WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

CHAPTER FOUR

"So what else you gonna do tomorrow besides get us some lamps?" Ennis asked as they sat at their new table after supper.

"Get some light bulbs. You know, most of these rooms have light fixtures in the ceiling. Maybe we can get by with just buying light bulbs."

"They're in bad shape, Jack. This one here above us is cracked and most of the rest of them don't look much better. You see any light fixtures, grab them. I can wire them up."

"You can? Is there anything you can't do, Mr. del Mar?"

"Uh huh. I can't take a hot shower. You won't forget to check on a plumber tomorrow will you?"

"I'll remember. That toilet don't flush worth a damn neither. You gotta flush three times before it takes it all down."

"I know, Jack. And I tried to clean that sink but I think it's been old and nasty since before you and I were born!"

"I know. I think while I'm in town, I'll stop over at Home Depot and see what new fixtures cost. That shower isn't much better than the one at the motel."

"They're about the same age, I'll bet." Ennis said.

"I want a bath tub," Jack said, "a big bath tub – big enough for both of us to soak in at the same time."

"Now, Jack, don't let no salesman get hold of you and sell you everythin' in the store. You know what salesmen are like!" Ennis grinned and got up and put some more wood on the fire.

"A fine bunch of professionals who live for just one thing and that's to close another deal. Don't worry none about me, Cowboy." Jack said as he dragged the washstand out into the middle of the room. With the two little heaters both on and the fire going strong, the room was quite comfortable.

They hooked up the hose they bought to the faucet in the bathroom and started filling their tub. Jack held the hose while Ennis filled their largest pans with water and put them on to heat on their little hot plate. He also filled the electric frying pan and coffee pot to heat.

They filled the tub with about six inches of water then sat and waited for their water to boil. Soon they were naked and scrubbing each other up, laughing and kissing all the way through. They left the tub where it was and scrambled to set up their bed for the night. They opened out both sleeping bags flat on top of one another, and then finished the bed off with the pillows and blankets that Ennis had brought from his trailer and climbed in.

"Ohhhhh this feels good!" Jack shivered against Ennis' naked chest.

"You could always put your clothes back on if you're too cold."

"No, no, no. I wanna be naked when I'm sleepin' with you – just in case you might need me in the middle of the night."

"You think I ain't got no self control? You think I couldn't get in your jeans if I wanted to?" Ennis pulled Jack closer rubbing his arms to warm him up.

"Don't know, don't care – as long as you keep holdin' me like this." Jack whispered.

"I'm gonna hold you like this every night until the day I die, Jack Twist. So you may as well get used to it."

****

Monday morning was a scramble as usual. They made do with toast and coffee for breakfast and took off for town. Ennis worked hard all day before he left for home, he inspected the dented can table in back and picked out half a dozen cans and bagged them up. He was just about to leave when the produce manager brought in a cart loaded down with vegetables and fruit.

"You the new guy who works the fork lift?" He asked.

"I am. Name's Ennis – Ennis del Mar." He reached out a hand for a shake.

"I'm Norm Wheeler. I seen you around here. You want any of this stuff? It ain't bad, just a bit passed its prime."

"It looks good to me. You puttin' it on the free table?"

"I am. I usually do this in the morning but got a late start today. If you want any of it, help yourself. Take it all if you want. There's lettuce and cabbage and carrots and spinach and onions and tomatoes and some fruit."

"Don't you want to take some of it home?" Ennis asked him.

"Nah. I eat fast food mostly. I don’t care much for vegetables unless it's French fries."

"Won't the others get mad if I took it all? I don't wanna make anyone mad."

"Nah. Sherry, one of the check out girls, takes home most of the produce that hits this table, but she's off sick today. No sense letting it sit here and go bad. If you can use it, take it." With that he left and got back to work.

Ennis waited around some to see if anyone else showed any interest in it and when no one did, he got another couple paper bags and filled them full. He stashed them in the back of his truck while he threw his paper route then headed home. He drove up to the well-lit house and heard music playing. "Oh Jack fuckin' Twist – what did you do?" he whispered into the darkness as he unloaded the groceries.

Jack came out to greet him with a hug and they hurried inside as the wind got up. I see you found a lamp or two." Ennis gazed around a the four lamps that were burning brightly, two in the dining room and two more in the front room across the way.

