Chapter 2I was glad Fr. Gary had suggested the book group. I’d found the recent meeting lively, I’d really liked the novel we discussed at that first meeting, and I’d had two encounters I thought were significant. I’d met Frank, to whom I was instantly attracted, and I’d met my erstwhile friend Burke.
Burke’s case was not uncommon. He had always been gay, but he’d done what so many men had done in those days, stifled his gay instincts, married, and lived the life of the good husband and father. I had to admire him and all those others like him. But I ached for Burke as well, knowing how much he had yearned—and burned—over the years. I honored him for keeping his commitment to his wife.
He’d invited me to dinner at some unspecified time. I couldn’t decline if asked. To refuse the offer of
