You Were Made for Me Read online

  “He’s Greek. They could populate a small city.” Mark leaned closer to me. “The thing is, most of these people are Matheson’s family. See that couple and the pretty girl sitting in the first row of chairs? That’s Theo’s mother, father, and sister.”

  “Where are the rest of his family?”

  “In Tarpon Springs, I guess.”

  “Florida? Why aren’t they here?” I had no doubt Mark would know.

  He shrugged. “Theo’s old man told the family he threw Theo out because he was dealing.”

  “Drugs?” I stared at Mark openmouthed. He brought his fingertips to my chin and closed my mouth gently.

  “Yeah. When Theo learned about that, it nearly broke his heart.”

  “I can imagine. I’m assuming things are better between them now?”

  He hunched a shoulder. “That remains to be seen.”

  “You’re not going to kill him, are you? On Theo’s wedding day?”

  “Jesus.” He huffed. “No, I’m not going to kill him. It wouldn’t be a good way to remember the day.”

  I decided it might be a good idea to change the subject, so I nodded toward the gazebo. “What do you think of something like that at the Manor? Perhaps in the rose garden?” Work was about to get started on renovating the house that had been in my father’s family for more than a hundred years, and the contractor gave us an approximate timeline of a year.

  “We don’t have a rose garden.”

  “We’ll plant one.” I couldn’t help smiling. For the longest time he’d resisted considering Mann Manor as also his. Lately, though…

  He slanted me a look. “I thought you were considering a shed like your uncles have.”

  I’d taken pictures of it and sent them to him. “It would never do in the center of the rose garden. A gazebo would look so much better there, don’t you think?”

  Mark took my hand. “Quinn, if that’s what you want, then that’s fine by me.” He studied the area, making sure it was secure. “Force of habit, babe.”

  “That’s fine.” It was gratifying to have him looking out for me, even though I could do it myself. I leaned against him and twined my fingers with his, just as a string quartet began playing “Isn’t It Romantic.”

  Three paths converged in the gazebo. Theo walked down one path, Matheson walked down another, and they met to stand before the minister. She smiled, looked beyond them, and smiled at the people who were there to observe the ceremony.

  “Family and friends, we’re gathered here today to celebrate the joining of the hearts of Teodore Bascopolis and William Matheson.”

  The ceremony wasn’t long, but it was beautiful, and soon they had exchanged vows, placed rings on each other’s fingers, and then kissed for the first time as husband and husband.

  “What a nice ceremony,” I murmured.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you think one day we might—” No, from the stunned expression on his face, the possibility of us marrying had never occurred to him. Well, it would have been nice, but it wasn’t necessary. “Come on. Introduce me to the married couple.”

  ~*~

  MARK AND I HAD gone to DB’s weddings a few months earlier, but this was different. Of course the food and drinks were good, and I was able to dance with Mark without garnering dirty looks or snide comments, but there were other differences.

  The first one came when Matheson strode up to the bandstand and took the microphone. “Gram, Gramps, last month you celebrated your seventieth wedding anniversary, and God bless you both. We couldn’t be together then, but we’re here now. This is for you, from all of us, with love.”

  He began to sing “P.S. I Love You” in a butter-smooth tenor. The pretty ballad from the 1930s turned out to be his grandparents’ song. Matheson’s grandparents danced across the floor, and I was willing to bet there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

  He and Theo also had a five-tiered cake with a bride and groom on the top brought out for the elderly couple. After they cut into it, slices were brought to everyone.

  I took a bite of the cake and could have moaned from the sheer decadence of it.

  Shortly afterward, an even more decadent cake was brought out. Matheson and Theo made the first cut into this one and carefully fed each other bites.

  Once again cake and coffee were served to everyone, and I leaned close to Mark and whispered, “We’ll definitely have to hit the gym after this.”

  He turned his head and brushed my lips with a whipped cream kiss.

