Page 486 of Seasons of Love
I turned to where Griff pointed, and sure enough, my brother was locked in an embrace with Zak, and was that…Sam?
It was hard to see clearly in the dark, and they were quite a ways away from us, but it looked like they were engaged in conversation, and then Gabe pulled Sam into a kiss.
Griff gasped.
I covered his mouth with my hand. “We can’t tell anyone, okay? We don’t know what’s going on. They’re just friends.”
He rolled his eyes, so I removed my hand and gave him a quick kiss.
“Are you sure you don’t know what’s going on? Because I never kissed my friends like that.”
When I looked again, they had parted but were walking together toward the tropical gardens.
“I didn’t know Sam was back. Wasn’t he in San Francisco on a job?” I asked.
“Clearly, he’s not in San Francisco anymore, babe.”
“Come on, let’s go back to the party before someone sends out a search party for us and finds them instead.”
The rest of the evening was great. We danced, laughed, and ate cake.
I loved hearing from staff how much they enjoyed their time at the other resorts. Some people had taken time off and were eager to return to work.
It was sometime later that I noticed Gabe and Zak coming back into the hall. Sam wasn’t with them.
“Great party, hey, boys?” Dad said, holding a champagne glass.
“The best, Dad. It’s great to see everyone here. Well, almost everyone.”
We’d lost a handful of staff to other resorts. Something I was immensely proud of, and my meetings with the resort managers had been productive and gave me much hope that we could create the culture my dad had worked for his whole life.
“I’m going to miss you at home, son.”
“I’ll miss you too, but you know we’ll come over all the time, right?” I said.
“Frank, you keep making that chicken dish we all love, and we might all just move in with you,” Griff said.
Mal joined us again after doing another round around the room and talking to everyone.
I took a sip of my drink.
A year ago, almost to the date, I broke one of my rules because two men got under my skin with their sheer presence.
A year later, all my dreams were coming true. I was loved. I belonged. I had a career, goals, and prospects. Most of all, I had a family.
All because I’d forgotten the bottle of Lysol in their room.
All because I’d worked at the resort.
