Blake believes in love at first sight; Stanley isn’t so sure. Their lifelong romance begins with a random meeting in a bar and ends in happily ever after.<br><br>As the years pass, Stanley’s struggling literary career takes off, and Blake finds fulfillment as a counselor at a local community college. When the AIDS epidemic strikes their small town in the 1980s, their resolve and relationship are tested. The only way to survive the crisis is to draw strength in the love they share.<br><br>Later, as they enter their senior years, they must deal with frightening new issues of infirmity and disability. Yet through it all, the two men share a deep, emotional bond that survives and strengthens their resolve to tackle any and all challenges head on. Together.

Words

Then, one morning, while Stanley procrastinated about, plopping down at the dining room table and finishing the outline for Act II, the phone rang.


“Yes. This is…yes, Stanley Fowler…yes…my birthdate? Ten, twenty-seven, forty-four. I can wait.” He twisted the phone cord around his wrist. More waiting. “Oh, thank you. Thank you.” Stanley drew in a long breath, held it, then exhaled with relief. He put down the receiver, then picked it up again and dialed a number he knew by heart. By heart. Such a telling phrase.


“Blake. I’m…I’m fine. I don’t have it.”


Silence. Then: “Don’t hang up, Stanley.”


“Dr. Edwards squeezed me in last week. I was worried I might have given it to you.”


“We need to try to be better,” Stanley said. “No more fooling around. With others.”


Chapter 4