Chapter 22: The Cabin

The cabin sat on a bend of the Allegheny with a woodstove, one bed and no signal.

Frank had left a note on the table in block capitals.

STOVE STICKS IF YOU YANK IT. FIREWOOD IS ON THE PORCH. I AM NOT ASKING ANYTHING.

Eli read it aloud, and Gabe laughed until he had to sit down.

By dark the stove was lit and the room was warm.

They had eaten out of cans and a bag of apples, and Eli sat on the rug in front of the fire in one of Gabe's shirts.

Gabe sat on the edge of the bed with his glasses off, watching him.

"What?" Eli said.

"I'm trying to remember when I last had nothing to do."

"And?"

"I think it was the summer I finished my residency."

Eli smiled and did not look away.

"Come here," he said.

Gabe came down off the bed and onto the rug, and Eli pushed him gently onto his back.

He settled over him, knees on either side of his hips, and put his hands flat on Gabe's chest.

Firelight moved on the silver at Gabe's temples.

"I want to tell you something first," Eli said.

"All right."

"I called you Uncle for twenty-two years."

"I know."

"The first time I said Daddy was a slip. You made me say it twice, and I was so far gone I didn't think about it."

Gabe's chest rose under his hands.

"Tonight I'm going to say it on purpose," Eli said. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm not confused, and nobody arranged it, not even my dad."

"Eli."

"You were Uncle Gabe at every Sunday dinner of my life. I'm a grown man, and I want the man who sat at that table to take me apart."

For a moment Gabe could not speak.

Then he said, hoarsely, "Say it."

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