11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Floyd

Feet planted at the edge of the stream, Floyd cast his fishing line into the water while Ollie knelt nearby, scowling at the can of worms. Squinting from the hot late-summer sun, Floyd looked over his shoulder with the intention of teasing Ollie somehow, only to be knocked with a whole heap of fondness instead. Using the heel of his boot, he made a little cavity in the mud and stuck the butt end of his fishing pole in it, not particularly concerned about catching a bite already, and walked over to Ollie.

"Are you upset about the worms?" Floyd asked, crouching.

"Not upset, exactly, though I feel a bit bad." Ollie made a face. "How am I supposed to just stab one of them? It seems cruel."

"What about the fish?"

"Well, I feel sad for the fish, too, but I like eating fish, so it sort of makes it easier to stomach for some reason."

"Don't you need the worm to catch the fish?"

Ollie sighed. "Yes."

"Well, then, why's it worse?"

"It's not, really, but..." Wearing an apologetic smile, Ollie held out the hook to Floyd. "Will you help? Please?"

With an affectionate roll of his eyes, Floyd took the hook in his hands.

"Give me a worm," he said.

"Oh, uhm, no, see, that's part of the reason why I couldn't do this myself. I can't be the one to choose which one meets his end."

"Oh, Ollie," Floyd said, cracking a smile. He took a worm from the can. "You're too sweet sometimes."

As Floyd pierced the worm, he couldn't help but notice Ollie's face out of the corner of his eye—nose wrinkled, eyes squeezed shut, lips tight—and it really was about the most endearing thing he had seen in weeks, though every other contender was Ollie, too, just other versions of him.

"Here you go," Floyd said, handing Ollie the pole.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"Am I still a sweetheart even though I stabbed that poor worm?"

Ollie pursed his lips, thinking. "Yes. Somehow. It's complicated."

Once Floyd had picked up his pole, Ollie tried to cast his line. He succeeded. Kind of. It had barely made it beyond the edge of the water.

"If there are any fish stupid enough to swim right up to the shore here, they'll be in for a surprise," Ollie remarked.

Floyd liked that Ollie could tease himself, but sometimes, he wished Ollie would compliment himself more, too.

"For a first cast, that was pretty decent."

"Yeah?" Ollie perked up a little. "Guess I'm a natural, then."

Gosh, now he couldn't resist a tease, either. "Yeah, as soon as you learn how to touch a worm, you'll be the second-best fisherman for miles."

"Hmmm... we're miles away from civilization, aren't we?"

"Just about."

"Wow, so I'm not currently second best even though there are only two of us out here, huh?"

"Nah, I think the worm has you beat. He's working way harder than you are."

"Floyd!" Ollie scolded through a laugh. "Don't make me feel even worse for him!"

Now Floyd was laughing, too. "Sorry." He came closer to Ollie and bumped him with his elbow. "I was only trying to be funny, by the way. I hope you know I think the world of you."

"Yeah," Ollie said, beaming up at him. "I know."

For the next half hour, the two of them relaxed near the stream's edge, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing, listening to the burbling water and the intermittent croaks of bullfrogs.

Eventually, Ollie started talking about the kinds of activities he had enjoyed back in Cleveland and New York. Other than reading, Ollie liked playing instruments, mostly piano, like he had told Floyd before, but cello, too. Floyd liked to listen to him talk about music. He wished the two of them could play together someday. Ollie was probably a talented piano player, especially since it sounded like he had practiced so often for so long. It'd be nice to play music with someone. Matt had never been interested in all that.

As soon as the thought entered Floyd's head, it felt like a battering ram had struck him in the chest. He couldn't believe he had thought such a terrible thing. It was like he was saying that Ollie was better than Matt, but Ollie wasn't better. He wasn't worse neither. Ollie was Ollie. Matt was Matt. Comparing them wouldn't lead nowhere.

