Curt, a college professor, lives with his lover of several years, a pediatrician of Chinese descent named Lee. Eager to write, he receives a grant to take the summer off and work on a novel. Then Lee's mother calls -- she wants to visit. Curt is eager to meet her but Lee isn't so sure ... she's of a different generation, a different culture even, and doesn’t speak much English. Still, Curt insists.<br><br>But when Mrs. Gui arrives, Curt finds himself struggling with writer’s block. He feels like an outsider in his own home when Lee and his mother converse in Cantonese, leaving him out of the conversation, and even his sex life suffers with her in the bedroom next to theirs. Can Curt and Mrs. Gui move past their cultural differences to see that they both love Lee and have his best interests at heart?

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Barefoot, I ran down the steps like a quarterback jogging through tires at practice. “Mrs. Gui!” I called from the foyer, where I paused long enough to pull on my Birkenstock sandals. Maybe she hadn’t called Lee. Maybe I could make it up to her somehow and he’d never have to know. After the warmth and love we shared last night, I sure as hell didn’t intend to be in the doghouse with him over something as silly as this.


My excuse was already in place as I hurried down the hall. “I’m sorry, I lost track of time. You could’ve—” The rest of whatever it was I would have said dried up when I walked into the empty living room. “Mrs. Gui?”


Chapter 26