What if you could hear the words behind the words?
Brad Weston’s life seems perfect. He’s GQ handsome, the chief of staff for a Republican California state senator, and enjoys the power and the promise of a bright future. And he’s in a comfortable relationship with his boyfriend of six years, Alex.
Sam Fuller is Brad’s young blond blue-eyed intern, fresh out of college, running from a bad breakup, and questioning his choices and his new life in politics. To make things worse, Sam also has a thing for the boss, but Brad is already taken.
While looking for a gift for his boyfriend, Brad wanders into a curiosity shop and becomes fascinated by an old wooden medallion. Brad's not a superstitious man, but when he takes out the medallion in his office, he sees the world in a whole new light.
And nothing will ever be the same.
First off I just want to say that as this is a short story/short novella I am not going to speak towards the specifics of the plot as I don't want to give anything away(you know my adage "I don't do spoilers"😉). Second, this is my first J Scott Coatsworth read but it definitely won't be my last. If you're like me and a little late to the party(as Between the Lines was released in 2015) I was fascinated by the subtle blending of fantasy and reality.
Between the Lines is not your typical full-blown paranormal that I tend to spotlight throughout October here on my blog but it's the said subtleties that intrigued me. We've all had moments when we wished we knew what the other person was really thinking despite the words they let us hear and that's what Between is all about. Then there's the idea of accepting we already knew the truth just needed a little outside help to prove it to ourselves. Now I realize some might think that sounds like a spoiler but it really isn't because as so often in literature, the ending isn't always in question, it's the journey getting from page one to the end.
Could Brad's journey in Between the Lines been better had it been a longer novella or even a full-length novel with more detail at each discovery? Sure, because Brad is a likable character(mostly😉) who deserves happiness but truthfully I liked that it was a short tale because sometimes a story can be bogged down by too much detail. In my opinion Between the Lines is perfect length for this journey of discovery. As I often say in short tales, this gem may be short on quantity but it is long on quality.
RATING:
IT BEGAN with a medallion.
The piece was a simple wooden disk, hand carved with the shapes of leaves and forest boughs and polished by centuries of use, giving it a patina of great age.
It sat upon a small green velvet pillow—the kind jewelers sometimes use, rather unsuccessfully, to enhance a plain necklace of false pearls. The kind you might expect to find on your grandmother’s settee, in a slightly larger size, embroidered with “Home Sweet Home.”
Yet there was something compulsive about it—something hidden in the dark crevices of the carving, filled with the dust of ages.
At least that’s what Brad would recall years later, when he thought back on the first time he saw it: the moment when the lines of his mundane life suddenly snarled, snapped, and ultimately recombined into something quite different.
Of course, he didn’t know any of this at the time.
Brad had discovered the little curio store in the heart of downtown Sacramento quite by accident on his lunch hour, shortly after finishing a meal that included something called “candied bacon,” which he was pretty sure was neither.
His six-year anniversary with Alex was the next day, and something about the place—a little boutique store with a faded sign that read “Murdock’s Hardware and Fine Things,” on a nondescript block of K Street—caught his eye.
Brad had almost missed it. In fact he was sure he had missed it many times before, on this busy Sacramento street that he walked four times a day, every day of the workweek. Funny how sometimes you knew a place so well that you no longer really saw it.
Crossing the threshold into the little shop, he felt strangely excited. Well, not quite excited. Entranced, maybe. Enticed by a strange smell inside—sandalwood.
Long rows of fading pegboard were full of tarnished metal hooks holding dusty little packets, some of them so covered in grime that it was impossible to tell what they held. Brad refrained from touching any of them, a little disgusted by it. He liked things neat and tidy, everything in its place.
An old fluorescent light fixture lit the cramped space. It had a short, one bulb flickering with an annoying buzz, the other shining a steady, reassuring glow. There was no one else about, not even the owner.
From somewhere in the back of the shop, music drifted through the air… an old song. “Moon River”? His grandmother would have known.
He wandered down one of the aisles, drawn by something. Some combination of the music, the incense, and a sense that there was something old and subtle at work here. The place was a window into the past, just a block from the bustle of his office and the modern age.
A lighted case sat at the back of the store, illuminated from inside, pushing back the gloom. It was filled with bits of junk: plastic lighters with pictures of World War II girls in bikinis, three decks of playing cards (the old style with the flowing red patterns intersecting like antique lace on the back), striped candy sticks in red and green and orange, their plastic wrappers yellowed with age. Salt and pepper shakers shaped like penguins with red-and-green scarves, an ancient little black typewriter, and a stack of old pens from various motels and gas stations.
