Page 70 of The Long Way Found

He checked his phone.

Still nothing from Jack since the morning text: “Happy birthday to the sexiest man in Colorado.”

It's fine, he told himself. It's early. He said he'd be here. “Not worrying” was high on his own strategic plan for the evening, at least this early.

He put the phone away and opened the door.

Also high on his list: Enjoy the party being given to him by people who loved him. If Jack ended up being involved, that would be great. If not… well, this might push Luke over the line of doubt and into full acceptance that this thing wasn't going to work out, and he’d have to end it rather than continue like this.

With his “enjoy the party” mindset, Luke opened the door to the ballroom and immediately smelled sugar and floral. The flowers Mara had placed on every table, pale pink and cream, were so exactly right that Luke stood in the doorway for a moment, taking it in.

Swingin’ Sinatra played on the speakers.

The barman was already busy.

And late-May evening light was shining gold through the tall windows.

"Happy Birthday, Uncle Luke!" Nita came running around a table, with Marco following at a more dignified pace. They both grabbed Luke around the waist.

"Did you see the cake?" Nita demanded. "I did the sugar flowers on top. Grandma Patty helped, but mostly me."

"They're perfect," Luke said. "Almost as pretty as you."

By six, the room had filled. Dale and Evan arrived in the middle of the pack, one of them louder than anyone else combined, the other his usual quiet self. Amir showed up with a gift basket stuffed with protein powder and energy drinks, grinning like he'd done something hilarious.

"You trying to tell me something?" Luke asked.

"Just that you gotta be sure to maintain, now that you're old, Boss."

The room laughed. Luke laughed. Someone pressed a club soda into his hand before he could go looking for one.

"Jack get held up?" the same someone asked.

"Yeah," Luke said. "Work thing." Easy. Practiced. The smile held.

But he'd checked the door twice already.

He danced with Suze, her wife Molls watching from a chair, looking slightly bored, like she usually did, even when she wasn’t.

"You look good, kid," Suze said.

"I feel good," he said, which was mostly true.

She was quiet for a bar or two, then said, "Lotta folks in this room who love you."

"I know."

"That's not a small thing."

"It's not," he agreed. He felt it, the warmth of the room, the realness of these people. He also kept feeling the door at his back.

He didn't say that to Suze. He smiled and meant it, kept dancing, and told himself to stop checking the damn door.

The evening moved. Dale's story about the first time he and Evan skied Calder Ridge. The cake, forty candles, Nita blowing out three of them before Luke could lean in. Julio's playlist climbing through Motown into disco, shoes coming off, the space between tables opening into a dance floor. Alex and the gay ski gang mixing in, fabulous as ever, having a better time than anyone.

At some point, he drifted toward Mara on the pretense of refilling his water. They stood together watching the room.

She raised her eyebrows.