  There were four other couples seated at our table, enjoying their slices of wedding cake. Val and Paul chatted with Tim Reddy and his partner, who we’d met earlier in the year in Savannah, where they ran the Always Reddy Pub. Apparently Paul knew them from when he and Theo had first come to DC. Mark introduced the third couple, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, as the parents of a WBIS agent who had been a longtime friend of Matheson and who had unfortunately passed away the year before. The last couple were friends of Theo’s, according to Mark. They spent the evening on the dance floor, barely returning to the table long enough for a drink or a bit of dinner. Or in this case, cake.

  Theo and Matheson came by to chat with us, but I couldn’t help noticing how distracted Matheson seemed. I smiled to myself. Was he thinking about the upcoming honeymoon? He got into a quiet, intense conversation with Paul, and not too long after, Matheson said, “Excuse me, please. I’m going to introduce Paul to my Dad and Jill.”

  “Okay, babe.” Theo waved him away.

  Paul squeezed Val’s hand. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Okay,” Val said, and continued talking to Tim Reddy about his experience as “the first teen to be killed” in his slasher flick.

  Theo turned back to me. “So, how did you and Vince meet? He never said.”

  “Theo, we’re gonna dance.” Mark held his hand out. “Quinn?”

  “You’re asking me to dance?” The band was playing Charles Aznavour’s “The Old-Fashioned Way,” and I hummed a few bars.

  “Yeah.”

  “With you?” I couldn’t resist teasing him.

  “Jesus, Quinn. Who else would I dance with?”

  I rose and took his hand. “I’ll enjoy dancing with you.” We arrived on the dancefloor, and Mark reached for me to take me in his arms. “May I ask you something?”

  “Anytime, babe.” He smiled down into my eyes.

  “Why did Theo act as if he’d never met me when we went to congratulate him and Matheson on the receiving line?” I asked softly.

  “That was Theo being discreet.”

  “Excuse me? Why would he need to be?”

  “Let’s just say it’s a holdover from when he first arrived in DC.”

  “Ah.” Having been a rent boy at that time, yes, Theo would be cautious about revealing his familiarity with anyone. “I understand.”

  “Good. Now.” He slid an arm around my waist. “Can we dance?”

  “Whatever you say, Mark.”

  ~*~

  IT WAS AFTER THE Venetian hour started that the most exciting event of the evening occurred when Matheson returned to our table. At some point he’d removed his tuxedo jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and there was blood smeared on his shirt.

  Theo turned pale, and for a moment I wasn’t sure if he’d pass out. Matheson grinned at him.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine.” Matheson’s grin broadened. “Congratulations, babe. You’re a brother-in-law.”

  “What?”

  It turned out those hadn’t been false contractions that had made Mrs. Matheson so uncomfortable all afternoon but the real thing. With Paul’s help, Matheson’s stepmother had delivered a healthy baby boy in the ladies’ lounge and now was on her way to the local hospital.

  Theo began to laugh.

  “What?”

  “Do you know what that means?” he asked.

  “Yeah, what I said.”

  Theo rolled his eyes. “What time is it?”

&nbs
p; Matheson looked at his watch. “It’s almost eleven.”

  Theo began to sing, “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. His birthday is your birthday too.”

  I gave Mark a puzzled glance. “Do you understand this?”

  “Today is Matheson’s birthday.”

  Ah. So this date would be two birthdays and an anniversary.

  “This party is becoming too exciting for me,” Mark said. “I’m going to say good night.”

  “Good night, Mr. Vincent,” Matheson said. “Thank you so much for being part of our day. And… uh… thank you too, Mr. Mann.”

  “As I told your husband, I enjoyed it very much.”

  “My husband,” he whispered, and he looked absolutely besotted.

  “Congratulations,” I said. Would I wear the same look if Mark and I were ever able to call each other husband? “And I hope you have a long, happy life together.”

  Mark and I left the reception hall as Matheson was announcing that he and Theo would be going to the hospital to see his stepmother and new baby brother. We waited for the elevator to arrive and observed the mass exodus of people rushing out to get into their cars and head for the hospital too.