"Yep. I got 'em at Goodwill for five dollars a piece. Look what else I got." He pointed over to a corner of the dining room at a refrigerator. "Got it at Goodwill too. Paid fifty for it but it's got a nice freezer on top and it cools great and everything. The only thing I could find wrong with it is the bottom shelf. The little bracket thing that holds it on one side is gone so that shelf is useless."

"That'd be easy enough to fix. We can just stick somethin' in there to hold up the shelf. How'd you get it here?"

"The man over at Goodwill loaned me the appliance dolly. He showed me how it worked and how to get it off a my truck."

"That was nice of him."

"You ain't mad at me then for spendin' fifty for it? I know we didn't say nothin' about getting a fridge but we won't have to be buyin' ice every day now."

"No, Jack. We need a fridge and this is a good buy at fifty. You did good." Jack beamed with pride.

"Where's the music comin' from. You didn't go out and buy a stereo, did you?" Ennis looked around for the source of the music.

"No. It's my old transistor. I dropped my pencil in the truck this morning and when I bent down to get it, I saw the radio stickin' out from under the seat. I thought I'd lost it. I did buy some new batteries for it though. You bought more groceries?" He asked as Ennis sat the bags down on the table.

"Nope. These were all on the free table. Produce manager, a guy named Norm, came over while I was goin' through the cans and told me to take them all if I wanted them. We can use all this stuff, Jack. I got a few more dented cans too."

"And you didn't have to pay for none of this?"

"Nope. They give it to me for free." Ennis folded the bags neatly in case they needed them for something.

"You can't beat that!" Jack said as he stirred the stew he was heating up.

"Did you see a plumber today?" Ennis asked as he sat down at the table and pulled his boots off.

"I did. He'll be here tomorrow evening at seven thirty."

"Good. That stew about ready? I'm about to pass out I'm so hungry!"

****

He nearly did pass out the next evening when he got the estimate for the plumbing. Twenty eight hundred dollars! He plopped down in a kitchen chair and stared at the figures the plumber left with them.

"Maybe we can do just a little bit of it at a time? We could get by with the old fixtures and just the downstairs bathroom for a coupla years and we don't really need hook ups for a washer and dryer or an up-stairs bathroom."

"Ennis, those old bathroom fixtures are garbage! That tub had a big hole in it so we can't use it, the shower is mainly a pile of rust just leanin' together and there ain't no amount of scrubbin' that's gonna make that sink or the toilet any where near clean! And the kitchen sink is just as bad."

"Shit, Jack! That's almost everything we got left in the bank!"

"Maybe he'll let us pay half down and make payments on the rest? I know you hate doin' that – I do too but we need new fixtures, Ennis, and we need that new bathroom upstairs. Otherwise, we'd have to come down stairs to clean up every time. I know it's a lot of money but I think it'll be worth every penny."

"Well let's don't make any decision right away. Maybe we could get out over the weekend and hit some of these second-hand places and see if we can find some used fixtures."

"All right. We can do that. I'm ready for bed – are you?"

"Yeah. We need to sleep on this. I just hate like the dickens to spend every penny we got."

"So do I, Cowboy, so do I!"

****

The next evening after work, Jack met Ennis at the door with a big grin on his face. "Hey, Cowboy, you hungry?"

"Are we talkin' food here?" Ennis grinned back and hung his jacket and hat on the nail beside the doorway, next to Jack's.

"We are! And I'm fixin' us somethin' special so don't get mad." He gave Ennis a hug and led him over the table that was already set.

"Why would I get mad? Smells great." Ennis took the beer Jack opened for him.

"Cause I bought us steaks! By the time you get washed up, dinner will be ready."

"Thought that's what I smelled. It's Ok we get steaks once in a while. We just can't be spendin' money on steaks all the time." He leaned in and gave Jack a kiss and headed for their make-do bathroom to clean up.

The steaks were perfect, the roasting ears were perfect and the salad was perfect. Even the bread was well shaped and not the usual mangled day-old stuff from the free table that they usually ate.

"That was delicious, Jack. You're turnin' out to be a fine cook." Ennis opened them each another beer and sat back down.

"It ain't all that hard." Jack smiled at the compliment.

"You got somethin' else on your mind, Bud?"

"You can see right through me, can't you?" Jack said as he scooted his chair over closer to Ennis'.

"Most times. You been grinin' since I come through that door. You wanna tell me what that's all about?"

"I saw the plumber today and told him to come on out here and get started as soon as he can."