A faint roar of thunder rumbled overhead, rolling in from miles away. Floyd looked up to see some clouds coming in. Even though it would probably be a while before the storm arrived, it was a nicely timed excuse for heading back. After having caught himself comparing Matt and Ollie, Floyd wasn't really in the mood for fishing no more.

"Hey, Ollie, I reckon we ought to head back," he said, pointing up at the sky. "Storm clouds are a-coming."

Ollie frowned. "Neither of us caught anything."

"Oh well. I was plenty excited for beans and cornbread," Floyd said. "I like fish, but mostly, I like being out here, listening to the water."

"Well, I mucked that up, too, by rambling about my music lessons."

"I liked listening to you talk about all that," Floyd said, setting his pole by his feet so that he could pull Ollie close. "I hope I can hear you play sometime."

"Maybe I'll look into buying myself a piano, then."

Floyd kissed Ollie softly on the lips. "I could put some money toward it. Just need me some time to save up."

Ollie nuzzled Floyd's nose. "See? You're a total sweetheart. Even though you murdered a poor worm for no reason."

"Not no reason."

"Did we catch any fish?" Ollie asked, and Floyd leveled a look. "See? No reason."

"Come on, silly," Floyd said. "Let's head back."

Floyd ripped his dead worm off the hook and tossed it into the stream. While the water was still rippling from the tiny splash, Floyd turned to see Ollie carefully removing his own worm from the hook.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Ollie said to the worm. "We tried."

Watching Ollie gingerly set the worm atop the nearby patch of bluestem grass, Floyd's breathing turned shallow, the sudden heaviness in his chest preventing him from more. He had to close his eyes for a few seconds, to muster the strength to lift the weight of tenderness that had settled upon his shoulders. Ollie's niceness was still too heavy for him sometimes.

"Alright, ready," Ollie said, pushing to stand, his brow creasing the moment their eyes locked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Floyd said softly, wiping his hand on the side of his pants and lifting it to cup Ollie's chin. "You're real special, Ollie. I hope you know that."

"Oh. I, uhm, thank you, sweetheart," Ollie said, stumbling over his words.

Floyd kissed him, putting more passion behind it this time, and Ollie smiled through it. After they parted, they started the long walk back to town.

Floyd's head was still swimming when they reached his house. Even throughout supper, Floyd's thoughts stayed far away, like he had left his brain back at the burbling stream. He couldn't seem to stop thinking about how kind Ollie was and how much he liked him.

After everyone finished eating, Ollie volunteered to clean up. Josephine was eager to help him. She was really liking spending time with Mister Oliver lately, even when that time was spent helping Effie clean the kitchen. Floyd wandered over to his favorite armchair and sat, his mind too muddy to remember that he ought to have volunteered to help too.

Once Ollie and Jo were settled with the water that they brought in from outside, Effie came over and sat on the armrest.

"Where's your head today? Did you lose it in the woods somewhere?" she asked.

"Yeah, maybe."

"What's wrong?"

"Ollie was nice to a worm."

Effie hummed and nodded. "I can see how that would be hard."

"Hush," Floyd said, pinching her leg, which elicited a little "eep" sound. "I like him a lot, Effie. I never thought I'd ever like someone this much."

"Is it scary?"

"No, not scary, really. It's... heavy, though. It feels heavy."

Effie squeezed his shoulder.

"Now I feel bad for what I wanted to come over here and tell you."

Floyd cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"Before you two left on your fishing outing, Oliver mentioned how much he wished he could spend the night with you. I took the whole afternoon to think about it, and I wanted to tell you that it'd be fine with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I can't imagine how hard it must be for him for you to sleep here every single night." Effie smiled warmly. "So, what do you think?"

Floyd rubbed his chin. He really liked the idea of waking up next to Ollie. Even though Floyd still felt a sickly sort of sadness about Matt sometimes, he still loved plum-near every second he and Ollie spent together. How could he say no to letting them be close for the night?

"Yeah, I'd really like that, Effie. Thank you."

"Of course."

