Oh Danny Boy

By Jerry Jerome

Luc and Dan, two high school students at a Denver boys’ school, meet in the late 1970’s during the glitz and glitter of the disco era, and despite society’s censure of gay love, they, with the help of Luc’s ex-marine aunt, become enamored with each other. Oh, Danny Boy vividly describes their passion as it evolves into an intense love for each other while they become mature young men. This story of their lives is set in Colorado, New Orleans, and Hawaii, as well as San Francisco, where Luc struggles to resolve his doubts about his devotion to their relationship. Can he return to Dan and commit himself to the monogamous union Dan wants while they both complete college to become successful professionals, Luc a banker, Dan a famous lawyer? Neither can foresee the impact his decision and a looming pandemic will have on their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781684098279

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Oh Danny Boy

Jerry Jerome

Copyright © 2017 Jerry Jerome

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-68409-826-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68409-827-9 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1

Luc was planting daffodil bulbs along the fence and the sidewalk in the front yard of the house he had moved into a few weeks earlier with his mother, Irene, and sister, Lyn. The three of them had moved from South Arkansas into this house in the Capitol Hill section of Denver. It was the second Sunday in September, 1973, the day before he would start as a junior at the school he would be attending, a new school for him, which was eight blocks away, also on Capitol Hill. Since it was a warm afternoon he was working shirtless, wearing only a pair of light blue corduroy Ocean Pacific shorts with white tennis shoes. As Luc was kneeling to dig holes so he could drop bulbs into them, a young man rode by on a bicycle out in the street, went about halfway up the block, turned around, and rode back to stop on the sidewalk in front of Luc. Hi. What are you planting?

Luc hadn’t seen the young man turn around, so he was surprised to hear the question. When he looked up at the smiling rider, he was startled as well as dazzled just a little to see how attractive the cyclist was. Daffodils. I want to get them in the ground now so they’ll bloom next spring.

The rider, steadying his bicycle with his left hand, stuck out his right hand. I’m Daniel Anderson. Everybody calls me Dan. I live around the corner four blocks down toward the Capitol Building. He was wearing a pair of cut-off jeans, a tight sleeveless gray T-shirt, and running shoes.

Luc shook the offered hand. I’m Lucas Adams. Everybody calls me Luc. I moved into this house last month with my mother and my sister.

Both the young men were looking intently at each other, thinking similarly about the other—He looks like he’s about my age, and he’s one of the best-looking guys I’ve ever seen—although neither voiced these thoughts.

Luc was very attractive, almost pretty, an even six feet tall, with a slim, well-proportioned body (the result of the weight lifting he had started two years earlier); a ruddy, unblemished complexion; bright-brown eyes; and beautiful, moderately long, wavy auburn hair that he parted on the left and combed over neatly. Dan, as strikingly attractive as Luc, was an athletic looking six feet two inches tall blond with china-blue eyes. Dan’s hair was clipped evenly all over his head to less than an inch, giving him a handsome military look. Dan noticed that Luc had a number of bulbs still to plant. Can I help you plant the rest of your bulbs?

Again Luc was surprised but pleased because he didn’t want this attractive guy to ride away. He didn’t understand it, but he had a feeling about Dan he had never experienced before. He was usually rather reserved with strangers, especially young men his own age, but Dan was so amiable that Luc wanted to prolong this meeting. He held up the gardening tool he had been using. Sure, but I only have one trowel, so I’ll dig holes, and you can put bulbs in them. Just be certain the root end is down.

Luc didn’t know it, but Dan felt the same about Luc, so Dan was pleased Luc took him up on the offer to help, because he didn’t want to leave either. He propped his bike against the fence and went inside to kneel beside Luc.

As they talked, Luc told Dan that he was planting daffodils because they reminded him of his grandparents, his Adams grandparents, whose yard back in Arkansas had been full of the yellow flowers each spring. When they swayed in the wind, my grandmother would tell me the daffodils were dancing with angels. I always think of her when I see daffodils. Luc was more surprised at himself the more he talked. He did not usually treat anyone he had just met so casually, but there was something about Dan’s openness that put Luc at ease.

