Jack put Tip away, and then followed Lincoln. He hoped that Lincoln was right, and Graham was just taking a while because of being blind. He really did. By what Tip had said the first day, combined with this…maybe he was wrong. But he didn't know.
Lincoln pushes open the kitchen door. “Hey Graham? Are you doing alright, man?”
Graham lifted his face to Lincoln’s voice, “Oh, yes! The bread is on the counter there, sliced and on plates to the best of my abilities.” He gestured. He took a bite of his own slice.
Jack let out a soft sigh of relief. Oh good. He's okay. I don't know why I was worried. I just…I guess I didn't want to see what it would do to Lincoln if he was hurt. He reached out and brushed his hand against Lincoln's, giving him a quick smile.
The corner of Lincoln’s lips curled into a smile. Keeping his hand in contact with Jack’s, he reached out with his other hand to take a piece of bread from one of the plates. He took a bite, “Mm, compliments to your wife’s baking.”
Graham laughed, “I’ll tell her.”
Jack also took a piece of bread, a smile flashing across his face when he tried it. "Oh! That is pretty good." He agreed.
Graham’s own smile broadened. He leaned against the counter. “I’m glad! I’ll definitely tell her that both of our guests thoroughly enjoyed it. She’s a bit insecure about her baking, so she’ll be glad to hear an objective opinion.”
Jack chuckled. "Well, tell her that there's absolutely no reason for her to be insecure about it. It's delicious." He replied, taking another bite. He reached over and linked his fingers with Lincoln's loosely.
“I certainly will,” Graham chuckled.
Lincoln lightly squeezed Jack’s hand in return, “She makes the best gingerbread cookies too. You’ll have to try those before we leave.”
Jack smiled. "Ooh, I'm already excited." He replied, eyes alight. He rubbed his thumb lightly over Lincoln's knuckles, but didn't say a word about it.
“They’re in the oven now actually!” Graham inhaled through his nose, it smells delicious, doesn’t it?”
Lincoln agreed, “Oh yes.” He inched closer to Jack, close enough to let their shoulder sleeves lightly brush against each other.
Jack inhaled through his nose, and nodded. "Ooh yes. That does smell delicious." He agreed. He pressed his shoulder to Lincoln's gently, giving him a secretive, happy smile.
Lincoln returned the smile, glancing at him from the side.
Graham continued, ignorant of their subtle actions, “They do! They should be almost done, actually. They’ve been in there for about ten minutes, if I can guess time correctly.”
Jack nodded. "Mm." he smiled lightly. "Alright." he really did want to try the gingerbread cookies. He also wanted to go back to Lincoln's so they could talk, but…he supposed that that could wait.
Lincoln wanted to go home too, but he promised himself he wouldn’t forget about Tip. We go to the hardware store, and then home, he recited to himself, over and over in his head. He took another bite of the bread.
Graham tapped his fingers against the countertop, “looking” in the direction where he guessed the oven would be, based on his current direction. “It smells done. I should go get her, right? Oh, I’m so excited for you to try them! We’re hoping to have them entered into a baking contest some time. Well, I’m hoping.”
Jack smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, go get here." he grinned. "Ooh, you should. Lincoln and I can be your…practice judges or something." he replied, shrugging a little bit. He was excited to try the gingerbread.
“That sounds good!” Graham agreed eagerly, “Thank you.” He stood up from the counter and went to get his wife. He accidentally bumped into Lincoln on the way.
Lincoln stepped out of the way. He cast a secretive, silent amused glance at James. “He’s so excited,” he mouthed.
Jack smiled back at Lincoln, and nodded. "He really is." he mouthed back. "I'm excited to try the gingerbread, though." he said aloud. "If it's anything like the bread, then it'll be delicious."
“Me too, I’m convinced it should be even better than he bread.” He squeezed Jack’s hand just before letting go when he heard two sets of footsteps returning to the kitchen.
Jack smiled. When Lincoln let go, he tucked his hand in his pocket, and turned to look and see who was coming in. Inside, though, he was worried. What happened to Graham and his wife that ended with Lincoln adopting their daughter? What was going to happen to this kind, blind man and his wife?
Graham pushed open the door and walked inside, followed by his wife, a fair-skinned woman with her brown hair pinned in a bun on her head. “Jack? This is Evelyn, my wife,” he grinned from ear to ear, “And Eve, this is Lincoln’s friend, Jack Morgan.”
Eve extended her hand in greeting, paired with a cordial smile, “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Morgan.”
Graham pushed open the door and walked inside, followed by his wife, a fair-skinned woman with her brown hair pinned in a bun on her head. “Jack? This is Evelyn, my wife,” he grinned from ear to ear, “And Eve, this is Lincoln’s friend, Jack Morgan.”
Eve extended her hand in greeting, paired with a cordial smile, “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Morgan.”
Jack smiled, and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too." He replied, smiling lightly. He was still standing beside Lincoln, still smiling.
She bowed her head in return, “It smells like my cookies are done. If you excuse me, I’ll have to get to the oven,” she spoke the last sentence to Lincoln, who quickly moved away to give her room.
Jack scooched over to allow room for Lincoln, smiling a little. He wished he could still reach out and take Lincoln's hand, but…not with someone in the room who could see. Who could turn around and see their hands together. He knew what happened to gays, to sodomites, in these times. If he wasn't punished by the law, then everyone would reject him, and he wasn't going to do that to Lincoln.
Lincoln cast a secret smile over to Jack while Eve was focused on getting the cookies out of the oven. He was looking forward to tonight, when they went to the underground bar. It would be his first time there too. But after they picked up what they needed for Tip at the mechanics store, they would have time to go back home first. Hopefully they would have time to talk then.
Jack smiled back. He shifted, hand brushing against Lincoln's in a way that would, to anyone else, look like an accident. He watched Eve, taking a deep breath.
Lincoln’s lip twitched at the subtle touch.
Eve set the pan of cookies on the counter, “Mm, now to just let them cool.” She retrieved a spatula from the drawer to begin individually setting the cookies on the cooling rack. The scent of warm gingerbread wafted through the air like a sweet, invisible cloud.
Jack inhaled deeply at the scent of the cookies, eyes flickering shut for a moment. "Ooh, that smells good." He said with a smile, looking over at Eve. "Really, it does."
“Thank you,” Eve smiles wider at the compliment. “They should be cool soon. You can try one in a couple minutes if you’d like,” she offered, and weaved her way through the kitchen back to her husband, who was still near the doorway.
Jack nodded. "Alright." he replied, still smiling as he looked around the kitchen before returning his attention to Lincoln, Graham, and Eve. He was still desperately wondering what would happen to this kind couple that would result in Lincoln adopting their child.