Garner working as a waiter at an upscale restaurant with a growing attraction to a man named Alonzo, who always asks to be put in his section for dinner. One night after work, the man is assaulted while trailing Garner. Garner goes to his aid, but is shot for his trouble.<br><br>Taking time off from work to recover, Garner is resting on a park bench when Alonzo suddenly appears at the other end of the bench. Garner never saw him approach. He asks why Alonzo is trailing him.<br><br>After some hesitation, Alonzo explains he wants to recruit Garner to help fight against others who systematically hunt people like himself. Garner isn’t inclined to get involved in anything dangerous, but he does finds Alonzo more and more attractive, so he agrees to consider the idea. As he learns more about Alonzo’s bizarre and dangerous subculture, what Garner really wants to know is whether Alonzo is romantically interested in him at all.

Call to Love

There were some ugly moments after that, both of pain and of gnarly thoughts; but he weathered both, viewing them as another form of workout. He shied away from thinking of himself as the kind of lean, mean workout machine that some of the gym commercials advocated; it wasn’t his style. He just kept his head down, so to speak, and got on with the task.


Learning to eat well was another hurdle, of course. Vera was a help in this; she knew about healthy eating even if she was spotty in following its rules. At her suggestion, he bought several cookbooks on healthy cuisine, and now followed her advice that he should never have bad food in the house. To help him, she ordered mostly healthy dishes when they met for lunch. When he assured her that she needn’t do that, and that he actually liked to see hereat the foods he was not allowed, she gave him a very penetrating look.


Chapter 44