Dan was, at the same time, relieved that Luc seemed to want the help that had been offered. Working side by side, they both sensed something about the other that made them want to connect, although neither could say at the moment exactly what it was. Right now they both just wanted to extend this initial meeting.

As they worked, they exchanged information about themselves. Dan could hardly conceal how pleased he was when Luc said he’d be attending Capitol Academy for Boys as a junior. He looked at Luc. Me too! And when Luc didn’t seem to comprehend, he added, I’m a junior at CAB too.

It was Luc’s turn to try to hide his delight. Both could hardly believe they’d be going to school together. Neither looked at the other for fear he would reveal too much. Dan dropped bulbs into the holes Luc dug as they continued to talk, feeling each other out.

Dan was, he told Luc, on the school’s cross-country running team as well as being a pole-vaulter. Luc would later discover that Dan was one of the best high school pole-vaulters in Colorado, which accounted for his wide shoulders and muscular arms, pole vaulting being one of those sports that builds beautiful bodies. Luc’s weight lifting accounted for his body that was close to equaling Dan’s. As they matured, they would both come to look like male models, but for now, they were both just very attractive high school students. Luc would also later discover that at school, Dan was, in fact, a big man on campus, popular with the other boys, and because he was an excellent student, he was held in high regard by the teachers. Luc was also an excellent student, which would later become apparent to Dan and the other students at school as well as the teachers.

After they finished planting all the bulbs, they stood up to admire their work, although there was little to see other than some freshly turned soil along the fence and sidewalk.

Lyn walked out of the house onto the front porch. Hey, little brother. I see you got some help planting your bulbs.

Luc loved Lyn completely, as she did him, but she occasionally picked an inopportune time to remind him that she was two years his elder. However, he always excused her because she was his biggest admirer. This is Dan. He lives around the corner a few blocks toward the Capitol Building. He turned to Dan. This is my sister, Lynda, but she’s Lyn to everyone who knows her.

Dan quickly walked up onto the porch to offer Lyn his hand. Hi, I’m happy to meet you.

Lyn looked Dan over as she shook his hand. Thank you, and I’m happy to meet you. She was thinking how handsome Dan was, as handsome as Luc, but in a different way because he was a blond. Lyn was as attractive as Luc, with the same wavy auburn hair, brown eyes, and unblemished complexion. She was slim and tall, although a couple of inches shorter than Luc. In high school, she had been voted the girl with the best figure. As Luc walked up onto the porch behind Dan, Lyn turned to him. If you two want to sit out here for a while, I’ll bring out some lemonade and cookies.

They both quickly agreed, again pleased with a reason to continue this first meeting, so Lyn went inside then returned carrying a tray loaded with a pitcher of lemonade, tall glasses filled with ice, and a plate of snickerdoodles. Luc leaned toward Dan and whispered, but it was loud enough for his sister to hear. Lyn made the cookies, so you have to tell her they’re good.

She stuck out her tongue at Luc. One more smart remark, and you won’t get any.

Dan could see that this banter between brother and sister had a lot of affection behind it. It was later that he would learn how protective Lyn was of Luc. She put the tray on the table where Luc and Dan had seated themselves and took a chair herself, handing them glasses of lemonade she poured as they each took a cookie. You two know each other?

They looked at each other and smiled. Dan was the first to speak. We do now. I saw Luc planting flowers and thought he might want some help. And incidentally, these cookies are great. Can I have another?

Lyn pushed the plate toward Dan. Of course. Eat all you want. Then she slapped Luc lightly on his arm. See. Somebody knows how to appreciate my baking skills even if you don’t. She knew he actually did. Like her, he had learned to cook from their mother and grandmother, but he readily admitted that she was the better baker.