Suddenly, there was a big splash of water followed by Ollie saying "whoa!" and Jo cackling in a mischievous sort of way. That was the end of their conversation, Floyd supposed. Effie and Floyd both started toward the kitchen area to help with the mess.

Later, once everything was cleaned up, Ollie and Floyd left together to head to Ollie's house. Midway there, the sky finally opened up, pouring buckets of rain over them. They had to run the rest of the way. Ollie was cackling the entire time, which made Floyd burst out laughing, too. By the time they reached Ollie's house, they were both soaking wet. Luckily, it seemed that the rain had washed away some of Floyd's earlier unease about Matt. Standing inside Ollie's living space, dripping water all over the floorboards, he wasn't nothing but happy.

"Look at you, Ollie," Floyd said, placing his hands on Ollie's hips. He loved seeing Ollie's hair soaking wet, raindrops trickling down his face. "You're so handsome like this."

"You are, too," Ollie responded, smiling up at him with so much contentment, Floyd couldn't hold back from lifting him up in the air.

Ollie wrapped his legs around him, and everything was as it ought to be.

"I'm taking you to the bedroom," Floyd said, a playful hitch in his voice.

Ollie caught his mouth in a kiss.

Once they had both stripped down to their last layers of clothing, which posed a challenge since they were both soaking wet, Floyd hopped onto the bed and pulled Ollie on top of him, wetting the sheets, too. As soon as he raked a hand through Ollie's still-wet hair, his cock started to stiffen, and it wasn't long before they were lost in their pleasure, with Ollie thrusting his hips on top of him. Floyd liked seeing Ollie take what he wanted, pleasure-wise. Not that Ollie was selfish in that way, but it sparked a unique kind of passion inside of him to see Ollie be so confident and comfortable. Floyd had the thought that Ollie was probably hungry—hungry for love and acceptance and all the rest of the things it seemed he had never received—and if Ollie needed to focus on himself and his pleasure, Floyd was plenty fine with it. Ollie could take whatever he needed from him.

Typically, this meant that Ollie came first, and then Floyd either pleasured himself or, more often, Ollie touched him and helped him come, too. Floyd could sense that Ollie still wanted more. But Floyd couldn't make himself ready for more just yet.

When they were both spent, Floyd wrapped Ollie up in his arms and let Ollie rest his head on his chest.

"Thank you for helping me earlier," Ollie said, his voice soft. "It was nice of you to kill the worm so I wouldn't have to."

"Yeah, I'm a real nice worm killer, huh?"

Ollie poked his side. "Shhh . . ."

Floyd poked him back, which made Ollie squirm. He seemed not to appreciate that too much, which made Floyd start to poke him some more to be funny.

"Stop, stop, sweetheart," Ollie choked out as Floyd continued poking. "Please."

Floyd stopped, though he had to resist the urge for one more poke.

"Really, I wanted to make sure you knew that I appreciate all the ways you care for me," Ollie said.

Floyd smoothed back Ollie's hair and kissed his forehead.

"I been thinking 'bout something," Floyd said, and Ollie looked up at him. "I remember you said that you left New York for silly reasons, but you never told me more than that. What were them silly reasons? I bet you I wouldn't even think they were silly."

"Just that my family wasn't very nice to me. Not that they were especially rough with me or anything, but they weren't very loving. I think they thought I was a nuisance. I'm sure I was in some ways. I'm fairly certain that they only put up with me because they couldn't have other children and, well, they wanted someone to take over for my father eventually, so..." Ollie shrugged. "So, they kept me alive and educated me and made sure I knew how to look presentable. But they never really cared for me, sweetheart. Ugh, it sounds so childish to me now."

"No, I think I understand."

"I feel silly because... because I left home and cut these people out of my life for not loving me the way I wanted to be loved, which..." Ollie climbed up to settle on Floyd's chest. "Which sounds so pathetic. You and Effie have real stories with real hardships. Both of you had real reasons for leaving your old lives behind. Big, important, impactful, meaningful reasons. Mine seem so... small."

