After His Love is Gone

By Nathan Grant

When his partner Grady died, Alex’s heart was shattered. After he is contacted by his partner’s estranged best friend Gino, they soon develop a long distance friendly rapport. Months later he travels to Northern Arizona to meet Gino, where their casual friendship quickly ignites. However, a sudden murder greedily threatens their happiness when the unknown killer tries to snare another victim.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nathan Grant
• Release date: Sep 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005834081

Nathan Grant

Hi, I’m Nathan Grant and I write Gay Romantic and Mystery novels.I am a Gay man living in the United States Southwest.I have published multiple erotic M/M Romances and Mysteries. Much of my inspiration for my books comes from personal experience and places I have visited. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I enjoy hearing from my readers.Nathan

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After His Love is Gone

By

Nathan Grant

*****

PUBLISHED BY:

Nathan Grant

Copyright © 2020 Nathan Grant

Photograph bytheartofphoto

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

*****

After His Love is Gone

Chapter 1

Alexander

Twenty-four years ago, my then Art Gallery manager Lorna Baker, invited me to her second wedding. Later at the reception, she introduced me to her handsome younger brother Grady Baker.

Unlike Lorna, he was not on the rebound and covering for her past mistakes with her second of a string of future wealthy and some husbands.

From that unexpected moment, we were together and inseparable.

As a gay couple, we had our share of stressful times, but we always had each other to count on. Through our years, we traveled, lived in the burbs, and made many close friends at the same time.

We counted on each other, utterly trusted each other, and we had a good solid successful life. We both enjoyed the same things and adored our loving dogs and the happiness they gave back to both of us.

For decades, we had dreamed of our early retirement and now at last, we had finally reached our goal. We sold our world-renowned tile business for an immense profit and realized life had been very good to us. We now had the chance to settle back, travel the world, and enjoy our lives together.

That was our world until Grady died eight months ago.

Grady was always the picture of health until he dropped dead from a massive heart attack. It took him from me during a simple bicycle ride in the Napa hills north of where we lived. Without warning the Silverado trail claimed him for its own one fateful Tuesday morning and our life together came to an abrupt and tragic end.

I do not remember much about that next two-week period, when all our friends and family gathered to console me. We met together that sad cloudy Sunday to scatter his ashes into his beloved Russian River at Jenner, to be carried to the vast Pacific Ocean.

We used the time to reflect on Grady’s beautiful life, and then all too soon everyone went back home to their busy lives and left me alone and hurting as they rejoined their routine lives, stunned by their recent loss.

Everyone cautioned me about making any major changes until I had carefully thought about them for a while, knowing my thoughts were not clear. They all genuinely wished me to be sure that whatever I did, it would be what was truly right for me and not by a careless impulse.

With everything in a family trust, the financial transition was at least made relatively easy. For the next several months, I was living on automatic. I was doing my usual daily chores and attempting to maintain a typical life as I transitioned my mindset to being alone and without Grady.

I found my sleeping patterns had radically changed, napping a whole lot more, quite often during the morning, and much more than I should. I was eating more frozen entrees that often graced my table, while my appetite waned. I felt I had no direction, and no future, only the endless beautiful days that reminded me of him.

After all the years in our ever-changing house, I now hated it and the lonely life it held for me. Throughout the long days and nights, it accosted me with memories of my lost life and Grady’s constant love for me.

One morning, as I was sitting at the breakfast table having some coffee to get the energy for another tedious day of sorting through memories, I came to a firm decision.

It happened while I was dividing our memories into two piles; one to go, one to pack. I had made up my mind to make the break clean, sell the old house, and go fresh from there, but I still had to decide the where part.

While I loved the area I lived in, when I looked at other housing, I went into sticker shock and decided to check out other areas outside the Bay Area. I was spoiled by this house, and anything similar cost the moon.

I hadn’t gotten to the new location part either as I just mentioned, my thoughts were still in a flux just yet, but I knew I wanted a little warmer.

Grady had always loved colder weather and excelled at skiing while I kept the local fireplace company and read as he enjoyed his energetic hobby. I was always more of a warm weather kind of guy and enjoyed being outside during the day.