The three of them spent the next hour talking. Lyn explained to Dan that next week, she would be starting as a freshman at Rocky Mountain University, a large school down below Capitol Hill, just to the west of downtown Denver, where she’d be majoring in child development and psychology. She had already, she told Dan, done a lot of reading in the field of psychology, and now she was ready for some instruction in it. Since they were new residents of the area, Luc and Lyn asked Dan about Denver and Capitol Hill. He had lived in Denver all his life, most of it on Capitol Hill, so he knew the city and the state of Colorado well.

In addition to answering all their questions about their newly adopted city and state, he told them his parents owned a furniture store. Although he didn’t say so, it was the largest and most profitable furniture retail business in Colorado. His parents were, in fact, very wealthy, despite his father having a serious alcohol problem, which Fred Anderson refused to acknowledge. Dan’s mother Elizabeth actually ran the business.

Finally, he stood up as he looked at his watch. I’d better get home. My mother will be wondering where I am. He turned to Luc. I’ll stop by in the morning so we can walk to school together.

Once more Luc was surprised, but as he stood up, he said, Thanks. That’d be great. Dan shook hands with both Luc and Lyn again before he left.

They watched Dan climb on his bike and ride away. As he reached the corner and turned to ride on to his house, he looked around and waved to them. They both waved back. Lyn reached over to poke Luc’s arm. Nice young man. Looks like you have a new friend, little brother, and in his own way, he’s as good-looking as you are.

Luc, with a contemplative expression on his face, had been looking at the corner Dan disappeared around. He turned toward Lyn to see her grinning. He was probably more interested in you. All the boys always are.

She laughed, a little disdainfully. You are just too naive, little brother. If he was so interested in me, why did he keep looking at you like he was seeing a puppy?

Luc knew that like their mother, Lyn was an astute observer of people and had considerable insight when evaluating them, but he was skeptical. When she added He’s gay, Luc stared at her, astounded. Just before they moved to Denver, Luc had nervously revealed to Lyn that he was gay. She had kissed him on his cheek as she told him she had known it for years, and it was no big deal, although they both knew it was. They were both aware that being gay anywhere was difficult, but especially in a place like Arkansas, where religious-engendered homophobia was so pernicious, extensive, and entrenched in the culture. He was relieved that she accepted his being gay without making an issue of it.

Now he narrowed his eyes to look at her because he had seen nothing about Dan that was gay. How do you know that? He looked pretty straight to me.

She laughed again as she began to load up the tray again. He was practically undressing you with his eyes. Straight men aren’t the only ones who do that to girls. Gay men do it to other men. Every time I looked at him, he was looking at you. He’ll be here in the morning to walk to school with you, and don’t forget I told you that.

Luc was still skeptical. I doubt it. But he hoped he was wrong.

Lyn stood up. He’ll be here, and you’ll owe me a movie for doubting me. She picked up the tray and took it back in the house to leave Luc sitting alone to think about what she had said. He was hopeful but unconvinced. He could think of nothing that indicated Dan was gay, but he’d be happy to take Lyn to a movie if she was right. Both he and Dan went to sleep that evening thinking about the other, wondering if perhaps their first impressions of each other were just wishful and wrong.

Although Luc slept fitfully because he was apprehensive about going to a new school, he put his anxiety aside for a short while when he awoke early the next morning because, as usual, he had an erection that he lay in bed playing with, and this morning he fantasized that Dan was lying beside him also with an erection. He soon had a voluminous ejaculation. He lay a short while, enjoying the sensation, then he went into his bathroom to shower and clean up. He did not know that Dan had had a very similar morning. He put on some white briefs and a blue T-shirt before stepping into a pair of sweatpants to wear downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast with his mother and Lyn. When he finished eating, he went back upstairs to his room to brush his teeth, comb his hair, dress, and get ready for school. He exchanged the sweatpants for a pair of khakis and carefully selected a blue-patterned plaid shirt to wear over the T-shirt. Last, he put on a pair of white socks and sneakers. He would add a light jacket before he left the house. He thought this outfit would not draw a lot of attention, which he did not want on his first day at this new school. He put some supplies in his backpack and had started down the stairs when the front doorbell rang. His heart leaped. He didn’t really expect Dan to show up so they could walk to school together, but maybe he had.