Floyd hugged Ollie closer as sadness clutched at his heart. It hurt to hear Ollie talking about his pain that way, making it smaller. Because it seemed like Ollie wasn't hurt in one big way, but in a lot of little ways. Even though paper cuts were small, cuts like those could still hurt plenty, especially if a person had a whole bunch of them. He hoped he could make Ollie see it that way.

Floyd kissed Ollie's head and said, "Remember when you were a breaker boy for a little while?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, remember how you had a whole ton of cuts from the slate and the rocks and such?"

"Yeah?"

"I reckon your life has kind of been like that. Even if you weren't never hurt in one big way, like someone crushing your foot with a whole heap of coal, it sounds like you were hurt in a lot of little ways, like when the pieces of sharp slate leave a bunch of little nicks in your skin. I can imagine how having enough of those kinds of cuts could hurt you so bad that it'd make you feel like you need to leave that life behind." Floyd caressed Ollie's back with his fingertips. "Ain't nothing wrong with wanting to stop the hurt, Ollie."

Ollie was silent for a moment, and Floyd started to feel worried that he might not have liked that comparison so much, but then Ollie looked up at him with tears in his eyes. For a few seconds, Floyd lay there waiting for those little pieces of sadness to tumble down his cheeks, but they stayed right where they were. Floyd felt a little tug on his heart, thinking that maybe Ollie still wanted to keep some of that pain inside.

But then Ollie said, "Thank you, sweetheart," and the tears started to fall.

With a feather-light touch, Floyd wiped them away with his thumb, happy that he could take care of Ollie like this.

"You're a real wonderful person, Ollie. I wish your parents had seen that."

In response, Ollie pushed himself up on his elbow and captured Floyd's mouth in another kiss, one that somehow had a lot of softness behind it, while still overflowing with urgency. Hooking a hand behind Ollie's head, Floyd tried his best to match that liveliness, and the two of them kissed for a long, long time.

Later, when Ollie had fallen asleep, Floyd was still holding him close, thinking 'bout how perfect it was that the two of them were spending the whole night together. Burying his nose in Ollie's hair, Floyd breathed in his scent and thought back to the way they had been physically close for hours and hours. Never before had Floyd ever kissed someone so long and so passionately. Not even Matt.

As soon as that troubling thought entered in Floyd's head, the copperhead came back, writhing and twisting in his stomach, and Floyd had to squeeze his eyes closed to try to shut out the pain.

***

It was a hot, balmy Saturday toward the end of August, and Floyd was helping Effie clean up from their late lunch. Soon, Ollie would be coming over, not to play checkers or to listen to some of Floyd's banjo playing, but to come with Floyd and his family to James Donohue's house, where there was to be a special summer event. Floyd was real excited for it. James said they'd have ice cream and a magician and a puppet show and all sorts of family-friendly things. Floyd suspected there'd be dancing, too. While Floyd had never taken to it, Effie loved moving her feet to some fast music, especially with her friends from church. Floyd hoped he could see Ollie dance, too, even if it was with Effie and not with him. Ollie seemed like the type, what with that constant energy of his.

While Floyd was putting the ceramic bowls back in the cupboard, he started chuckling to himself as he thought about Ollie's seemingly endless energy. It wasn't only that Ollie liked to talk nonstop, but phew , he had a lot of energy in the bedroom, too. Seemed like Ollie kept Floyd up late near every chance he had. And then, many times, Ollie'd wake up early wanting even more.

It wasn't that Floyd minded. Not at all. He liked their closeness. Over the last weeks, Floyd and Ollie had been spending the night at Ollie's place more often than not. Effie, the angel that she was, never seemed to mind, though Josephine seemed a bit jealous sometimes. She seemed to be wondering what Ollie's house had that was so special. Floyd supposed they'd have to tell her something real about it all, eventually. But not yet.

