Anywhere You Go

Anywhere You Go

By Keelan Ellis

Sequel to I’ll Still Be There

Unfinished Business: Book Two

Jess Early and Eli Dunn, owners of Ruth’s Haven Bed and Breakfast, love married life. Every jealousy bump and insecure thought is just another expected growing pain. But with Jess redefining his relationship with his best friend and ex-fiancée Cassie and Eli’s friend Travis staying with the guys while going through marital problems of his own, things haven’t been feeling quite right between them.

Not to forget, the home’s ghostly previous owners, Clay Bailey and Silas Denton, still reside in their former bedroom and delight in making their presence known—including invading Travis’s dreams in an attempt to help. They give Travis a vivid glimpse of their adventurous trip to Paris in the early 1960s and some insight about his marriage.

With tensions mounting, Eli’s father suffers a heart attack. Now Jess and Eli must remain strong and at the same time confront their evolving feelings. The young couple’s struggles become a lesson in the true meanings of love, loyalty and marriage.

Author’s Note

You can’t escape the past in Paris, and yet what’s so wonderful about it is that the past and present intermingle so intangibly that it doesn’t seem to burden.

-Allen Ginsberg

CLAY WAS deep in slumber, dreaming of the desert. Sand was everywhere, but where he expected to see camels and perhaps Peter O’Toole, strange-looking vehicles stood by the roadside and men in unfamiliar uniforms shouted to one another. He smelled smoke in the air, he felt fear, and he couldn’t stop thinking about a boy, the boy, who was not Silas at first, but quickly became Silas. In the background came a strange, tinny musical sound, some kind of odd bells. Where on earth could that be coming from? They began to pull him toward the surface, and then he was being gently shaken. He opened his eyes, and it was Silas, but not quite Silas. He looked a little like the boy he’d been thinking about in the dream.

Clay, honey, we have to go.

Clay opened his eyes and saw light peeking in from behind the heavy curtains. It was morning. What? he asked, still confused.

It’s their… you know, uh…. Silas sounded a little confused himself, but then he shook his head sharply and said, Their telephone. It’s ringing. Hear it?

Clay opened his mouth to ask whose phone he was talking about, but then it came back, as it always did, with a dull, aching feeling. This house didn’t belong to them anymore. It was no longer a house for the dead, since Eli and Jess had taken it over two years earlier. It was now full of life—full of people again—and mostly Clay was glad about that. These beautiful, young, and very much alive men were generous enough to share the house—and even on occasion their own mortal bodies—and mostly he was happy to have that. It was only during these in-between moments when the knowledge of his reality came back that he experienced such deep sadness.

It tells them who called on that little screen, Si. They can call back. I don’t want to leave yet. He wrapped his arms around Silas and pulled him in close, letting him feel how very much he didn’t want to leave.

We shouldn’t press our luck, Silas said, but Clay could tell he was wavering.

We pressed our luck our whole lives, sweetheart. Why stop now?

Silas smiled and moved forward to kiss him. He looked only like Si now, all else banished, as he rolled over on top of Clay and took the situation into his own hands. In no time at all, Clay was helpless in the face of his desire, as his lover—his one true love and would-have-been husband—took him thoroughly and relentlessly, whispering his own passion into Clay’s ear as he gave his final thrust. Clay answered him as always, saying how much he loved him.

That’s nice to hear, but I’d like my man back now, not-Silas answered. Clay sighed and opened his eyes.

I think maybe he wants to sleep a while longer. He was dreaming all night long about that awful desert war, Clay replied.

Out, Jess said, and Clay left. Eli smiled back at him from his own eyes, and Jess kissed him before he even said good morning.

Hey, Eli said.

Hey. That was fucking weird, man.

Tell me about it, Eli said, laughing a little. He was right. I was dreaming about Iraq, but then suddenly Lawrence of Arabia showed up.

And I have to say I’m not all that thrilled by the development that they now understand how cell phones work. ‘They’ll see who it was. They can call back.’ Assholes. There was no edge to the words. And now we have to wait before we fuck.

We couldn’t anyway; we got the plaster guy coming, Eli laughed. Whose phone was that? One of us needs to change up his ringtone.

Jess checked his phone. Must have been yours. I’m gonna hop in the shower before Cassie gets here. Remember?

Oh yeah. Your antiquing trip. Goddamn, if you’d been like this when we were younger, you could have saved me a lot of effort trying to figure you out. Jess looked sharply at Eli, who was smirking insufferably at him.