Luc took the rest of the stairs two at a time and rushed to open the door. He could hardly suppress his happy relief when he saw Dan standing on the porch, smiling. Hey, you ready for school?

Luc smiled back. Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose. Before going out the door, he glanced up the stairs to see Lyn standing there with a broad I told you so grin on her face. She mouthed to him, You owe me a movie. He gave her a thumbs-up.

As they walked the eight blocks to the school, Dan could see that Luc was anxious, so in the short time it took them to get to the school, he told Luc as much as he could about what to expect, trying to make Luc relax some.

Chapter 2

The Capitol Academy for Boys was a small, elite school with a strong academic reputation. Most of its students were from affluent Capitol Hill families who had high expectations for their sons. Academic achievement was emphasized over athletic accomplishments, although there were some like Dan, who succeeded in both. At CAB, cross-country running and tennis as well as track and field were the sports that were a part of the school’s activities. Physical education classes were an option, but PE could be avoided by joining the school’s band or the glee club. Luc joined both, which is what he had done back in his old school so that he could escape being thrown into sports with other boys, although he could have, in fact, been a good athlete. He could hit and throw a baseball, he could make a jump shot with a basketball, and he was a fast runner. But he steered clear of all that because of the way he was treated by other boys. He played the French horn, and he sang in a clear, powerful tenor voice with a three-octave range. He could sing two F’s on either side of middle C on a piano. CAB’s music teacher, Mr. Wendell, was almost overjoyed when he found this out on the first day of school. French horn players and good tenors were a rarity. To find both in one new student was amazing. Luc was a welcomed addition to both the band and the glee club.

As soon as they got to the school, Luc began to get a hint of Dan’s status on the campus. Many of the other students made a point of greeting Dan, even some of the seniors, and Dan introduced Luc to them as they all made their way into the school building for the start of classes. All the others noticed that Luc was with Dan, which meant that he was starting in this new school with some measure of respect, unlike at his previous school. All through school, Luc had been ridiculed and teased because he was perceived as being something of a sissy boy, and it didn’t help that he was smarter than any of the others in the school. In Arkansas, girls were supposed to be smart and boys tough. This had made Luc very constrained and apprehensive in his interpersonal relationships with other people, especially those his age. He hoped it would be different here.

All of Dan and Luc’s morning classes were together, but in the afternoon, Luc went to band and glee club, while Dan went to social studies and journalism. After classes, Dan went to practice with the cross-country running team. The day after classes started, Dan mentioned, on the walk to school, that there was a weight room in the athletic department of the school. Later that day, Luc, although a little uneasy, went to Coach Mason’s office in the athletic department and asked if he could use the weight room after classes were over each day. Coach Mason was the school’s only athletic coach in addition to being the social studies teacher. He questioned Luc about wanting to use the weight room, and he wanted to know if Luc had any experience with the equipment. Luc explained that he had some weights at home he used and had taught himself to lift correctly, but he wanted access to the better equipment in the weight room, so Coach Mason gave Luc the permission he needed to use the weight room.

Dan was surprised when Luc told him what the coach had done. He’s never done that before. He must like you. And that explains how you got all your muscles. You didn’t tell me you worked out with weights.

Luc smiled, trying not to show how pleased he was that Dan had noticed the workout results. Luc was, for a sixteen-year-old, very well built. Neither he nor Dan knew that Coach Mason had also noticed this, which was why he had taken the unusual step of allowing Luc access to the weight room. Nor did either know that Coach Mason didn’t like Luc any more than he liked any other student in the school. He had, however, seen Luc on the first day of school and perceived in Luc something similar to what the coach had seen in his younger brother, Kenneth, who had been badly brutalized in school where it had gotten so vicious that Kenneth killed himself a few weeks after starting his senior year of high school in Roundrock, Texas. None of those who had made Kenneth’s life so hateful were ever admonished in any way.

