"So what do you think they're saying?" Avi asks as they all sit in the shade of the ruins of one of the buildings and watches as Tim walks back and forth as he talks to Rob.

"I don't know." Adam chuckles. "He just now got on the phone, Avi."

"A little anxious are we, Avriel?" Jenika laughs.

"Maybe. I love this place. It's just right for us." Avi shrugs.

"So if Rob goes for it and buys this place for us, how are we going to decide on who gets what house?" Austin asks.

"We could always go by seniority." Chance suggests.

"Seniority?" Chris asks. "What seniority?"

"Whoever was in Dead Town the longest. Of course, Tim was first there so he should get the first choice. Adam, being his partner, would have to go with what Tim chooses. And then Jenika and so on." Chance explains.

"That would work." Avi nods.

"Sounds good to me." Chris nods in agreement.

"Shhh, he's coming." Avi says as he sees Tim walking across the sand and rocks toward them.

"Well..." Tim says as he sits down next to his lover on a concrete block that was on the ground. "Rob is flying out tomorrow to check the place out. He still hasn't gone back to work yet. I sent him the pictures that Sami took and he actually thinks it looks promising." 

"Really?! That's awesome!" Sami smiles.

"I told him that we couldn't get inside to check them out but he said the realtor should be able to let us in." Tim says.

"If we get the place, I think we should grow a lot of our own food. You know, have a big garden." Avi says as he looks around the property.

"How do you expect to have a garden in the middle of a desert?" Nate asks.

"A greenhouse and a lot of irrigation. My mom taught me a lot about gardening and canning." Avi replies.

"Well, if we get the place, that can be your job." Tim chuckles and pats the smaller man on the back.

"Cool!" Avi smiles. "I make the best Bread and Butter pickles that you will ever eat. And after trying my home-made spaghetti sauce, you will never want store bought again."

"You're making me hungry." Adam laughs.

"Me too." Tim laughs as he drapes his arm over his lover's shoulder. "What about going and checking out some of the restaurants in town?"

"Lead the way." Chris smiles. "The donut I had for breakfast is gone."

Without saying another word, they jump up from where they all had been sitting and run toward the vehicles.

"Okay? Maybe running in the desert with a hundred plus temperature was not the smartest thing to do." Tim laughs as he leans against his car trying to catch his breath as he wipes the sweat from his forehead.

"It is rather warm." Jenika giggles as she fans herself.

They load into the two vehicles and head back into Beatty.

Tim drives pass the Subway, Cracker Barrell and McDonald's. He wanted something different. Somewhere they had never eaten at before.

"Hey, there's a place." Adam points. "Mel's Diner. That sounds cool."

Tim turns into the parking lot with Austin following close behind.

"Well, kiss my grits." Austin says in his thick Georgian accent. "I wonder if Flo is working?"

"Who?" Sami asks.

"Never mind, Sweetie." Chance chuckles. "I think that was before your time."

They walk in and is greeted by a very friendly waitress. They pull a few tables together so everyone would be eating together. She takes their drink order and leaves to give them time to look over the menu.

Tim slips on his glasses as he opens the menu.

"Holy sh*t. Would you look at this?" Tim says quietly as he eyes everything they have to offer. "I want one of everything."

"It all looks so good." Adam says. "We may have just found our favorite restaurant."

After a lot of deliberation and a few suggestions from the waitress, they were finally able to make decisions on what to order.

"I believe that was the hardest d*mn decision that I've ever had to make." Tim laughs as he hands the menu back to the waitress.

"Where are Y'all from?" The waitress asks as she collects their menus.

"Alabama" "California" "Minnesota" "California" "Colorado" "Texas" "California" "Georgia" "Texas" "Tennessee"

They all give their answer at the same time causing the waitress's jaw to drop.

"Okay?" She laughs.

"It's a long story." Tim chuckles.

"Well, I hope you enjoy our little town." She smiles.

"I'm sure we will." Adam replies.

~~

"That was the best meal I've had in a while." Tim says as he pushes his empty plate away.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." The waitress smiles as she collects their empty dishes. "How long have Y'all been in town?"

"We got here last night. Hadn't really had time to check out anything." Tim answers.

"What are some things to do around here?" Avi asks.

"Well, Beatty is known as 'The Gateway to Death Valley'. There are museums to check out. Miles of hiking and biking trails. All kinds of tours you can take. Off-road trails in the sand dunes. Uh, for nightlife, there's the Stage Coach Casino and the Sourdough Saloon. Just to name a few. But there're a lot of interesting places to check out." The waitress says.

"Okay, thank you." Avi smiles and nods.

"Definitely going to have to check out that Sourdough Saloon." Tim smiles.

"It sounds very country." Sami giggles.

"I like this place." Adam says.

"Me too." Chance says.

"So what's our next move if Rob agrees to buy this place?" Nate asks.

"Well, it's not like we can move right in." Tim chuckles. "There's a lot of work to do on those buildings to make them livable, a lot of cleaning up to do. Then we need to think about going back to our hometowns and getting whatever we need such as our vehicles, any furniture that we have, stuff like that."

"This is going to be so much fun. A lot of work but it'll be worth it." Jenika adds.

"Rob is supposed to contact me with his flight arrangements. I have no idea where I'm supposed to pick him up at." Tim says. "I don't even know if Beatty has an airport. I may have to drive all the way to Vegas to get him."

"How far is that? About five or six hour drive?" Avi asks just as Tim's phone sounds of a text message.

"Speak of the devil." Tim chuckles as he reads the text from Rob. "Sh*t, his plane will be landing in Las Vegas at seven in the morning. I need to find out how far Vegas is from here."

"Miss?" Adam calls to the waitress.

"Yes? Could I get you something else?" The friendly lady asks.

"Uh, we have to pick a friend up at the Las Vegas airport at seven in the morning. Could you tell us how far Vegas is from here?" Adam asks.

"It's about 127 miles. It only takes about two hours." The waitress answers.

"Oh, that's not too bad." Tim says as he texts Rob a reply. "I'll go pick him up and the rest of you guys can just hang out and maybe check out the town."

"Sounds fun." Jenika smiles.

"Can I tag along with you?" Adam asks as he leans into his lover.

"I wouldn't think of going without you." Tim smiles as he kisses his boyfriend softly on the lips.

********

Please, don't forget to VOTE & COMMENT!!