Laurie Parkinson, who’s lived in Laurel Hills all his life, is a gay sheet metal worker who’d rather be a gay hairdresser. Wheat Dupuis, who’s also gay, is the scion of one of Laurel Hill’s wealthiest families. He’d rather grow grapes than become CFO of Dupuis International. Laurie wakes one morning to discover his family gone and his town decimated by a bacteria that has lain dormant for millennia, incased in ice. With the melting of the ice caps, the bacteria is released, and mankind faces a pandemic that could surpass the Black Plague. Wheat and his family are on their way to safety when the unthinkable happens and he’s left behind. Laurie knows of a bunker in the woods outside Laurel Hill, where he intends to take refuge. On the way there, Laurie finds and rescues Wheat. Can two such dissimilar men work together through a pandemic to find their families ... and possibly find love, as well?

Pandemic

“No, it isn’t that. At least not only that.”


“Is your head bothering you?” Laurie didn’t have much he could do for Wheat other than give him more ibuprofen, but how much was too much? It could be dangerous, and he didn’t want to chance it.


“I don’t think that’s likely, but tell me why you think so.”


“My father has—had—friends in the government. They’d told him what was going on, but never to this extent.”


Laurie reached out his other hand to rest on Wheat’s shoulder, and Wheat shied away. It was easy to see he really expected Laurie to haul off and slug him.


“I didn’t know, Laurie. Father swore to me…He sworeto me that they hadn’t let him know how serious this was. He’s my father. I believed him.”


Laurie could see how upset he was. He rose, walked around the table, and slid onto Wheat’s lap. “This isn’t your fault.”


Chapter 32