In the long cold evenings, I enjoyed drinking my hot lemonade or a favorite wine in the twilight.

Gardening has always my favorite pastime, and when we had our dogs, they loved being out with me exploring while I worked, and usually digging up my new flowerbeds to help me with their own touch.

Now however, there were no more dogs, no more Grady, and everything in my life was muted shades of gray. Just before I really began to depress myself for another day, my phone rang.

Lorna, Grady’s sister called infrequently about this time to urge me to put on a happy face, and I’m sorry but I just could not find mine today.

I considered not answering it as I wasn’t in the mood to put on a fake show for anyone, period.

When I glanced at the phone again, I confirmed it was indeed Lorna. Since she was the last person to spend any time moping about loss considering her past track record, there was also the fact that she never called unless something was up. I finally decided to answer it trying to sound more cheerful than I felt and brave it out.

Hi Lorna, what’s going on? I inquired, knowing it was probably the last full sentence I would manage with her.

Alex, I hope your transition of sorts is going well and you aren’t depressing yourself with all the junk my brother used to collect. I warned him several times about hoarding all that crap, but did he listen to me? No.

I’m fine, now I’m sure you didn’t call me to lecture me on the merits of minimalism, so I repeat, what’s up, asked once more trying very hard to sound civil, while knowing I didn’t in the least.

I was seriously feeling I was probably in for something I didn’t want to hear considering her eager tone, so I sat down to brace myself for the next onslaught.

Okay now that we’ve got that out of the way, I received a call you should know about, and since I took the liberty to give the person your cell number even more so, she began, sounding cautiously out of character, a very rare occurrence indeed.

That woke me up.

What! Who is this person? Do I know them? Lorna, what the hell did you do that for, I asked, feeling really upset that she would pull that crap without asking.

Cool your jets Alex, there aren’t any problems here. About an hour ago, I received a call from Gino, Gino Merlo. He was Grady’s best friend all through school and college. After they graduated, Gino moved to Arizona, whatever for I don’t know, and as you know Grady moved back here and met you, yada, yada, yada.

Okay, so what did he want with my number, or more likely, why did you want to give it to him?

Apparently, he just found out about Grady, and to say the least he was devastated. He was so apologetic for letting their friendship just fade away as he did; actually, both of them were guilty if you ask me. So, he wanted to hear more about Grady’s life, I suggested he talk to you and the rest as they say is history, she explained.

She was sounding like her typically very bored self, but I knew her better than that, and realized she was probably bracing herself for the fallout from being manipulative.

So, in other words, you didn’t want to be bothered walking down memory lane and stuck me with it, I reasoned, knowing her as well as I did.

Exactly my smart man. Besides, it will give you something to do instead of sitting there going through your junk heap, she replied, and I could clearly envision her checking out her perfect nails.

Well thanks for that. I sure can’t figure out why he’d want to talk to me though, other than the basics, what can I tell him? I asked.

Who the hell knows? I would guess he would like to hear about his life and various things pertaining to him. Besides, from what I remember, he was quite the nice guy, and extremely easy on the eyes, a genuine red hot Italian boy, she began.

I felt a sudden pang in the region of my heart.

Lorna please, don’t even go there, I warned, suddenly feeling very offended by her offhanded remark.

Oh, lighten up Alex. I never could understand how Grady and Gino never hooked up but even though they were the closest of friends, I just imagine that special spark never managed to ignite, she surmised aloud to herself.

I could hear her tapping her long fingernail on the marble counter, a habit I noticed when she is plotting her next move.

Again thanks for that visual, you are a caring old bitch, aren’t you? And if anyone would know how to ignite, it would certainly be you, Lorna. What is it now husband seven or eight I’ve lost count?

You are such a bitch yourself Alex, and you know it is only number five, and he’s a big sweetie and a keeper, she breathed sounding exasperated.

She made me think about her recent marriage to an extremely nice man, with seriously dubious connections, and of course he is extraordinarily rich.

It’s about time.

