Tom Foster has his life planned out, and he's systematically pursuing his goals. At twenty-two, he's been organist and choirmaster at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd for three years, he's working on his doctoral thesis, and he's beginning a secondary career performing in concert. There is no room in his schedule for romance ... until Noah Webster, a gorgeous green-eyed blond, walks into the church one evening to audition for the choir.<br><br>What starts as an arrangement of convenience -- Tom's usual page turner is unavailable, and Noah agrees to do the job-soon turns into a fast friendship. Then Noah, who is saddled with an obnoxious roommate, rents the spare bedroom in Tom's house, and ultimately the two men become lovers and partners in life.<br><br>But before they can ride off into the sunset together, they must face one major obstacle: Noah's violent, homophobic Southern Baptist father.

Love Turns the Page

“We had a surprise visitor. Noah’s father appeared at our door in a somewhat belligerent mood. To make a long story short, he blamed me for corrupting his little boy and took a swing at me.”


“I hope you hit him back,” Sylvia said.


“I didn’t get a chance to do that. For one thing, I spent a couple of minutes lying on the floor studying the ceiling—you should try it sometime, it gives you a whole new perspective on things. Anyhow, by the time I’d snapped out of it and figured out what had just happened, one of our guests, who also happens to be a policeman, had intervened. Mr. Webster swung at him, too, and was subsequently hauled off to jail in handcuffs, charged with simple assault on me and with assaulting a police officer. Enough said.”


Tom sat down at the piano and said, “Let’s do a little warm-up.”


Chapter 67