As Floyd put the silverware back in its place, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of upset. It was hard to think about the intimacy he and Ollie shared sometimes. It seemed that the closer Floyd felt to Ollie, the farther he felt from Matt. Floyd knew he ought not to have felt that way. Matt wasn't there no more. It wasn't like Floyd was betraying him or nothing. So why was he feeling so bad about Ollie touching him in that way? It wasn't that he always felt bad about it, either. Only sometimes. Only when he realized that he hadn't thought about Matt in a while. Or when he let himself think about the fact that what he and Ollie were doing together, he and Matt hadn't never done together. It made him feel like he was leaving Matt behind. Like Matt hadn't been special. But Matt had been special. He still was special.

Floyd sighed. And Ollie was special, too.

Knocking interrupted Floyd's thoughts. He turned to see Ollie poking his head inside.

"Hello, hello," Ollie said, smiling.

Josephine ran over to him. "Mister Oliver, Daddy said there's gonna be ice cream!"

Ollie sucked in a breath, feigning surprise. "Ice cream?!"

"Have you ever had ice cream?"

"Only all the time in New York. We were lucky enough to have a bunch of ice cream parlors nearby."

"What's an ice cream parlor?"

"It's . . . well . . . a shop that sells ice cream."

Floyd cut in, "Imagine if the company store sold ice cream, Jo."

"Oh!"

"We only have it in town once in a while," Floyd explained to Ollie. "Fred and James bring the ice and the cream in from a city somewhere. It's probably expensive."

"Who makes it here?" Ollie asked.

"Couple of people volunteered to head to Donohue's early. I participated once a few years ago. It was pretty fun. We made a batch with strawberries."

Josephine squealed. "It was the best ."

Ollie raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you haven't had it since?"

"No, not since I was five," Josephine answered. "Mama said it'll be even better this year. They're making it with maple syrup!"

"Sounds tasty," Ollie confirmed.

For some reason, this made Floyd start thinking 'bout the time Ollie had called him tasty, and then suddenly it was way, way too warm inside the house.

"Well, let's head over," he said, hoping to rid himself of the filthy thoughts.

"Just a minute," Effie said, drying her hands. "I need to fetch my hat from the back room."

Ollie walked over to Floyd and touched the top of his head, ruffling his hair a bit.

"What about you?"

"I suppose I can't be the only one without a hat, huh?" Floyd said, smiling at the way Ollie was still touching his hair. It made him want to touch Ollie's, too, which had become one of his favorite things.

"You'll look handsome either way," Ollie said, finally taking his hand away and turning back toward Josephine, who was smiling up at them. "Isn't he handsome, Josephine?"

"Yes," Josephine confirmed. "Daddy is very handsome. And Daddy says you're handsome, too, Mister Oliver. I heard him saying that to Mama a few times."

Floyd snorted. Gee, maybe they'd have to learn Jo not to talk about him and Ollie so much. He wondered what sorts of strangeness William must be telling his parents by now. Neither Margaret nor Leonard had said nothing to him about it yet. They probably thought Jo was spinning tall tales, is all. Hopefully, anyway.

Effie came out from the back room wearing her wide-brimmed straw hat.

"What do you think, fellas? Does it look nice enough with this here dress Floyd bought for me over in Charleston?"

"You look real pretty, Effie," Floyd said, staring at her with a kind of wonderment. Sometimes, he was still a little taken aback by her beauty. It wasn't the same kind of admiring he felt toward men, but Effie was prettier than even the nicest painting. He supposed he should tell her that more often. "Even prettier than a sunset."

"Thank you," Effie said, now absolutely beaming.

Ollie must have noticed the change, too. "Well, yeah, with a smile like that, especially."

Effie's cheeks started looking a bit rosy. It was nice to see her like this, though it made Floyd feel sad for her, too. He sometimes wished there was some way he could feel toward her what he felt toward Ollie. Because Effie ought to have been blessed with a husband who was the way he was supposed to be. For the most part, Floyd hadn't had a problem with his liking men. He had made peace with it in his youth. But in moments like this, Floyd found himself feeling a touch bad about it. He hoped Effie was still happy in the life they had together.