Then he saw the medallion.
“Can I help you?”
Brad looked up, startled, to find the proprietor, a woman one might charitably call old, standing behind the counter in front of him. In fact, Brad had a hard time remembering seeing anyone who looked so ancient. Her gray hair was tucked into a bun, but several locks eluded her control, hanging down her neck in long listless strands. Her face was nothing but wrinkles and her nose was crooked. In some strange way she was beautiful: a portrait of age personified.
She looked Brad up and down, taking in his smartly tailored Italian suit, his sharp red tie, and his neatly manicured appearance. She likely saw many people just like him come through her shop, this close to the Capitol building.
He must have looked confused, because she asked him once again, “Can I help you?” in a voice much stronger and clearer than he would have expected. He realized she had an accent. Irish, maybe? Or Scottish?
There was something kind yet threatening in her clear blue eyes. The wrinkles around them gave her a sweet old-womanly aspect, but her gaze was cold and hard. She looked like the kind of woman you didn’t cross lightly. Despite her obvious cataracts, he had the feeling she saw him as clearly as he could see her.
“I saw the sign….” he managed, and she chuckled.
“That old thing? Me father hung that shingle out when he first opened the store… must be seventy, eighty years ago now.” She grasped one hand over the other on her cane, a small smile crossing her features. “Needs a good new coat of paint, it does.”
He smiled back. “Got me in here.” He looked back down at the medallion. “I was looking for a gift. Something for… my boyfriend. Anniversary, you know.”
“Let’s see,” the proprietress answered, searching the case. “I’ve got something here you might like.” She set down her cane and bent over the back of the glass case, working the wooden door open.
Brad watched, a bit alarmed that she might lose her balance, wondering what he should do if she fell. Call 911? Yell for help?
“Ah, here it is.” She stood up, rearranging her old woolen shawl with one hand and holding out her prize with the other. “Real old-fashioned pocket watch.”
It was trimmed in silver and hung on a short chain. It was beautiful.
“Mmmm….” He admired the watch but was still drawn to the wooden medallion. “It’s quite nice, but he has a watch. Rolex, actually.”
She did not look impressed. “Good price on this one. Bit of a story. You see, back in the Second World War—”
“Actually—” Brad sneaked a peek at his own watch. His lunchtime was quickly drawing to a close. “—I had my eye on something else. That medallion in the front.” He pointed at the little wooden disk with the leaves and branches, sitting forlornly on its green velvet pillow. Alex loved all things old and Celtic.
She frowned. “That’s an ancient piece. It’s from the old country. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Her hand whipped out, quick as a snake, and grasped his arm. As she stared him in the face, Brad felt something electric pass between them. “Yes, I think you’re right. That’s the one for you, yes indeed.”
She let go, and he stumbled back a step. Whatever had possessed him to come into this dirty little shop, anyhow? He’d have been much better off going to Nordstrom.
She turned away to get a bag.
Brad took the opportunity to back slowly away from the case, ready to leave this strange little place with its flickering light bulb, strange smells, and bits of old bric-a-brac. He really should be getting back to the senator’s office. Or, as he called his boss, Her—capital intended. It suited her pretentious nature.
Before he could override his good manners and make a clean break, she turned back to him and smiled again. This time, he felt a distinct chill run down his back.
She took the medallion from the case and slipped it into a small black velvet pouch. She said something softly to herself that he didn’t quite catch.
“What was that?” he asked.
“I said, ‘I hope he likes it.’”
She flashed a smile at him, and her teeth were yellow and uneven.
Brad nodded. “There’s just something about it. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.” He hoped so. They’d been through a little bit of a rough patch lately, with their different hours and incomes. He was always offering to pay for things—he could afford it—but Alex hated it. So they’d come up with the idea of “equitable, not equal”—they each paid for what they could afford, not 50 percent of everything. Otherwise, they’d be eating burgers and fries every meal out.
She pulled the drawstrings tight on the pouch and put it in a bright yellow plastic sack. “Here you go.”
“How much do I owe you?” He took his wallet from out of his pocket and pulled out a twenty.
She pushed his hand away. “Nothing. It’s my gift. It’s been gathering dust around here for years.” She gave him her gap-toothed smile again.
He shivered. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “It belongs with the two of you. Tell him happy anniversary from an old woman from the Isles.”
“Well… thank you. That’s very kind.” He turned away, and then, feeling awkward about the gift, thought better of it. “Are you sure?” he asked again.