"Jack, I thought we was gonna talk about it some more – go lookin' for some second-hand fixtures. Remember we talked about not wantin' to use up all our cash money on plumbin'?"

"I do. I remember all that." Jack took a deep breath then said, "I got my commission check today. First one. And I'll have more comin' next month 'cause I sold another truck today and got some hot prospects for another truck and a Mustang."

"I'm proud for you, Jack, but we talked about this."

"We did. And what we both agreed on was that we needed that up-stairs bathroom and we didn't want to empty our bank accounts. Ennis, my check was a big one. Big enough to pay the plumber in full and even upgrade a bit and still have some left over."

"You got that much just for sellin' stuff?"

"I did. I got it first thing this mornin' and on my lunch hour I went to see the plumber. I paid him half down and told him I'd give him the rest when the job was finished and I still got six hundred over."

"Jack! I … that's wonderful!" Ennis hugged him hard and pounded him on the back. "I never dreamed that commissions were that high! I figured you might get a coupla hundred."

"Depends on which vehicle they buy but I get a percentage of each and every sale I make. 'Course, most of these sales are Christmas presents and I'm sure it will slack off once the holidays are over but for right now, sales are up and people are buyin'. Mostly we'll have to get by on my base pay, which ain't much but with my paper route and what you're bringin' in – I'd say we're doin' all right."

"I'd say we're doin' more than all right. Jeeze, Jack. I was hopin' we could afford one bathroom and now we're gonna have two!"

"Yep. Two's what we need. Our bedrooms are gonna be up-stairs so we needed one up there as well as the one down here. I was thinkin' that with what I got left, and maybe takin' just that much again out of our savin's we could buy us a couple of beds. What do you think?"

"You gettin' tired of sleepin' on the floor?" Ennis grinned at him.

"Yeah, kind of. Aren't you?"

"Uh huh. Beds are a good idea. We could probably pick some up at Goodwill though – save some money."

"I don't mind gettin' bed frames there but I want us to have new mattresses. I don't want some smelly old bed like what you see in motels. I want one that nobody's never done nothin' on."

"Sounds fair enough. So instead of lookin' for plumbin' fixtures this weekend, we'll be bed huntin'?"

"Uh huh. Then celebratin' once we get them set up."

"And I expect you'll be needin' to buy lots of sheets and stuff?"

"Not lots. I figured two sets a piece plus some pillows is all – nothin' fancy."

"I can see you're gonna be a high maintenance investment here." Ennis grinned and ran his fingers through Jack's hair, smoothing it back down.

"It's gonna be worth it, Cowboy, I promise you that!"

"You been makin' me lots of promises lately, Jack."

"And I aim at keepin' every single one."

"Never had no idea that livin' together could be this good, Bud." Ennis said as they cleared the table and washed the dishes in the wash tubs.

"Next commission check, we'll get to work on the kitchen – new stove and refrigerator and freezer and stuff and a washer and a dryer. I fuckin' hate washin' stuff out by hand."

Ennis grunted in agreement then said, "I agree about the washer and dryer and a stove but we don't need no freezer yet, not till next fall when we harvest our garden and we already got a refrigerator." Then he added, "You got any idea when the plumber will be out here?"

"Not yet. He said he'd call when he could schedule the work. He said it would take him and his helper a couple of days to do the job."

"That's great! Gives us time to get the wall boards stained and back up. You ready for bed?"

"Uh huh," Jack answered and they unrolled their bed.

"It sure will be nice to be able to sleep in a bed again."

"Sure enough," Ennis agreed.

"So what color are we going to paint the kitchen?" Jack asked as he turned on his side and snuggled in closer.

"I was thinkin' maybe yellow – kinda a light yellow, like buttercups in the springtime."

"I'd like that. Momma said her kitchen used to be yellow though I don't remember it never bein' anythin' but white-wash that Pa mixed up out in the barn. She said the house was real pretty when she was a girl."

"Well I don't know much about 'pretty' but I think it would look good yellow."

"Me too. We gonna paint the cabinets yellow too?"

"Nope. I was thinkin' we'd paint 'em white and a white ceiling. You think that'd be Ok?"

"I like it, Cowboy! It's gonna look great. When you figure we can start on the paintin?"

"We should be able to get the paneling up the next couple of nights. I can stop and pick up the paint Friday after work so we should be able to get to it over the weekend."

"We'll be busy this weekend, gettin' our new beds and all."

