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

“This has always been a safe area.”


“You said yourself things are different now.”


He liked that Laurie worried about him, but at the same time, he preferred not to cause his boyfriend worry. “I am. I’m just tired.”


“Suppose we leave them like this for the time being,” Laurie suggested. “We can come out tomorrow morning and secure them better.”


Wheat nodded, and they walked back to the cottage, where flickering lights could be seen through the windows.


“We’re gonna have to do something about that.”


“We will.” Laurie wrapped an arm around Wheat’s shoulders and gave him a reassuring squeeze.


Wheat had never been able to tolerate being touched outside of bed, but with this man who Providence had given him, he found he couldn’t get enough of it. He wound his fingers in Laurie’s.


“What do you say we go see about dinner?” his boyfriend asked.


Chapter 57