Okay that’s it. I just wanted you to know I am concerned and care about you, and that you are getting a phone call sometime soon. Despite you and your rediculous insistence on isolation, I believe you will like him. As I said, if he’s kept in shape, that man is one super impressive looker, she repeated before ending the call.

Amazing, I said to myself aloud while shaking my head at how she can continuously outdo herself.

As it turned out it was not until the next day just as I returned from a bike ride that my cell phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see the name Gino M.

I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and smiled at nobody, and definitely tried to get myself in the perky mood.

Hi Gino, Lorna called me yesterday and told me to expect your call, but she didn’t tell me what to anticipate, I said, trying to inject a bit of humor into an awkward call, that I didn’t want to entertain.

Hi there Alexander, isn’t it? Knowing Lorna from years ago it doesn’t surprise me one bit that she’d jump right on that one, he mentioned, and I thought I might have heard a slight snicker.

Yes, but I go by Alex actually. Lorna can be interesting to say the least, and if you know her as you say, likes to have her own way, I returned, with a smile on my lips thinking about her antics.

Bitch is more like it. She used to give Grady and I one hell of a time while we were growing up. Look man, I am deeply sorry to hear what happened. Grady was such a great guy and friend to me. I’m sorry for myself as well, since I didn’t keep in touch for all those long years, and now it’s too damn late, he said sadly with apparently true remorse lacing his deep voice.

I could not help but chuckle at his first comment, not the second.

I have to agree about the bitch part, and yea, life happens and gets in the way of best intentions. We had a great run at it together, good times and hard times like any couple but we managed to keep the conversation going, and it held us together, I told him, starting to feel a bit shaky talking about my relationship with a stranger.

Yes, you sure were together for a long time. I have not been so lucky myself. I have had my fun, but it was decades ago and stopped. I woke up and realized that was not for me. After college, I moved to Arizona and worked at several jobs trying to find out what it was that I wanted to do. I thought about Grady often and always promised myself I’d call him, but as you know I never did.

I was at my first job, working for Lorna actually, and she introduced us at one of her weddings, and that was it for me. Love at first sight, but for us it lasted until the moment he died. I am lucky that way, as with so many couples, one fucks up, or they both do and end up splitting or miserable. We owned Global Tile, an international business. I was the designer, and we marketed my own work. We sold the company just before he died as we wanted to travel, just kick back and enjoy life but as you say, life got in the way, and he is gone, I told him sadly, getting too close to my tears.

I was feeling the pain but after listening to myself, I was glad for the time I did have with him.

That sucks big time, and again I’m just profoundly sorry Alex. I am still working if you can call it that. When my parents passed, I am an only child and they left me all they had. It was not really a whole lot, but it was good seed money for me to buy a rundown small ranch of sorts south of the Grand Canyon. Through the years, I have built up a thriving art business, and rent cabins when the mood hits me. However, not very often, I’m afraid, as I like my privacy. I have some rustic cabins as I just said, a tourist type curio shop, and an art gallery with Native American art on display. The artists and I have grown the gallery together. I have helped many starving artist types to success. I now also sell locally and export their artwork online all over the world, and have a thriving business there as well, Gino told me, his voice laced with unmistakable pride in his artists and his own success.

That sounds amazing. During our time together, Grady did mention you several times and wondered what had happened to you, and what you did with your life. I’m sure he would have been thrilled with how well things worked out for you, and he always spoke fondly of you, I told him.

I still was speculating just why he had called me when he could have talked to Lorna, who already knew him, and they had some history together.

Again, I can’t tell you the feeling of loss I carry with me for not reaching out to him while he was still alive. He was always in the back of my mind, and I wondered if his life was happy, and what he ended up doing for a living. We were always so close growing up and now I feel like there is such a void since he is gone, even though I haven’t spoken to him for over two decades.

You are preaching to the choir Gino. That is one reason I am finally sorting through everything here, and then I am putting the place on the market. I just can’t live here anymore when every moment there is a reminder of him and our life together, and always bringing me back down to the fact that he is gone.

Gino sighed deeply before he began talking.

"I can’t imagine the pain you must have had, and probably are still enduring. Lorna