"Uh huh. If we get an early start Saturday, we can get out and get our beds in the morning and paint the cabinets in the afternoon and the kitchen in the evening. That'll give us Sunday to get the cabinets back up and ready for the plumber to install the sink on Monday."

"Sounds like we got our weekend all planned and it's only Tuesday. I'm tired already just thinkin' about it." Jack sighed and leaned his head against Ennis' back.

"That ain't why you're tired, Bud. You gave me a good workout tonight."

"I did for a fact! Sleepy now though."

"Me too. Sleep well, Jack. Stay close."

"Mmmmm You too."

****

Friday night came and Ennis got home first for a change. He was now well used to his paper route now and threw it with ease. Traffic was light and he made it home a little past six. He put the groceries away, cleaned up some and started dinner. He was looking forward to having a real kitchen again.

He started a fire in the fire place and sat in front of it for a while in a lawn chair and thought about how far they had come in the short weeks they had been there. The house was coming along nicely and with the help of the fireplace and the small electric heaters, the house was nice and snug. He had re-caulked all the old windows to keep them from rattling and most of the smell was gone.

He let his mind wander a bit to the coming year and wondered what it would bring. The weather man was forecasting a mild winter and he hoped that was true and that their roof would hold out until next summer. Spring would be a very busy time for them. He'd have to get that tractor working or agree to buy a new one on time – which he didn't want to do. And then there would be the working of the land and the planting. They'd need to get a garden going and he wanted good grass established by fall when they go to market for their first cows. He hoped they could find a few riding horses too. He knew they would have to wait a while before they could afford a new stallion and some breeding mares but he was a patient man. Maybe they could pick up a pregnant mare at auction and she'll have a colt. The planning, the hopes and the dreams went on and on.

Dinner was ready and he got up to turn the hot plate off. He glanced at his watch and it was after seven. Jack should be there any minute. He got bowls out and set the table, opened a beer and sat back down in front of the fire with his boots up on the hearth, ankles crossed. Christmas was just around the corner and this would be their first Christmas together. He smiled at the thought. He hoped there was snow by then. It sure was cold enough, down in the twenties and getting colder every day.

Maybe they should cut a tree! They could set it up right by the window. They could probably pick up some decorations at Goodwill for a few bucks. He smiled at the thought of him and Jack decorating the tree together.

He jumped when he heard the crunch of tires on their stone littered driveway. He smiled as he opened the door and Jack was in his arms, all red-nosed from the cold and excited about something.

"Man, that smells good! I'm starvin'. When do we eat?" Jack asked as he warmed his hands by the fire.

"Whenever you bring your sweet ass over here and sit down." Ennis said as he dished up the stew.

"Gotta wash first," Jack said and disappeared into the bathroom. When he came out Ennis handed him a beer and they sat down to eat.

"It's gonna freeze tonight for sure. Bet we get some snow. What do you think?" Jack asked between bites.

"Don’t know. Haven't noticed any snow clouds around." Ennis answered and just sat a while watching Jack eat.

"What?" Jack asked. "I got stew on my face or somethin?"

"No. I was just thinkin'."

"Bout what?"

"Christmas. This will be our first Christmas together. We been knowin' each other near twenty years now and we never spent a holiday together." Ennis finished the last few bites of stew before Jack answered.

"Uh huh. I was thinkin' about that earlier myself."

"You wanna … put up a tree? We got lots of little pine out back. Wouldn't hurt to take one down."

"A tree? That would be great! I'd love it!" Jack wiped his mouth on a paper napkin. "Can we do it tomorrow?"

"We got a lot planned for tomorrow. Maybe after we get back from buyin' our beds we can take a quick look around and see if we can find one before we get to painting."

"What about decorations?" Jack asked – his excitement growing by the minute.

"All the stores are stayin' open late now 'cause of Christmas. We could go into town tonight. We need to pick up the new hardware for the cabinets anyway."

"We can buy new ornaments?" Jack's eyes lit up.

"A few wouldn't hurt. They aren't all that costly. We can't go overboard now."

"No we won't. Just some lights and some colored balls and some of that dangly stuff." Jack jumped up and went for his jacket.

"Hold on now. Let's do the dishes first." Ennis grinned, enjoying the moment immensely. "We got plenty of time."

"Ok, Ok. Are you finished? Let me take your bowl. I'll wash and you can dry."

Fifteen minutes later they were in the truck heading for town – Jack as eager as a school boy and Ennis enjoying himself just as much.

