Page 22 of Cedarwood Manny

“No.”Not yet.

“Good.” Martha nodded. “Very good. You’re not corrupted.”

“Corrupted?” Nathan laughed and shook his head. “Who Dr. Ellet or I sleep with has nothing to do with how he does his work or my job.”

“I don’t want a gay man touching my mouth,” Martha said. “It might be contagious.”

“What? Being gay?” Nathan replied. “No one asks if being straight is contagious. They don’t call you strange for loving a man, instead of another woman. Why is who I love such a big deal? I’m not chasing either of you and I’m not throwing my affections under your nose. I’m like Dr. Ellet, living my life and minding my own business.”

“So you’re gay?” Claude’s eyes widened.

“Does that make a difference?” Nathan asked.

“Yes,” Martha snapped.

“I’m single.” And willing to dance around the topic as long as they wanted to keep going.

“Are you gay?” Claude asked. “The doctor is. He was married to aman.”

“It’s none of your business, but I am and so is he. No one seems to care that I’m gay, so you shouldn’t either.” He tossed the brochure onto the side table. “So no, I don’t want to attend any of your meetings. I’d like for you to leave me and the rest of the LGBTQ community alone. Hell, why don’t you leave the general public alone? I’m not interested in joining your group, so you’re wasting your time trying to persuade me,” Nathan said. “I’m busy and need to get back to work. Good afternoon.” Before they could say anything, he shut the door and engaged the lock. He’d been strong, but fuck…he wasn’t in the mood for this kind of shit right now.

He remained in the living room and waited for Martha and Claude to vacate the porch. He should call Adrien. If someone was going to try to solicit at Adrien’s house, then he needed to know. He fumbled with the phone and dialed Adrien’s personal cell number. After ten rings, he got Adrien’s voicemail.Shit.He called the main desk of the dental practice.

“Hello, Smile Dental. We’re here to make you smile. May I schedule your appointment?” the receptionist asked.

“I’m Nathan Gordon, Dr. Ellet’s manny. I’ve tried his cell and can’t get an answer. I need to speak to him and will wait until he’s free. It’s important, but not life-threatening,” Nathan said.

“I’m going to put you on hold and transfer you to his office line. He’s almost done with a patient, so it shouldn’t be long,” she said. “What’s the problem?”

“Just an intruder at the house,” he replied. “I’ll wait. Thanks.”

She said nothing else and left him in silence. The lack of noise or even computer-generated music unnerved him. He paced the length of the living room. The family wasn’t in danger, but he couldn’t shake the odd feeling in his belly. The couple concerned him. Were they stopping at every house? Just Dr. Ellet’s? Were they trying to feel them out?Possible.

Something buzzed.The line ringing?He wished Adrien would answer. He’d handled plenty of incidents in his career as a manny, but the Coalition was out of his realm of understanding.

“Hello? Nate?” Adrien puffed. “I ran into my office. Is Kyle okay?”

“He’s fine and still at preschool.” He needed to gather his wits.

“Oh, good. Are you hurt?”

“No.” He sank onto the arm of the sofa. He watched Martha and Claude’s car drive away. “Remember how you mentioned you were considering joining the single parent group?”

“I did in passing. Why?”

“Remember how there’s the group against the support one?” Nathan asked.

“I do.” Adrien paused. “What happened?” He spoke in a soothing tone and seemed unbothered—or hid his worry very well. “Tell me. If you’re safe and Kyle is too, then we can work with this.”

Nathan appreciated Adrien’s cool demeanor. “Two members of the anti-gay group showed up at the house. They tried to invite me to the meetings. I don’t know why they came to your place, but they said they wanted to speak to you. They know you’re gay and now they know I am, too. They aren’t happy, but they left.”

“They never are happy,” Adrien said. “Did they use the term family-friendly? Or was it cleaning up the neighborhood?”

“Family-friendly was their term of choice.” He’d have remembered the cleaning comment. Probably would’ve lost his cool over it, too.

“Nice. They think they’ll clean Cedarwood up by getting rid of anyone that doesn’t share their beliefs.”

“Sounds right,” Nathan said. “I got rid of them, but I’m worried I said too much. They talked about making the town better for families and were grossed out by you having a kid as well as me being your manny. I refused to back down, but I’m worried I put you and Kyle in danger. I stopped them, but they aren’t done, I’m sure.”

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