Coach Mason accepted it as his responsibility to see that nothing similar ever happened in this school. His sympathy for those young men who were victims like his brother was extremely unusual in an athletic coach. Too many coaches, he knew, encouraged the brutal behavior Kenneth had endured. Coach Mason was one of the major reasons such victimization was infrequent at CAB and was quickly stopped when it occurred. Luc was not yet aware of this, but in a short time, he would come to appreciate it, and he would later come to realize it was partly the reason for Dan’s standing on campus. When he did eventually know that Lyn had been right, Dan was, as she had said, gay, and that some, if not most, of the students knew this, Dan’s acceptance at school was puzzling as well as pleasing to someone like Luc, who had been ridiculed at school his entire life. It later became apparent to him that CAB was, indeed, an unusual school, and he was fortunate to be a student there. He was privileged to have escaped the vicious homophobia that pervade Arkansas schools.

He had reason to appreciate all this even more not long into the new school year. After Coach Mason had given him permission to use the weight room, he quickly established a practice of working out in the afternoon while the cross-country team was out running. The team used a nearby hilly, wooded park as a training area. Because he was uneasy about being with a group of boys his own age, especially athletes, he always made certain that he finished his workout, dressed, and was gone before they returned to the locker room to shower and dress. However, one afternoon about three weeks into the school term, a sudden thunderstorm rolled off the Rocky Mountains to sweep over Denver as lightning bolts flashed around the city, driving the running team inside early. Luc, closed off in the weight room, had not heard them come in. When he finished his exercises and walked into the locker room, wearing only a pair of workout shorts and shoes, he found the team there, many of them drying off from taking a shower. He was unaware of it, but several of the runners took note of his well-developed musculature, particularly his hard set of abs. As he stopped in the doorway, one of the runners, Junior Wentworth, a tall, skinny, dark-haired senior with acne, was the first to see him. Junior was disliked by many of the other students because he tried to be a tough guy, intimidating others by acting like a thug, especially with those who were younger and smaller than he. When he saw Luc standing in the doorway, he said loudly, Hey, boys. Cover up. Lady Luc’s in the room, and he turned to the others, laughing as he looked for their approval. The others did not join in his laughter. Dan, with a towel wrapped around his waist, walked out of the showers to see all the other runners looking at Luc. Luc was momentarily stunned by Junior’s degrading remark—he had not heard this derisive nickname before—but as his face darkened, he took two steps into the room to confront Junior. Before Junior could react, Luc, with a closed left fist, feinted toward Junior’s face, causing Junior to raise his hands to protect himself. When he did, Luc drove his right fist into Junior’s solar plexus, sending a flash of sharp pain through Junior’s midsection. Then when Junior gasped and bent forward in shock, Luc swung his left fist again, this time connecting with Junior’s right cheek. Junior fell back against the row of lockers he had been standing in front of, making a loud clatter.

Coach Mason, sitting across the hall in his office, yelled, What’s going on in there? Everyone in the locker room froze except the captain of the team, Glen Ray, a senior who disliked Junior as much as anyone else. He quickly stepped to the door. Nothing, Coach. Junior just slipped and fell against his locker.

Again the coach yelled. You OK, Junior?

Glen Ray glared at Junior, who finally replied, Yeah, Coach.

By this time, the coach had crossed the hall and was standing in the doorway as he looked sternly around the room. Junior turned so that the coach couldn’t see his face and pretended to be looking for something in his locker. The coach continued to gaze around the room. All of you get dressed and get out of here. Luc, put your clothes on. I want to see you in my office. He turned and walked back into his office as all the young men scrambled to get dressed and out of there as quickly as possible. None wanted to attract the coach’s attention when he was in such an ominous mood, especially Junior, because he had been warned by the school’s principal that another incident of bad conduct to go with several previous ones could get him suspended from classes, which would jeopardize his graduation. Dan dressed as quickly as the others, and as he left the locker room, he patted Luc’s shoulder. I’ll wait for you outside.