"We need to set us a budget here and agree not to go over it – maybe one string of lights, one or two packages of balls and some of that rope-like stuff. That ought to be enough. We can buy a few more each year and we'll have plenty." Ennis said.

"Sure. Whatever you say." Jack agreed as he pulled his truck into the K-Mart parking lot. They waded into the crowded store and found all the Christmas decorations were fifty percent off so they doubled what they had planned on buying and added some extras like a star for the top of the tree and a snowy-looking cloth to place under it and a red metal stand to hold it.

They ended up spending twice what Ennis had thought they would but Jack was enjoying himself so much, and he was enjoying watching Jack so much, that he didn't even complain about it.

Jack wanted to go out with their lanterns and look for a tree but by the time they got back to the ranch it was raining so they just went inside and opened all the ornaments and looked at them one by one, then decided to go to bed early – neither of them all that tired but both of them just wanting to lay there and hold onto each other. Their first Christmas was little over a week away!

***

They woke up late the next morning, grabbed a quick breakfast and set the heaters up in the kitchen to warm it up then headed into town to find some beds. Goodwill had nothing that they wanted so they headed on over to Sears and picked out mattresses, box springs and bed frames. That done and paid for, they headed for the linen department and bought
mattress pads, sheets, pillows, and a few more blankets.

Ennis was a bit wary about spending that much money on just a place to sleep but he offered no objections as Jack made the selections and paid for it all. They were both too excited about getting home and looking for a tree.

They hauled all their purchases inside and then up-stairs. It seemed a bit odd setting the new beds up in the two rooms next to each other. They knew they'd be using them one at a time but thought the arrangement was best with workmen coming in and out of the house.

They had scrubbed the floors and cleaned the rooms the best they could but they were mainly wall studs and pink insulation. With the temperature hovering just below freezing they would have to wait a while before they could strip the wall boards and get them put back up.

"You know, I think I can tell the difference already with this insulation. It's a lot warmer up here than it was when we first got the place." Jack commented as they made up the beds.

"Yep. That and all the caulking we done around the windows and fillin' up the holes we found in the aluminum siding. Every little bit makes a difference."

"Well these beds are gonna make a big difference. That's for sure. You wanna try one out?"

"I was considerin' it but if you want to find us a tree before we start paintin' we'd better get started."

"Oh shit, yeah. We got a lot of work cut out for us today. But we're gonna sleep good tonight!" Jack said as he followed Ennis down the stairs.

"Uh huh. We gotta remember to take one of them heaters up there so we don't freeze our asses off." Ennis said as he wadded up all the plastic wrap that the beds were wrapped in. "I'll haul this shit out to the burn barrel, you get your truck and meet me at the barn."

"You got it." Jack said as he grabbed his jacket and hurried out the front door.

Ennis dumped the trash then hit the barn for their axe. Jack picked him up and they headed towards the back of the property to find a tree. It took over an hour looking at every tree on the place before they settled on one – way bigger than Ennis had imagined. Ennis chopped until it was down and Jack lifted it into the back of their pickup. It took a little more work with the saw when they got it back to the house but they finally got it into the stand and standing tall in their front room – right in front of the window.

There was no containing Jack from that point on until every ornament was on the tree and the lights were turned on. Jack stared at it wide-eyed and Ennis gulped at the sight. Their first Christmas tree! It was the most beautiful sight either of them had ever seen!

They ate their lunch in the lawn chairs sitting in front of the tree. It was just passed noon before Ennis managed to drag Jack away and they got started on the kitchen cabinets.

"This stuff don't smell bad at all," Jack commented.

"Nah. It's nothin' like that stain. This stuff goes on real smooth and we don't need no gloves – it washes right off your hands."

The cabinets received two coats of paint and then they rested with an early dinner in front of the fire and staring at their lighted tree.

"I could sit here all night and just stare at that tree." Jack said.

"Yeah, me too but we gotta finish the kitchen." Ennis agreed.

"That shouldn't take too long, should it?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Depends on how long we lolly-gag here and put of startin'." Ennis teased.

"All right. Let's get after it." Jack got up reluctantly and they got started – Ennis using the white paint and Jack the yellow.

"I just can't believe this is the same house." Jack said as he rolled the paint onto the walls while Ennis concentrated on the ceiling. "I like this yellow. It's perfect."

"I think it's gonna look pretty good with the white cabinets." Ennis said.

"So which room are we gonna do next?" Jack asked as he dipped his roller in the tray and went back up on the wall again.

