When unlikely attraction blossoms between a twentysomething genderqueer tattoo artist and an older, small-town veterinarian, both are forced to face their pasts for a chance at a loving future. Four years ago Padraig Donovan lost his husband, the only man he’d ever been with. Now his life consists of the work he loves, a big empty house, and the possibility of a lonely future. Kaos’s experiments with makeup landed him in the hospital at the hands of his disapproving ex. With nowhere else to turn, he flees to Acker, Wisconsin ... and runs into a sexy widower and the kindest man he’s ever met. Padraig and Kaos know there’s something worth exploring between them, and as they raise a puppy and deal with the ups and downs of their respective jobs, they fit into each other’s lives in ways they never expected. Being with Kaos -- who is so different than the guys he’s always been attracted to -- opens up an exciting new world for Padraig. But can he convince Kaos to trust another man with his body ... let alone his heart?

Four

“Save it. I know your mind went there for a moment. She’s black, and Grandpa was Korean. My mom looked mixed.” Kaos pointed at a photo of his mom when she’d been fifteen, just a couple of years before he’d been born. She looked so young and pretty in it. “My dad, I assume he was white, you know?” He gestured at himself. Somehow all the different genes had mixed into a blond with slightly tanned-looking skin and hazel eyes. If you squinted, there might’ve been some of his grandpa in him, but mostly he just looked like a paler version of his mom.


“You look a lot like her,” Padraig mused out loud.


“I think so too. That’s not how I remember her, though. She wasn’t a good mom—that’s why Grandma raised me. I always saw her when she came back to try to get cash from Grandma, and she didn’t look anything like that.”


“Yeah, it is what it is, and here I am. It’s not a big deal anymore. I don’t even miss her.”


Chapter 28