"I happen to be looking for a period-appropriate sofa for our lounge at our place of business, so you can just go right on ahead and fuck off, Elijah Dunn," Jess returned, then crossed his arms and stared Eli down.

Elijah grinned gleefully at him as he picked up Jess’s shirt from the back of a chair and handed it to him, then frowned slightly as he glanced at his phone. Travis called, but he didn’t leave a message. I wonder what’s up.

Jess shrugged and opened the door. I’m sure he’ll call back if it’s important, he said, on his way to the bathroom. He called over his shoulder, You’ll have to wait for the plaster guy by yourself.

Jess stood in the hot shower for a little longer than was strictly polite, but they had multiple hot water tanks to accommodate guests, so it wasn’t like he’d use it up. He felt slightly irritated, though he couldn’t put his finger on why. He didn’t really care about Eli’s teasing, and honestly that boy had no room to talk anyhow, seeing as how he’d gotten so excited when the new season of Scandal started up.

He suspected it had something to do with Travis calling, though he’d never in a million years admit it. Jess knew he should feel nothing but gratitude toward him for helping Eli come to terms with his sexuality, but some irrational part of his mind was still bothered by the fact that Eli had run away from him, that Jess hadn’t been the one to help Eli figure himself out. It was beyond stupid and he knew it. He hadn’t been in any condition to help anyone where that was concerned. Travis had done both of them a huge favor, and he’d never been anything but nice to Jess. He was a good guy. Jess just needed to get over himself.

Cassie had arrived early and was sitting in the parlor downstairs, talking to Eli, by the time Jess was dressed. She smiled at him as he walked in, her face lighting up like she was truly happy to see him. It still felt like a gift to him, having her friendship back after his betrayal. He’d used her to try to run away from his feelings for Eli, and to stave off the loneliness he’d felt after Eli had left, but the love he’d felt for her was always real. She looked different today, and Jess couldn’t put his finger on it, but whatever she’d changed really seemed to suit her. She looked gorgeous.

Hey darlin’, he said, walking up and kissing her cheek. You get your hair done or something?

Cassie rolled her eyes and laughed. Eli asked me if my dress was new. No, it is not, and no, I did not. I haven’t changed a thing. I can’t imagine what it is you two are talking about.

Jess shrugged. You just look real pretty, is all, he said. You ready to go?

I’ve been ready. I was waiting on you, princess. She picked up her purse and stood.

Jess gave Eli a quick kiss and they left. It was a beautiful morning, the sky blue and bright, but already getting way too hot. He could feel sweat forming under his arms, and not for the first time he questioned the wisdom of staying in Florida. Not that he really had much of a choice, of course. His mother and little brothers still needed him, and now this house and their ghostly inhabitants had anchored him and Eli to this place.

Ugh, Cassie said, sliding into the car, which had been baking in the sun while she was inside chatting. Fuck this weather.

I was just thinking the same thing. He looked at her. You ever think about moving somewhere else?

From time to time. You?

I guess I’m here for the long haul, he said. I can’t imagine trusting this house to someone else.

Cassie shook her head in exasperation and said, Because of those goddamn creepy ghosts? Why do you care so much about what happens to them?

Of course it wasn’t only about what would happen to them, but also what might happen to the next person to buy the place. There was no way he could tell her about that, though. She already thought their friendship with Clay and Silas was incredibly weird. God only knew what she’d do if she found out the truth about how Jess and Eli had first encountered them.

It’s not just that, he said. We sunk all our money into it. Plus, you know….

Yeah, I know, she said, smiling as she pulled onto the highway. You love it. I get it. She gave a short laugh, then said, And you love those goddamn ghosts, which I absolutely do not get. How do they not creep you out?

Jess grinned and shook his head. They’re not so much creepy as they are assholes. But they’re all right once you get to know them, and sometimes they crack me up. Besides, they love us. They take an interest.

What does that mean? Cassie asked, side-eyeing him.

Well… they can always tell when we’re fighting, and they usually have pretty good advice. They were together for a long time. It’s like having gay uncles.

Dead gay uncles, Cassie corrected him.

Jess let it go after that and gazed out the window. The place they were going was about an hour and a half away, but they had a lead on something that might be exactly what they were looking for. He was hoping that would perk up his mood.

The store was on the outskirts of a town that appeared as if it had once maybe had some money, with imposing old houses with peeling paint and unkempt yards lay