"Dining room or bathrooms – it's your choice."

"They're both important but I'm thinkin' the bathrooms. We'll have those nice new fixtures in place and all. I think the bathroom should be next."

"So did we agree on light green for in there?" Ennis asked.

"Uh huh. Sage green is what they call it."

"Ok. I'll pick some up next payday."

"It's gonna be so nice to be able to take a bath again. There ain't nothin' like soakin' in a tub of hot water when it's snowin' outside."

"At least we've got hot water now."

"Yeah! That beats the hell outta heatin' it up on the little hot plate. And you agreed that we can spend some of our savin's on appliances?" Jack asked.

"Uh huh. We need a stove and a washer and a dryer." Ennis agreed.

"Seems every store in town is havin' big sales. Maybe we should go ahead and get them so we can have them here and ready to install when the plumber is finished?"

"We'll see how much time it takes us to install the cabinets tomorrow. If we get some time after, we could make a run into town and see about 'em." Ennis agreed, wiping paint droplets off his cheek.

"Can't see that it would take all that long – they came down easy enough."

"Yep and we'll be putting them back up exactly where they was originally. I'm sure proud of you that you thought to mark each one where it belonged."

"I wasn't sure if I needed to do that or not but I figured it was better to be safe. And I found out the hard way that it's easier and safer to handle them without the doors on."

"They should go back up easy enough. I like the new hinges we picked out. They should work out just fine."

"The old ones were rusted out so bad some of those doors didn't hardly open. I'm glad you agreed to all new hardware. I know it was an extra expense that you hadn't counted on but it's going to make them look like brand new cabinets instead of just old ones re-done."

"Well you saved us a coupla hundred dollars findin' that fridge for only fifty bucks so it didn't put us over the budget we set for the kitchen."

"Then all we gotta do is the floor in here." Jack said.

"Yep. I really like the wood floors but that's way over our budget. I think the tile will be fine for now. We can always re-do the floors later on down the road."

"And you know how to put them tile squares down?"

"Easy as pie, Jack. Hardest part of doin' that is spendin all that time down on your knees."

"I don't mind bein' on my knees. In fact I kinda like it." Jack grinned at him.

"Jack Twist! PAINT! And don't be thinkin' such things when we got all this work to do."

"What? I can't even think about bein' on my knees in front of you?"

"NO! Not while we're paintin'." Ennis said as he climbed down from the ladder after finishing the brush work all around the edges of the ceiling. He walked over behind Jack, put his arms around him and pressed up tight against him. "Besides – it's my turn to be on my knees." He nuzzled the side of Jack's neck and sucked on his ear lobe.

"Hey! I'll give you one minute to cut that out!" Jack leaned back into the embrace. "Wait, no – make that an hour. I'll give you one hour to cut that out."

"Mmmmm. We gotta get this room finished, Bud, and get ourselves up-stairs and into bed."

"You keep rubbin' against me like that and we won't need the bed." Jack said as all painting stopped.

They kissed a few times, long lingering kisses before Ennis pulled back. "Paint! We're supposed to be paintin'." He got his roller and dunked it into the tray of white paint and got to work finishing off the ceiling.

"Don't you go splattering on my fine yellow walls." Jack warned.

"I’m tryin'. You watch that you don't get none of that yellow paint on my ceilin."

"And if I do?" Jack challenged.

"You don't wanna know the penalty for that. It's severe – believe me."

"Oh yeah? What're ya gonna do?" Jack asked and touched the tip of his roller filled with yellow paint up against the fresh white paint on the ceiling.

Ennis stared at him for a moment, dropped his roller into the paint tray and tackled him. It was late evening before they finally finished the painting with the light from the lamps they brought in and they stood there, arms around each other, admiring their work.

"Ceiling looks great," Jack said, leaning his head back against Ennis' shoulder.

"Yep. Walls do too. Didn't think we was ever gonna get that boot mark off the wall though." Ennis grinned.

"We shoulda left it there! I kinda liked it."

"Nope. We agreed – no marks anywhere where they can be seen."

"I thought that was just for each other?"

"Jack, a boot mark on the wall would be a red flag to anyone who happened to be in our kitchen."

"Can we put one in our bedroom? Won't nobody be in there but the two of us."

"Jack!"

"Ok. Whatever you say." Jack turned around in Ennis' arms and kissed him hard. "Can we go to bed now?"

"I think that's a fine idea!" Ennis agreed.