Luc quickly put on his clothes then reluctantly walked across the hall to knock on the coach’s office door, wondering how severely he would be admonished for punching Junior. When he heard the coach’s Come in, he hesitantly walked into the office to see Coach Mason sitting behind his desk, examining some papers. The coach looked up. I’ve watched you some when you’ve been working out in the weight room. There was a window in the side wall of the office so that anyone in the coach’s office could see activity in the weight room, which was partly the reason the coach had given Luc permission to use the facility. He knew he could monitor Luc’s workouts. When he had been working out, Luc had occasionally seen the coach sitting at his desk but had no idea the coach was watching him. The coach held out the papers he had been looking at. You should study these and put them to use. I think you are ready.

When Luc took the papers to look at them, he saw that they were instructions for advanced use of the equipment in the weight room. At first Luc was too surprised to say anything, but then he stammered out, Thanks, Coach, I will. He was still certain he was going to be severely reprimanded for what he had done to Junior. He might, he though, be expelled, but he had decided back in the summer before school had started not to let any ridicule like Junior’s go unanswered at this new school as he had in the past at his old schools. The coach looked at Luc intently for a moment, making Luc certain he was about to be asked what had happened in the locker room, but the coach said, You’d better get on home now. Again Luc was surprised, especially when, as he turned to leave, the coach added, And you’d better put some ice on your hands when you get there. They might swell up a little, and that would probably make playing the French horn harder than usual.

Luc looked down at his hands, then back at the coach, who had no expression on his face, just an inscrutable gaze. Luc hurried out of the office, closing the door behind him as he left. It only occurred to him later to wonder how the coach knew he played the French horn and that it was such a difficult instrument to play. He didn’t know that although it would be easy to assume the converse because they were at the opposite ends of the masculinity spectrum as most people perceived it, one in athletics, the other in arts, Coach Mason and Mr. Wendell were, in fact, close friends, and they had discussed Luc. They concluded that Luc was likely gay, which gave the coach good reason for his special interest in Luc. The coach intended that Luc, nor any of the several other gay students he knew about in the school, would have reason to take Kenneth’s way out of an insufferable school situation caused by other despicable students like Junior.

When Luc left the athletic building, he found Dan sitting on a bench beside the door. As Luc walked through the door, Dan jumped up. What did he say?

Luc was still clutching the instruction sheets. He held them up for Dan to see. He gave me these. Then he added, And he told me to put some ice on my hands when I get home.

Dan didn’t immediately understand what had occurred in the coach’s office. That’s all?

Luc shrugged his shoulders. Dan could see that what Luc was holding was nothing but instructions for the weight room equipment and had nothing to do with the altercation in the locker room, which is what he expected, a note of reprimand of some sort. It took him a moment to digest the situation. Then he grinned as he slapped Luc’s shoulder. He knew what happened but let it slide.

Again Luc shrugged. Yeah, I think he did.

They were both puzzled by the coach’s behavior, but they were happy he had not taken any action against Luc even if they didn’t know why. Although neither Luc nor Dan knew it, Coach Mason was aware of Junior’s behavior, and he was glad someone had taken Junior down. When he figured out what had happened in the locker room, the coach’s regard for Luc had gone up several notches, but he could not, he knew, let Luc or any of the other students know it. He could not encourage such clashes between students, but he was certain Luc had good reason in this instance for his locker room skirmish with Junior, whom Luc had apparently bested, and for that, the coach was pleased, which was the reason he had chosen to ignore the incident. If it came to the principal’s attention, the coach was prepared to tell the principal that he had handled the problem and nothing else needed to be done about it. He knew the principal would take his word for it.

As Luc and Dan were leaving the school yard, Dan laid his hand on Luc’s elbow. Who taught you to punch like that?