  “That’s a really nice family, you know that, Quinn?”

  “They are, aren’t they?” And if we’d ever be able to have a family of our own, I was willing to bet it would be just as nice.

  Chapter 4: May 17, 2004

  MOST AGENCIES HAD THEIR employees schedule vacation time through HR, but the WBIS, considering the types of operations we ran, had our people schedule time off through the directors of each department, who knew more than HR what was going on.

  I wasn’t surprised when Matheson asked to meet with me, although I did wonder what it would be about this time. When he’d requested a meeting three months prior, it had been to hand me a blue-banded cigar and to inform me he and Theo and their surrogate were expecting. He’d had no doubt it would be a boy.

  The WBIS was starting to resemble a nursery. Ms. Parker and Ms. DiNois had had their babies in the autumn and winter of 2003, and now Matheson and Theo were going to be dads in October.

  This meeting, though…

  Matheson entered my office, made sure the door was shut behind him, and crossed to my desk.

  “What did you need?” I nodded toward a chair, and he sat down.

  “Massachusetts has recognized same-sex marriage.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I hope you’re not proposing.”

  He gave a startled snort of laughter, then hurried to replace his expression with a more serious one. “Sorry, sir. No. What I wanted was to put in for a couple of weeks off starting August 31.”

  “Keep talking.”

  “You may remember that August 31 is our anniversary. Um… mine and Theo’s.”

  “Thanks for clarifying that.” I wasn’t likely to forget. I’d been to any number of weddings—one when I’d been in the army, others in the line of work, and two when Quinn’s cousin, DB Cooper, got married twice, to two different women—but Matheson’s wedding was the first one where an additional guest had arrived unannounced. Unbeknownst to anyone, Matheson’s stepmother had gone into labor early in the day of the reception, and as it wound down, Matheson had realized something was going on. He’d gotten her into the ladies’ lounge and came to find Paul, who was an obstetrical nurse and had helped with the delivery. Shortly before eleven, she’d given birth to Matheson’s youngest half brother, and I’d decided it was time to get Quinn out of there.

  I waited to hear what Matheson had to say now.

  “It was a good night.” He gazed off into space, a soft expression on his face, unusual in that at one point he’d been a stone-cold killer. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’d like to fly up to Cambridge with Theo and make it legal.”

  “You have to be a resident of Massachusetts.”

  “I know. I still am. When I came down here, I learned that you still have your Massachusetts driver’s license, and I thought it might be a good idea if I held onto mine as well.”

  “Smart.”

  “Thank you.” He blushed.

  “And you want two weeks off?”

  “Yes, sir. If that’s all right?”

  I turned the pages of my desk calendar until I reached August, then checked September as well. “It looks like we don’t have any operations set up at this point, but if anything comes up, we’ve got Rayne, Ahrens, and Johnson.”

  “And Winchester.”

  “As you say.” The hyper agent had calmed down and was shaping up to be a decent agent. He’d done a good job when I’d sent him to LA to keep an eye on Spike after he’d been kidnapped.

  And if anything vital cropped up, I’d deal with it myself.

  “Go tell HR you have my okay.”

  “Thank you, sir.” He rose, then paused. “Would you mind keeping this a secret? I’d like to surprise Theo.”

  “Not a problem, but won’t Theo be suspicious when you ask him to wear a tux? I’m assuming you’ll be in formal wear?”

  “Yes.” He rubbed his palms against his thighs. “I’ve got three months. I’ll think of something.” He shifted from one foot to the other, then ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous. We’ve been married almost nine months.”

  Yeah, it wasn’t like Theo was going to say no. I didn’t say that, though. I waved him out of my office.

  Once the door closed behind him, I began to drum my fingertips on my desk. Matheson had been working for me for more than two years, and I’d gotten to like him, although I’d never tell him that. Maybe Quinn had rubbed off on me, but I wanted to do something for him.