Ollie touched his back and said, "Do you want your hat?"

"Yeah," Floyd said, shaking his head, as though to shoo away the unexpected bout of sadness. "I'll wear it."

When Effie handed it to him, she caught his eye and looked at him in a way as though to ask if everything was fine. After a moment, Floyd nodded. Effie's mouth pinched at the corner like she wasn't believing him.

"Oliver, would you mind walking ahead with Josephine?" Effie asked. "I want to talk to Floyd about something real quick."

"Of course not," Ollie said. He held out his hand for Josephine. "Come on, Jo."

It was nice that Jo had taken to holding Ollie's hand sometimes.

After Ollie and Jo left, Effie looked at Floyd expectantly.

"Are you happy, Effie?"

"Why're you asking me that? Of course I'm happy."

"With me sleeping over at Ollie's so much, you know..."

Floyd looked at his shoes. It pained him to keep looking at her.

"I know you ain't leaving me, Floyd. Is that what this is about?"

"Yeah, maybe. Or . . ."

"Or what?"

"Ain't you want a normal husband?"

"No," Effie said, very matter-of-factly. "I like my strange husband. He treats me well and provides for me and—"

"Anyone can do them things."

" And he's my best friend in the whole world. And now I'm so lucky that I got a new friend, too. His name is Oliver. He's sweet and funny and makes my husband real happy."

Floyd could feel the heat blooming on his cheeks. He had to fight to contain a smile.

"Stop that," he said, looking away again.

"Now my strange husband keeps coming home with expensive-looking silk undergarments, too. Makes me feel like we're living in some mansion over in Bramwell or something."

Floyd's eyes snapped up to meet Effie's teasing little smile. In retaliation, he snatched her hat and flung it across the room.

"Hey!"

Effie turned to fetch it, but Floyd caught her arm.

"You swear you ain't upset about me and Ollie?"

"Yes, I swear," she said, like she was real tired of Floyd's bullpoop. "I'm happy for you. And I'm happy for me, too. Because I like Oliver. Josephine likes him, too. I told you a long time ago that I was happy with our marriage. I still am. I like my life the way it is, you hear?"

"Mmm... yeah, I suppose," Floyd said, releasing her. "Better find your hat before the wind blows it away again."

"Oh, is that what happened?" Effie said, picking it up off the floor. "Time to find Josephine and Mister Oliver."

Floyd smiled warmly. "Yeah, let's head out."

Hands joined together, they walked across town.

***

Hours later, the entire town was still having fun in James Donohue's big backyard, enjoying music and food and even a secret bit of moonshine that had found its way to the party, though Floyd hadn't found it himself yet. So far, Floyd, Effie, and Ollie had only been following Josephine around as she had fun watching the puppet show and seeing the magician (who, she said, was only a bit more magical than Mister Oliver), and of course, they had all eaten plenty of ice cream. It had been a real nice night.

Now, though, Josephine was with William and his siblings, trying to catch lightning bugs over toward the edge of Donohue's property. With the band playing, Floyd supposed it would probably make Effie happy if he asked her to dance.

Holding out his hand, he said, "Come on, Effie."

Effie looked down at his hand like it was covered with coal dust. "Are you trying to ask me to dance with you?"

"Uh, yeah. Unless you ain't want to?"

"What kind of invitation is that?"

"What do you mean?"

"It ain't romantic at all!"

"Romantic? Effie, what in the..." Floyd huffed. "We're married!"

Ollie pushed Floyd's hand away. "Excuse me, miss, but I couldn't help but notice you from across the ballroom."

Floyd blew out a puff of air. "Ballroom? Ollie, we're standing on a patch of dirt."

Ollie ignored him. "And I have to say, you are as beautiful as the moon." He looked over at Floyd. "Which, everyone knows, is exceedingly more beautiful than something as completely unremarkable as the sun." And then back at Effie, who was now barely containing her laughter. "Would you make me the luckiest man in the entirety of West Virginia by sharing this dance?"