But the shop was empty—she had already disappeared into the back. He could hear her whistling along with the record player.
He shook his head. What a strange little place.
The words of the song followed him out the door, carried on the warm spring breeze like the promise of treasure at the end of a rainbow.
SAM FULLER juggled the coffee cup holder in one hand while he shoved his wallet into his back pocket with the other. Damn, he hated having to wear these cheap black dress slacks and his starched white shirt and tie. Give him a pair of well-worn jeans and a flannel shirt any day.
And yet the clothes went with the job, and it was this job that had gotten him away from Tucson, and Jameson.
These runs to the Everyday Grind coffee shop were part of his job too. There were at least three Starbucks closer to the Capitol, but if the boss wanted his two-pump, sugar-free, nonfat soy, decaf vanilla latte—extra hot, of course—from the EG, that was what he’d get. As the intern to the chief of staff, it was Sam’s job to keep Brad Weston happy, so that Brad could keep Senator Wakeman happy.
Not that he minded. He’d been here now almost four months, and the warm Sacramento weather was not all that different from Tucson’s spring, when it came right down to it. But the vibe sure was. Tucson was a college town, a liberal city in deep red Arizona.
Sacramento was a political one, and that made all the difference. During the weekdays, politics was the lifeblood of the capital city, but half the town shut down on Friday night for the weekend.
Irony of ironies, he’d left red-state Arizona for the much more liberal state of California. Now he was here, working for a Republican senator.
He backed out of the door, smiling at the balding bear of a man who held it open for him. “Thanks,” he said, and the bear flashed him a grin.
“Any time, handsome.”
Sure, the guy was older and maybe not his type, but his mother had instilled some common decency in him. “You gotta learn to be a gentleman, Sam” was one of her favorite sayings. He suspected it had something to do with his father, who had exited the scene when he was two, and of whom he had no memory whatsoever.
Sam glanced at his watch. It was almost one thirty. He’d have to hightail it back to the office to make it in time for the meeting. He hadn’t counted on such a long line for coffee.
He walked quickly down L Street, marveling at how fast Sacramento had become home. Not that he didn’t miss his hometown, but it was good to have made a fresh start here, after the painful breakup.
He reached the Capitol building after a brisk ten-minute walk and breezed through security. He bounded up the stairs and into the senator’s offices with a minute to spare, depositing his boss’s coffee on his desk. Brad was on the phone but waved absently in thanks.
Sam dropped off the other two coffees with Toby and Jacqui and sat back down at his desk to gather his notes for the meeting.
He ran his free hand through his blond hair—it was about time for a cut. His surfer looks got him a lot of play in the bars, which was kind of ironic since he was from a landlocked state and had never surfed a day in his life.
Even so, he ignored the men who approached him at Faces and the Depot. There was someone else he had fallen for.
Trouble was, the guy had no idea. But that was going to change soon. Sam had made a vow when he’d finished college and left his cheating ex behind in Tucson.
It was time to start living his life.
The piece was a simple wooden disk, hand carved with the shapes of leaves and forest boughs and polished by centuries of use, giving it a patina of great age.
It sat upon a small green velvet pillow—the kind jewelers sometimes use, rather unsuccessfully, to enhance a plain necklace of false pearls. The kind you might expect to find on your grandmother’s settee, in a slightly larger size, embroidered with “Home Sweet Home.”
Yet there was something compulsive about it—something hidden in the dark crevices of the carving, filled with the dust of ages.
At least that’s what Brad would recall years later, when he thought back on the first time he saw it: the moment when the lines of his mundane life suddenly snarled, snapped, and ultimately recombined into something quite different.
Of course, he didn’t know any of this at the time.
Brad had discovered the little curio store in the heart of downtown Sacramento quite by accident on his lunch hour, shortly after finishing a meal that included something called “candied bacon,” which he was pretty sure was neither.
His six-year anniversary with Alex was the next day, and something about the place—a little boutique store with a faded sign that read “Murdock’s Hardware and Fine Things,” on a nondescript block of K Street—caught his eye.
Brad had almost missed it. In fact he was sure he had missed it many times before, on this busy Sacramento street that he walked four times a day, every day of the workweek. Funny how sometimes you knew a place so well that you no longer really saw it.
Crossing the threshold into the little shop, he felt strangely excited. Well, not quite excited. Entranced, maybe. Enticed by a strange smell inside—sandalwood.
Long rows of fading pegboard were full of tarnished metal hooks holding dusty little packets, some of them so covered in grime that it was impossible to tell what they held. Brad refrained from touching any of them, a little disgusted by it. He liked things neat and tidy, everything in its place.
