anything; nothing came to mind other than he wondered whose idea it had been.

Alma acted shy and timid, fiddling with the ends of her hair. She went on. "I'm asking you if you'll be my date." She looked at Ennis expectantly.

"Uh, well...who's Lureen taking?" Ennis felt like a jerk to have asked that, but Alma quickly answered, so he thought maybe it hadn't been such a bad question after all.

"She's asking Jack right now."

"Uh, well, I guess it sounds like a good idea. I'll go with you," Ennis said. "Thanks for asking."

What he said and how he felt didn't match, but it had caught him totally off guard. Shit, why didn't I say that I had plans with K.E?

Alma's face lit up and her broad smile certainly indicated how she felt. "This is going to be so much fun! Oh, I hope Jack says yes."

"Well, we'd better get to work," Ennis said. They left the mediaroom, Ennis feeling like a hundred pound weight was on his shoulders, but Alma seemed elated, babbling on about plans for the date. "We thought we'd go to Mammoth for dinner and then to a movie..."

Out in the main room Ennis noticed that Lureen was at the front desk and that her face looked crestfallen. Alma seemed to notice as well and rushed over. Just then, Helen called Alma's name. Ennis heard Alma say, "Oh darn, I'm in the bookstore. Coming, Helen." He saw her pat Lureen's arm and they exchanged a few words, then Alma rushed off.

Ennis joined Lureen at the computers. Just then Jack came out of the men's room and headed to the mediaroom where a few people had gathered outside. Ennis couldn't ascertain anything from his face other than he looked busy, which is what they all should be, not wasting time making dates and chatting. He found though, that he just couldn't keep from asking Lureen what was wrong.

He whispered, "What happened? Are you all right?"

"Not here," she said. "I'll tell you during break."

They all kept busy during the morning with a steady flow of tourists in and out. Ennis wasn't a clock watcher, but when it got toward time for his early break, that last ten minutes ticked by awfully slow. Lureen and he had the first break. When Clark and Jack stepped up to relieve them, Ennis tried to determine what was going through Jack's mind, but he looked normal and unbothered. In fact, Lureen had started to look more herself as the morning progressed, and was relating to Jack pretty much as usual, although Ennis saw none of the flirting going on like before.

As Ennis passed Don's office, he heard Liz in with him discussing the possibility of doing some interpretive talks. He was grateful that others were into stuff like that. He'd had to do a few over the years, and it wasn't his strong point by a long shot. If he never had to do another one he'd be happy.

He entered the breakroom and grabbed his Coke and granola bar to snack on. He was half finished eating when Lureen joined him. She said nothing at first, just opened the refrigerator and retrieved her yogurt before closing the door of the room and sitting down.

"You're not going to believe what Jack told me," she said.

Ennis couldn't help but be a little concerned. "What? Tell me." He said.

"Well," she began. "I know that Alma asked you to double date with me and Jack and you said yes."

"Go on," Ennis said.

"When I asked Jack about going out, he looked kinda funny, and at first wouldn't say yes or no, just stared at me."

"Okay, well, what did he finally say?"

"He said that he'd be my date, but it would have to be just as friends because...are you ready for this?"

"Yeah..."

"He's gay, Ennis. Jack is gay. Can you believe that?"

Ennis wasn't sure how to react. He wanted to appear surprised, and in a way he was. Not about Jack being gay because he'd had a strong inkling, especially the way Gavin had reacted to him from the start, but he was kind of surprised that Jack had just come right out and told Lureen, although he respected his honesty. He wished everyone could be as honest. He pinched the bridge of his nose and felt nauseous.

"Are you okay?" Lureen asked.

Before Ennis could answer she said, "I knew you'd be blown away. I don't want you to think I'm gossiping. I mean, he didn't tell me in confidence or anything. He said he doesn't mind if people know, but that it just hadn't come up yet."

"Did you tell Alma?"

"I didn't get the chance. I just told her he'd agreed to go out and that I'd tell her the rest later."

A knock on the door caused Lureen to jump. Ennis looked at her, then at the door, and got up and opened it. It was Alma. Concern was written all over her face. "Can I come in?" she asked.

Ennis stepped aside. "What's going on?" Alma asked.

"Sit down," Lureen said.

"You want me to leave the two of you alone?" Ennis asked, hoping they'd say yes so he could beat a hasty retreat. He had really heard enough, and it was all making him uncomfortable. Not the fact that Jack was gay, but his own demons.

"No, you can stay," Lureen said.

"Yes, please stay," Alma said.

Ennis didn't sit down, rather leaned against the wall as the girls began to chat. "What I didn't have the chance to tell you this morning is...Jack told me he's gay when I asked him to be my date."

Alma's mouth dropped open and she covered it with her hand. When she was able to speak she said, "Oh, my God, Lureen...I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, I was really bummed out at first. I mean, he's so damn handsome, and I thought we could have some fun this summer." Lureen sighed.

"I wonder why he didn't mention it sooner?" Alma said.

"It just hadn't come up," Lureen replied. "People just don't go around saying, "Hi, I'm Jack and I'm gay...Hi, I'm Ennis and I'm straight."

That seemed to amuse both Alma and Lureen and they actually giggled. "Well, anyway, I told Jack that I'd love for him to still be my date, so we're still going. I'm sure we'll have a good time. You still want to go, don't you?"

"Yes," Alma said clearly. "Ennis, how about you?"

Ennis was still distracted by the straight statement, and didn't dare try and back out even though he hadn't wanted to go in the first place, so he just grunted his agreement that he still wanted to go. "It'll be fun," he finally managed to say. "Now, I'd better get out of here. My break's about over."

Before he could leave Lureen started gossiping about someone else that he wished like hell he hadn't been there for. "You know, I've suspected that Gavin might be gay."

"You have?" Alma said with big, wide eyes.

"Yes. It's just a feeling I have, but I've never seen him with a girl, and he's a cute guy, you'd think he'd have a girlfriend, or at least be dating, wouldn't you? He must be thirty years old or something."

Ennis felt he should interject. "Who's to say he doesn't date out of town? You aren't around him all the time."

Ennis realized he should have kept his mouth shut when Lureen said, "Calm down, I didn't mean it as an insult or anything."

"I'm calm. I was just saying..."

"Wow," Alma said.

"Remember, I don't know anything about Gavin for sure, only Jack."

"Right, I won't say anything about Gavin, but do you think it's okay if I tell Liz about Jack?" Alma asked.

"Like I told Ennis before you came in, he didn't ask me not to repeat what he told me, so I guess it's okay."

"I hate to break up this party," Ennis said as he threw his trash away and left the room. There just wasn't anything more he wanted to say to the girls at that point. He slowly wandered down the stairs and met up with Jack.

"Taking my break," Jack said as they passed.

"Sorry I took a few extra minutes," Ennis called after him.

"No problem," Jack said. He stopped part way up the steps. "Is anyone else in the breakroom?"

"Yeah, Lureen and Alma. We were discussing the date, but I left."

Jack laughed. "Too bad my food's up there or I'd go someplace else." He continued laughing as he disappeared up the stairs.

Ennis had a lot on his mind as he took his place behind the desk with Clark. "What can I help with?" he asked.

"I have this stack of wilderness permits. You can take half. We can work them in between the walk-ins."

"Sounds good," Ennis said. I need all the work I can get so I won't have time to think.

To Be Continued...