Funeral home owner and undertaker Dual Hood knows a good thing when he sees it, so when Charlie Soder applies for the job of embalmer, he snatches up the young man in a heartbeat. Charlie, fresh-faced and just out of college, also knows a good thing when he sees it, and immediately sets his sights on his new sexy boss.<br><br>It doesn’t take long for sparks to fly and romance to blossom. But Dual worries what folks in his small Mississippi town will say, and whether his family-owned business will suffer if word goes round about his new love interest. He isn’t at all certain he has the courage to do the right thing and grab love before it slips through his fingers.

The Undertaker's Secret

“My name is Dual Hood and I’m a great big gay boy. Come on. You can do it.”


“Well, not everybody. But Mama knew. And I knew. People aren’t dumb. You seem to be the only one who hasn’t figured it out yet.”


“It would have killed Mama,” I said.


“I don’t think so. She wouldn’t have liked it. She was old school. It was different in her day. But she loved you and she would have adjusted. And Charlie’s a nice young man. I mean, like, okay, he’s a total cutie pie, but he’s also nice. He has manners. And respect. Mama would have liked him. She would have gotten used to the idea. You don’t give her enough credit. She’d fight you tooth and nail, but once you made the decision, she would have gotten on board. That’s how she was. She’d work it out. And so will everyone else.”


Chapter 29