An old fluorescent light fixture lit the cramped space. It had a short, one bulb flickering with an annoying buzz, the other shining a steady, reassuring glow. There was no one else about, not even the owner.
From somewhere in the back of the shop, music drifted through the air… an old song. “Moon River”? His grandmother would have known.
He wandered down one of the aisles, drawn by something. Some combination of the music, the incense, and a sense that there was something old and subtle at work here. The place was a window into the past, just a block from the bustle of his office and the modern age.
A lighted case sat at the back of the store, illuminated from inside, pushing back the gloom. It was filled with bits of junk: plastic lighters with pictures of World War II girls in bikinis, three decks of playing cards (the old style with the flowing red patterns intersecting like antique lace on the back), striped candy sticks in red and green and orange, their plastic wrappers yellowed with age. Salt and pepper shakers shaped like penguins with red-and-green scarves, an ancient little black typewriter, and a stack of old pens from various motels and gas stations.
Then he saw the medallion.
“Can I help you?”
Brad looked up, startled, to find the proprietor, a woman one might charitably call old, standing behind the counter in front of him. In fact, Brad had a hard time remembering seeing anyone who looked so ancient. Her gray hair was tucked into a bun, but several locks eluded her control, hanging down her neck in long listless strands. Her face was nothing but wrinkles and her nose was crooked. In some strange way she was beautiful: a portrait of age personified.
She looked Brad up and down, taking in his smartly tailored Italian suit, his sharp red tie, and his neatly manicured appearance. She likely saw many people just like him come through her shop, this close to the Capitol building.
He must have looked confused, because she asked him once again, “Can I help you?” in a voice much stronger and clearer than he would have expected. He realized she had an accent. Irish, maybe? Or Scottish?
There was something kind yet threatening in her clear blue eyes. The wrinkles around them gave her a sweet old-womanly aspect, but her gaze was cold and hard. She looked like the kind of woman you didn’t cross lightly. Despite her obvious cataracts, he had the feeling she saw him as clearly as he could see her.
“I saw the sign….” he managed, and she chuckled.
“That old thing? Me father hung that shingle out when he first opened the store… must be seventy, eighty years ago now.” She grasped one hand over the other on her cane, a small smile crossing her features. “Needs a good new coat of paint, it does.”
He smiled back. “Got me in here.” He looked back down at the medallion. “I was looking for a gift. Something for… my boyfriend. Anniversary, you know.”
“Let’s see,” the proprietress answered, searching the case. “I’ve got something here you might like.” She set down her cane and bent over the back of the glass case, working the wooden door open.
Brad watched, a bit alarmed that she might lose her balance, wondering what he should do if she fell. Call 911? Yell for help?
“Ah, here it is.” She stood up, rearranging her old woolen shawl with one hand and holding out her prize with the other. “Real old-fashioned pocket watch.”
It was trimmed in silver and hung on a short chain. It was beautiful.
“Mmmm….” He admired the watch but was still drawn to the wooden medallion. “It’s quite nice, but he has a watch. Rolex, actually.”
She did not look impressed. “Good price on this one. Bit of a story. You see, back in the Second World War—”
“Actually—” Brad sneaked a peek at his own watch. His lunchtime was quickly drawing to a close. “—I had my eye on something else. That medallion in the front.” He pointed at the little wooden disk with the leaves and branches, sitting forlornly on its green velvet pillow. Alex loved all things old and Celtic.
She frowned. “That’s an ancient piece. It’s from the old country. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Her hand whipped out, quick as a snake, and grasped his arm. As she stared him in the face, Brad felt something electric pass between them. “Yes, I think you’re right. That’s the one for you, yes indeed.”
She let go, and he stumbled back a step. Whatever had possessed him to come into this dirty little shop, anyhow? He’d have been much better off going to Nordstrom.
She turned away to get a bag.
Brad took the opportunity to back slowly away from the case, ready to leave this strange little place with its flickering light bulb, strange smells, and bits of old bric-a-brac. He really should be getting back to the senator’s office. Or, as he called his boss, Her—capital intended. It suited her pretentious nature.
Before he could override his good manners and make a clean break, she turned back to him and smiled again. This time, he felt a distinct chill run down his back.
She took the medallion from the case and slipped it into a small black velvet pouch. She said something softly to herself that he didn’t quite catch.
“What was that?” he asked.
“I said, ‘I hope he likes it.’”
She flashed a smile at him, and her teeth were yellow and uneven.