Luc grinned. He was pleased that Dan had noticed, and he could hear admiration in Dan’s tone. My Aunt Louise. She’s an ex-marine. She said I needed to know how to take care of myself.

They were walking side by side now. Dan glanced over at Luc. She did a good job of teaching you. I want to meet her some time.

It was Luc’s turn to look at Dan. You probably will. She lives on a dairy farm she owns out near Boulder. Maybe we can go out there some weekend.

Chapter 3

Louise Adams had grown up on the family farm in South Arkansas. She was ten years old when Luc and Lyn’s father, Harold, had been born. After she graduated from high school, where she had been a basketball star, she went to Arkansas Agricultural College to get a degree in animal husbandry. While Louise was a junior in the college, her Aunt Martha, a childless old maid, the local derogatory term for unmarried women over forty-five years old, died, naming Louise as her heir because, it was assumed by everyone who knew her, Louise was named after her, Louise being Aunt Martha’s middle name. Years later, Louise came to understand that Aunt Martha was probably a lesbian and likely assumed the same about her niece. Aunt Martha, a secretary for a lawyer, had been a very frugal woman—some ungraciously called her stingy—so she left Louise a significant sum of money. On the advice of one of her economics professors, Louise invested a small part of her legacy in some blue-chip stocks, but the bulk of it she put into a little known company called Murphy Oil, headquartered in El Dorado, a small oil boom town a few miles from her parents’ farm. The professor pointed out to her that Murphy was a well-managed company, and petroleum production was highly profitable, in large part because of the depletion allowance built into the US tax code by members of the US Congress who were, because of excessively generous campaign contributions, beholden to the large oil companies. Small oil producers also benefited from this arrangement. As Murphy Oil expanded, mostly through astute management in a flourishing petroleum market, Louise’s stock portfolio grew exponentially.

When she graduated from college, Louise’s parents expected her to return to the farm and help manage it, but she joined the US Marines, where she rose to the rank of captain before mustering out. She saved much of her pay while in military service, investing it as carefully as she had her inheritance, so at the time of her discharge, she was very well off. She again disappointed her parents by not returning to the farm in Arkansas but instead purchased a dairy farm outside of Denver, near Boulder. Her parents didn’t know that while a marine, she had met a younger woman, Ellen, whom she wanted to live with, and she knew that she could not do that in the community where she grew up because two self-sufficient women living together would be met with animosity and hostility. But Ellen, in a short time, began to dislike living on the dairy, so she spent more and more time in Denver. Eventually, she told Louise she could no longer tolerate rural living, so she moved into Denver, then to Los Angeles, where Louise lost touch with her. Louise, in the meantime, had become quite content with her life as she had organized it. She liked the pastoral peacefulness of her land.

Not long after school started, the early mornings began to get cold in Denver, and Luc decided that he needed a new, heavier jacket to wear while walking to school as well as for other outdoor activities. He had a strong fashion and color coordination sense. Even his mother and Lyn paid attention to him when he commented on their clothes. He wore clothes well because he was tall and slim, and he knew what looked good on him. He was something of a clothes horse. He wanted, he decided, a bomber jacket like one he had seen in the display window of a military surplus store he had noticed one day while going to the grocery store with his mother. The surplus store was at the foot of Capitol Hill, not far from school. So on the first day of November, instead of going directly home from school after he worked out, he walked down to the surplus store. He was not disappointed when he saw the store’s stock of bomber jackets in three colors—black, navy blue, and military gray-green. They were made of a hard-finish nylon fabric. All had matching knitted cuffs and collar, a zippered front, and a padded bright-orange lining. He tried on one of each color and decided that the gray-green was the best for him. He was about to go pay for it when he looked again at the navy-blue jacket and thought to himself that with Dan’s blue eyes and short blond hair, it would be especially attractive on Dan, so maybe he should buy it for Dan. But then he began to have doubts. Would Dan like it? Considering how little time they had known each other, would Dan think it odd to be getting a gift from Luc? Finally, he decided that he could give it to Dan with an explanation that it was because he appreciated Dan’s help in getting started in a new school. So he bought both jackets, put his on and Dan’s in a shopping bag. On his way home, he would stop by Dan’s house to give him the jacket.

