"This is it," Gideon Gemstone told himself as he stood at the entrance of Woodpecker's Carpentry, watching the workers inside, and trying not to be noticed. "Enough stalling. You make your move now, or forget about it."
Suddenly a burly middle-aged man in a blue worker's suit appeared. "Hello. I'm Bishop, the owner. Can I help you with something?"
"I was just admiring the wood carvings. I like that Grinch in a Santa Claus suit, and the bobble-head Trump...." Thinking fast, he added. "But I was really looking for a birthday present for my Granddad. Eli Gemstone -- you probably heard of him."
"The pastor at the Salvation Center? Sure, half my crew goes there, or watches the Praise Be to He hour on Sunday mornings. He's retired, isn't he? Who's the preacher now?"
"Jesse Gemstone. I'm his son, Gideon."
He chuckled. "How about that! We're having a run on Gemstones today. Your Uncle Kelvin was in earlier, probably shopping for the same thing. He was talkin' up a storm with our new guy, Keefe."
Uncle Kelvin! Gulp -- maybe it was too late.
For two years, Uncle Kelvin had been bringing Keefe to family dinners, barbecues, Christmas parties, everything: the hottest guy Gideon had ever seen. with shoulder-length blond hair, a short beard, an incredibly muscular chest inscribed faintly with a 666. That remnant of his former Satanism made him even hotter.
Were Kelvin and Keefe boyfriends? The evangelical "don't ask, don't tell" policy meant that they would pretend to be just good buddies, regardless. Even their social media pages were ambiguous. But what if they were? Being screwed by a guy who had screwed his uncle! Forbidden romance, with a hint of incest -- could he get much hotter? Gideon began fantasizing about Keefe -- a lot.
Then Keefe announced on his Instagram that he was moving out of the Gemstone compound. Two days later, that he was no longer working as assistant youth pastor: he had returned to his old job as a carpenter. Obviously they had broken up -- if they were ever boyfriends in the first place. A perfect time for Gideon to move in!
Suddenly Gideon realized that Bishop was staring at him, expecting him to say something. "Sure, I know Keefe. He used to be the assistant youth pastor at the Salvation Center. I'll bet Uncle Kelvin wanted to commission a gift for Granddad. Hey, maybe we could go in on a gift together. Could I talk to him?"
"I'll go get him." Burly retreated to the work floor. A moment later, Keefe appeared -- incredibly hot in a work shirt that left his arms and shoulders bare. He smiled...a good sign, right? "Hi, Gideon. How's the family doing?"
No, don't bring up the family! Especially don't bring up Kelvin! You want to get him alone. "Fine, I think. I haven't talked to anyone but my Mom and Dad for awhile."
They stared at each other. Was Keefe attracted to him? Gideon couldn't tell. "So...the boss says you want a commission?"
"Maybe. I was thinking of something for...no...I mean, I'd like you to do a commission, sure, but I really came here to ask..."
"Ask what?"
Why was this so hard? He had asked guys for dates before. And girls. "Um...water-skiing....have you ever been?"
"No. Kelvin wasn't really into the beach much."
Wasn't? So they were boyfriends? "Well, I am. Would you like to give it a try? On Saturday."
"We always held Gemstone Teen Time on Saturday afternoon," Keefe said with a frown.
Ulp. "Isn't it great that you're free now, and have time to have fun on the weekends?"
He thought for a moment. "Sure, I guess. I mean, why not? Let me give you my new number."
More after the break