"Oh my," Effie said, very clearly exaggerating how supposedly touched she was by this pile of horsefeathers. "Now that is an invitation. Yes, Oliver, of course I will."

Floyd cocked an eyebrow at Ollie, who shrugged and shook his head as if to say, "You bungled that, sweetheart," only with a bunch more expletives.

"It's like you've never been to a cotillion before," Ollie said, leading Effie away.

"Ollie, I'm not even sure what that is," Floyd said through a laugh.

For the next couple of songs, Floyd stood by and watched Ollie lead Effie around the so-called ballroom. It made his chest swell and his heart ache, but in a happy kind of way. He loved seeing the two of them have fun together.

But somehow, it was making him a little sad, too. Even though Ollie looked nothing like Matt—Ollie was taller and leaner and had that beautiful yellow hair—seeing Effie and Ollie being so close made Floyd think of the years the three of them had all spent together before—

Floyd closed his eyes. It still hurt to even think about it.

When Floyd opened his eyes again, Ollie was smiling one of those sweet smiles of his, the ones that made him look so innocent, even with all that schooling he'd had and places he had been to, and Floyd replied to that big, beautiful smile with a wink.

Which made Ollie bite down on his bottom lip in this sweet way. Floyd loved how sweet Ollie could be sometimes. Or maybe all the time. He was lucky to have found someone who had all this unique adorableness about him. Yet, he still missed Matt plenty. He missed the way that every smile of Matt's had felt like a present meant only for him because of how stoic he had typically been otherwise. He missed Matt's low laugh and the way Matt had been fascinated by the most random things—pocket watches and stamps and coins and such. If only he could see Matt again. Just one more time.

As the next song started to play—a slow one, one that was heavy on the viola—Floyd let his eyes wander over to where Jo was playing, and he tried to focus on the little flashes of light from the lightning bugs, rather than the heaviness in his heart. Toward the edge of the woods, he could still see the beautiful blue-purple color of the tube-flowers that bloomed every summertime, and over the next couple of minutes, he watched the colors fade while the sun started to set.

Slowly, Floyd's thoughts traveled back to his childhood, back to when he and Matt had liked to catch lightning bugs, too. Back then, Matt had been in the habit of smushing them. He had liked to see the way they continued to shine on skin or rocks or whatever he had smashed them either with or on. But Floyd hadn't liked that. He felt pathetic remembering it now, but he really hadn't liked Matt hurting those poor bugs. Floyd remembered how he had eventually worked up the courage to tell Matt how sad it was making him.

At first, Matt hadn't seemed to care much, which had been a bit disappointing at the time. Floyd had hoped for some kind of acknowledgment or apology. But then, later that afternoon, Floyd had found Matt by the edge of the shrubbery where they had been watching them lightning bugs before, lining up a whole bunch of pebbles in a row. "What're those?" Floyd had asked. "Headstones," Matt had replied, as though Floyd ought to have known that. Matt had always been like that—expecting everyone else to know what he was thinking, like maybe he thought that everyone else was living inside his head, too. "For what?" Floyd had asked. "Lightning bugs. I squished a lot of them." And then Matt had looked up at Floyd and said, "I'm sorry I killed them, Floyd. I never meant to make you sad." After that, Floyd had helped Matt with the little lightning bug memorial or whatever it was.

Floyd was still holding on tight to this memory when he turned his attention back to Ollie and Effie, who were swaying together only a few feet away.

When the song was over, Ollie and Effie parted.

"Well, that was fun," Effie said, coming back over to Floyd. "I'm pretty sure everyone thinks Oliver's fixing to steal me away from you, though."

"Impossible," Ollie said. "I couldn't steal you even if I tried. Floyd's the real catch. Anyone with eyeballs can see that."

Floyd shook his head. "You're lucky the music's still playing loud enough to keep people from hearing that."

"Eh, I'm always making strange comments. I think everyone knows that by now."