Brad nodded. “There’s just something about it. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.” He hoped so. They’d been through a little bit of a rough patch lately, with their different hours and incomes. He was always offering to pay for things—he could afford it—but Alex hated it. So they’d come up with the idea of “equitable, not equal”—they each paid for what they could afford, not 50 percent of everything. Otherwise, they’d be eating burgers and fries every meal out.
She pulled the drawstrings tight on the pouch and put it in a bright yellow plastic sack. “Here you go.”
“How much do I owe you?” He took his wallet from out of his pocket and pulled out a twenty.
She pushed his hand away. “Nothing. It’s my gift. It’s been gathering dust around here for years.” She gave him her gap-toothed smile again.
He shivered. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “It belongs with the two of you. Tell him happy anniversary from an old woman from the Isles.”
“Well… thank you. That’s very kind.” He turned away, and then, feeling awkward about the gift, thought better of it. “Are you sure?” he asked again.
But the shop was empty—she had already disappeared into the back. He could hear her whistling along with the record player.
He shook his head. What a strange little place.
The words of the song followed him out the door, carried on the warm spring breeze like the promise of treasure at the end of a rainbow.
SAM FULLER juggled the coffee cup holder in one hand while he shoved his wallet into his back pocket with the other. Damn, he hated having to wear these cheap black dress slacks and his starched white shirt and tie. Give him a pair of well-worn jeans and a flannel shirt any day.
And yet the clothes went with the job, and it was this job that had gotten him away from Tucson, and Jameson.
These runs to the Everyday Grind coffee shop were part of his job too. There were at least three Starbucks closer to the Capitol, but if the boss wanted his two-pump, sugar-free, nonfat soy, decaf vanilla latte—extra hot, of course—from the EG, that was what he’d get. As the intern to the chief of staff, it was Sam’s job to keep Brad Weston happy, so that Brad could keep Senator Wakeman happy.
Not that he minded. He’d been here now almost four months, and the warm Sacramento weather was not all that different from Tucson’s spring, when it came right down to it. But the vibe sure was. Tucson was a college town, a liberal city in deep red Arizona.
Sacramento was a political one, and that made all the difference. During the weekdays, politics was the lifeblood of the capital city, but half the town shut down on Friday night for the weekend.
Irony of ironies, he’d left red-state Arizona for the much more liberal state of California. Now he was here, working for a Republican senator.
He backed out of the door, smiling at the balding bear of a man who held it open for him. “Thanks,” he said, and the bear flashed him a grin.
“Any time, handsome.”
Sure, the guy was older and maybe not his type, but his mother had instilled some common decency in him. “You gotta learn to be a gentleman, Sam” was one of her favorite sayings. He suspected it had something to do with his father, who had exited the scene when he was two, and of whom he had no memory whatsoever.
Sam glanced at his watch. It was almost one thirty. He’d have to hightail it back to the office to make it in time for the meeting. He hadn’t counted on such a long line for coffee.
He walked quickly down L Street, marveling at how fast Sacramento had become home. Not that he didn’t miss his hometown, but it was good to have made a fresh start here, after the painful breakup.
He reached the Capitol building after a brisk ten-minute walk and breezed through security. He bounded up the stairs and into the senator’s offices with a minute to spare, depositing his boss’s coffee on his desk. Brad was on the phone but waved absently in thanks.
Sam dropped off the other two coffees with Toby and Jacqui and sat back down at his desk to gather his notes for the meeting.
He ran his free hand through his blond hair—it was about time for a cut. His surfer looks got him a lot of play in the bars, which was kind of ironic since he was from a landlocked state and had never surfed a day in his life.
Even so, he ignored the men who approached him at Faces and the Depot. There was someone else he had fallen for.
Trouble was, the guy had no idea. But that was going to change soon. Sam had made a vow when he’d finished college and left his cheating ex behind in Tucson.
It was time to start living his life.
J. Scott Coatsworth lives with his husband Mark in a little yellow bungalow in East Sacramento with two pink flamingos out front. He spends his time between the here and now and the what could be. Ushered into fantasy and sci-fi at the tender age of nine by his mother, he devoured her library of Asimovs, Clarkes, and McCaffreys. But as he grew up, he wondered where the gay people were in speculative fiction.
He decided it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at Waldenbooks. If there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would write them himself.
His friends say Scott’s brain works a little differently—he sees relationships between things that others miss, and often gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. He transforms traditional sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something unexpected.
He and Mark also run Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink, sites that bring LGBTIQA communities together to celebrate fiction that reflects queer life and love.
EMAIL: jscottc@me.com
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