As he was walking up to the front door of Dan’s house, he became a little apprehensive. He had only been there once before, briefly, when he met Dan’s parents. It had been one Friday evening when he had walked over to meet Dan so they could take a bus downtown to see a movie. Dan’s father, Fred, who had already had several shots of whisky and would have several more before Dan and Luc returned from their movie, had not been very cordial, saying little other than hello, but Dan’s mother, Elizabeth, had been charmingly amiable, and Luc saw that Dan got his blond-haired, blue-eyed coloring from her. She was a beautiful woman, smiling as she told Luc how pleased she was to meet him. She went on to tell him that Dan had told her about his new friend Luc, so she felt like she already knew him. She asked about his mother and sister, and she said that she hoped to meet them sometime soon. Luc liked her. He recognized that Dan’s personality was similar to his mother’s, congenial and pleasant, while Dan’s father made Luc tense, reminding him of some of the people he disliked back in Arkansas.

As he rang the doorbell he hoped Dan was alone because he knew he would feel too awkward in front of Dan’s parents, especially Fred, to carry out his intention of giving Dan the blue jacket. He was relieved when Dan answered the door. Hey, Luc. This is a surprise. I was watching TV until Mother and Father get home. Come in. He stepped aside so Luc could walk through the entry hall into the living room. That’s a great-looking jacket you’re wearing. I haven’t seen it before. Take it off and I’ll hang it in the hall closet while you’re here.

This was, to Luc, the opening he needed. You haven’t seen it because it’s brand-new. He took it off and handed it to Dan, and as Dan was putting it in the closet, Luc said, I just bought it a half hour ago at the military surplus store, and I’m glad to know you like it because— he reached into the shopping bag and pulled out the blue jacket —I got you one too.

Dan’s eyes widened as he broke into a big, broad grin. Thanks, Luc! That’s nice of you. You’re awfully generous. He quickly put the jacket on and went into the dining room where there was a mirror so he could admire himself while Luc thought to himself he’d been right about how good the blue would look on Dan.

It’s kind of a thank-you for helping me get started at CAB.

Smiling happily, Dan kept turning back and forth, looking at himself in the mirror. Then he grabbed Luc to pull him in for a hug. Luc was startled and at the same time delighted because Dan had not hugged him before, although he had wished many times in the past couple of months for just this moment. He expected it would be just a brief squeeze, but Dan didn’t let go. He was looking intently at Luc, trying, it seemed, to decide something, but before he could make up his mind about it, whatever it was, they both heard a car door slam out in the driveway beside the house, so they separated to go back into the living room, and in a few seconds, Dan’s mother walked into the house, carrying a briefcase that she sat down in the front hall. She had apparently come from the furniture store.

Hi, Dan. I didn’t know you had company. It’s nice to see you again, Luc. Luc returned her greeting. She looked again at Dan. Is that a new jacket?

Dan twisted so she could see more of it. Yes, it is. Luc just gave it to me. He has one like it, except it’s a different color.

She turned to Luc. Luc, that was kind of you. And to Dan she said, It looks good on you. Luc has good taste.

Dan and Luc looked at each other, smiling. Elizabeth retrieved her briefcase from the hall. Dan, your father won’t be home for a while, and I’m too tired to cook. Let’s go out for pizza. Luc, why don’t you join us?

He and Dan looked at each other, then Luc looked back at Elizabeth. Thank you, ma’am. I’ll have to call my mother to tell her.

As she thought to herself how charming Luc’s Southern manners were, Elizabeth smiled at him. Yes, you should do that. Then to Dan she said, Take him upstairs to your room, Dan, so he can call from there.

The three of