Which was probably true. Ollie was becoming a real miner. Everyone in Rock Creek knew Ollie. Everyone seemed to like him, too.

Effie took Floyd's hand.

"We better try one dance. I ain't lying about the way it'll look if people see that I spent all night with Oliver and not with you."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Floyd said before remembering that he was probably supposed to ask her in a nice way. "Effie, will you make me the luckiest man in the whole world by sharing a dance with me? Heck, you're as pretty as the sun and the moon and the stars all combined."

Ollie scoffed in a playful manner.

"Of course," Effie said, smiling up at him.

And so, Floyd and Effie shared a dance. Floyd wasn't as coordinated as Ollie, but he tried his best, and Effie seemed to have fun even with Floyd knocking knees with her a couple of times.

When the song was over, Effie told them that she had to fetch Josephine to put her to bed. Floyd offered to find her instead, but Effie protested, telling him to spend some time with Ollie.

After Effie and Jo left, another slow song started playing. Floyd wished that he and Ollie could sway together. But of course, that wasn't in the cards for them. It'd never be.

Ollie kicked a rock and said, "So, should we head back to my house or...?"

"Yeah, let's."

On the way, they talked about the types of ice cream Ollie had tried back up in New York. It made Floyd wish he could visit with Ollie someday. He'd have liked to have a window into that part of Ollie's life.

When they reached Ollie's house, Floyd started up the steps, but Ollie stopped in front of the porch and knelt down.

"Lightning bugs are my favorite," Ollie said, coaxing one of them to land on his hand.

"Mine, too," Floyd said, coming to kneel beside him.

Slowly, Ollie sat back on his butt, keeping his arm steady as he did so that the little bug would stay on his hand. Once Ollie was settled, he held out his other hand and the lightning bug flew over and landed on it like them two were friends already.

Ollie smiled. "What should we name him?"

"Name him?"

"Do you think he looks like a George?"

"He looks like a bug," Floyd said with a laugh.

"Yeah, maybe not George," Ollie said, lifting his hand like he really was trying to find the perfect name for a little insect that would probably fly away in thirty seconds. "How about Carl? I think Carl suits him." Ollie brought his hand closer to Floyd. "Hold out your palm for him."

"He'll fly away."

"Nah, I don't think so. Carl likes us now. He knows we won't hurt him."

Ollie's words made Floyd's stomach seize. Still, he held out his hand. Sure enough, Carl walked right into it, stopping in the middle of his palm.

"See?" Ollie said. "One time, I walked a whole six or seven city blocks with one on my forearm. I named that one James."

Floyd's stomach was still rolling in an unpleasant way. He hardened his jaw, trying not to let it show.

"What do you think of Floyd, Carl?" Ollie asked. He held out his index finger and pressed it to Floyd's palm. Carl climbed onto it. "He's a sweetheart, isn't he?"

Floyd's throat was starting to tighten. Ollie's tenderness toward the little lightning bug was so beautiful, so funny, so kind. It was everything Floyd loved about Ollie. And yet, in that moment, Floyd hated it, too. Ollie was the opposite of Matt in so many ways.

Floyd inhaled a shaky breath. He needed some space from Ollie right now.

"I need to spend more time with my family, Ollie," Floyd said suddenly. "I been staying here too much."

"Oh." Ollie's tone cut Floyd like a knife. "Yeah, that's, uh, that's fair."

"We'll see each other tomorrow. After church."

"I can come to church," Ollie offered. "Or..."

"Don't," Floyd said curtly before catching himself and softening his tone. "I know it ain't something you enjoy."

"Alright," Ollie said, looking away. "After, then."

"Yeah, you can come over. Effie and Jo will like that."

"Effie and Jo."

"I will, too," Floyd added, which was still true. "Goodnight, Ollie."

He hopped to his feet.

"Goodnight, Floyd."

All the way home, Floyd fought back tears. Every minute with Ollie seemed to be pushing him farther from Matt. He wondered what in the heck he was supposed to do.