  I turned to my computer, opened a new page, and did some investigating online.

  The result was I filled out an application to obtain a one-day designation certificate. That meant for the day of August 31, I would officiate at the legal wedding of Theo Bascopolis to my agent.

  I’d talk to Matheson about it. It would be my wedding gift to them.

  Chapter 5: August 30, 2004

  THE LAST MONDAY in August rolled around, and everything was good to go. The Boss knew I’d be out of the office the next day, I had transportation lined up—Balm would fly me to Cambridge, and I’d rent a car once I got there.

  Matheson had left the WBIS for the day in preparation for tomorrow’s big event. Earlier in the day, he’d told me what he’d come up with to get Theo to Cambridge without him suspecting anything.

  ~*~

  “IT’S MY YOUNGEST brother’s birthday,” he said.

  “Is that a non sequitur?”

  “No.” The corners of Matheson’s brown eyes crinkled. “Because it will be Elf’s first birthday, it makes a perfect excuse for us to go up for his party.”

  Elf. “How in the world did your brother get a nickname like that?”

  “He was named for our uncle Peter. At first we called him Little Peter. We shortened it to LP—Elp—and from there it was no stretch of the imagination to Elf.”

  I was sorry I’d asked, and I decided to change the subject. “Theo won’t be suspicious when you ask him to wear a tux? I’m assuming you’ll be in formal wear?”

  “Yes. Jill came up with a surefire plan. I’ll tell Theo she wants a formal family portrait. Even Elf will be wearing a little tux.” He shifted from one foot to the other, ran a hand through his hair, then repeated the words he’d said when he first approached me to announce he planned to legally marry Theo. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

  “I don’t know why either. Why don’t you go home and get ready? I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Yes, sir. And I want to thank you again for… for being so kind as to officiate for us.”

  I gave him a look, and he bit back a laugh.

  “Sorry, sir, I know you don’t do kind. But this is going to mean so much to Theo.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll just be going now.”

  He almost danced out of my office, and it was only then that I
let my expression relax. I was glad I could do this for Theo. For both of them.

  ~*~

  MATHESON HAD GONE HOME, Ms. Parker had left for a doctor’s appointment, and the afternoon drifted by. My office was quiet, and a glance at the clock on my computer showed it was almost seven.

  Well, I guessed it was time to go home myself. Going home. In the last year or so… and okay, who was I kidding? It was a year, four months, and twenty days since we’d talked about Quinn moving in with me, and ten days less since he actually had. Right now, though, he wasn’t there. He’d received a call from his publisher the week before about the possibility of a book signing once his book came out, so he was up in New York for a few days to sort it out.

  Quinn knew as well as I did that Massachusetts had legalized same-six marriage earlier in the year. When he’d learned Matheson and Theo were actually being married a second time, I expected him to bring up the subject again. He’d said something about it at their first wedding. I’d been so dumbfounded at the time—as much as I loved him, men like me didn’t marry—I’d stared at him like a hooked fish. He’d given a rueful smile and began talking about something else, and he hadn’t said anything about it since.

  We’d have to hash this out, but not now, not while he was in New York and I was going to be in Cambridge, Mass.

  I shut down my computer, made sure the office was buttoned up tight, and headed for the stairwell.

  Sanford, who handled security on the first floor, nodded as I passed him. “Have a good night, Mr. Vincent.”

  “You too.”

  Although I’d have a better one if Quinn were home.

  Chapter 6: August 31, 2004

  I

  I STOOD IN THE council chamber waiting for Theo and Matheson to enter so I could marry them. Balm had elected to remain with me, and he stood unobtrusively to the side, watching with interest.

  Matheson’s immediate family was there—Jack and Jill, his father and stepmother, John Robert, his half brother and Marti, his half sister, and the baby who’d been born a year ago. Alice Wainwright, an older woman who I knew was their housekeeper, opened a florist’s box that contained boutonnières for the men and wrist corsages for the women and handed them out. Even I got a yellow rosebud for my lapel.