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“I just wanted to let you know.”

“And if I wasn’t who I am, would you have told me?”

He considered.Or what I assumed was considering.He let out a long breath.“No.Probably not.I don’t think in terms of race, but I know a bunch of people in the world still do, and I need to remind myself to be aware of that.Gaynor Beach is mostly an open and welcoming community.Full of love.But there are still a few people—bigoted, misogynistic, homophobic, and racist.”

“Being homophobic in a community so welcoming to queer people seems weird to me.”Hank would’ve hated it for that exact reason.He hated queer people.Although he’d lived with me for four years, he’d never seen himself as queer.

Anthony let out a little laugh.“Well, there is that.”He tucked his phone into his back pocket.“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah.”I let out a little laugh.“I’ve been saying that since you got here.”

“Sure.”He smiled.“Maybe text me after you see Dr.Martin?”

“Aren’t you going to talk to him?”I resisted the urge to narrow my eyes.

“Yes, I will do a debrief with him.But if nothing’s urgent, it might not happen until next week?”

“And if it’s urgent?”

He cocked his head.“Dr.Martin would contact me immediately, and either I or someone in the office would deal with it right away.”

“Deal with me?”

“Yes.”He continued to hold my gaze.

I waved my hand, almost as if I could swat away the notion.“I’m fine.I’m fine now, and I’ll be fine after I see Dr.Martin.I promise.”I couldn’t really make that promise—but that wouldn’t stop me from saying it anyway.

“Right.”His phone buzzed.He winced.

I gestured for him to take the call or look at the text or whatever he needed to do.

He yanked the phone from his back pocket and checked it.“Oh, uh…”

“Crap?”I offered that helpfully.“Or shit?”I would’ve offered up thef-wordbut he laughed.

“I don’t normally talk about my personal life, but my husband and I are known in the community—especially for our toddler twins.”

“Oh?”Okay, color me interested.Not really in kids per se…more of in a gay couple having them.I hadn’t seen any of that in my isolated world back in Oregon.

“They’re…they get into mischief.The daycare operator just texted me, and I won’t get into details, but I need to drop by to see what my daughter Alicia got into.”He rolled his eyes.“I adore her.Don’t get me wrong.”

“But…?”

He grinned.“Hell on wheels was an expression created for her.”He grabbed his messenger bag.“I’ll leave you.You’ve got everything you need?”

I rose and nodded.

Wally stirred, gave the situation a once-over, decided nothing interesting was happening, then went back to sleep.

I smiled.

So did Anthony.

We walked to the front door.

“Oh, you might want to check out the library.My husband is the head librarian.He can get you set up with a library card.You can then access a huge amount of digital material—e-books, magazines, and audiobooks.Plus lots of other stuff.You can’t take Wally to the library, unfortunately, but he’ll be okay if you leave him alone for a bit, right?”

I was uncertain, but Arthur had said if I put Wally in his crate that he should be okay.What had he said?Crate trained?I cleared my throat.“Maybe I can drop by after I see Dr.Martin on Friday.”Because that’s what adults did, right?They planned things.Used logistics.