Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 1

arrived. She cut him off with a regal wave.
    "I'm so sorry to bother you, but Winston just insisted we wait for you so we could apologize for his behavior." The hand not holding the leash fluttered around her distractingly. Bright red nails on heavily ringed fingers flashed before him like a hyper hummingbird. Jordan noticed Cal keeping a wary eye on them, maybe concerned she was not in control of the flashy weapons. "He feels really bad about sitting on you before."
    Cal's eyebrows rose as he processed her statement. He must have decided not to address the crazy and focused instead on the literal. "Yet, here he sits on my feet once again." He cocked his head, making his dark hair flop enticingly over his brows. If he'd noticed Jordan's arrival he made no indication of it. He appeared almost enthralled—in a horrified inability to look away kind of way—by the eccentric woman with the too-much makeup and the yellow hair.
    "I know, I know." Flutter, flutter. But she did nothing about moving the drooling brute, instead actually stepping closer to Cal, peering up from her made-up eyes. Resisting the urge to brush at the black curls blowing in Cal's eyes, Jordan noticed randomly that Mrs. Miller's iron coif made not a single concession to the breeze whistling through the parking lot. But then she was getting too close, and his only thought was to intercept the uncomfortable encounter.
    Jordan stepped forward, but Cal beat him to it. "Um." Cal coughed. The universal 'ahem' of the exasperated. "Apology accepted. Now could you maybe get him off me?"
    Jordan froze, suddenly compelled to watch this play out. He was closer now, close enough to be encompassed within the cloud of perfume that identified to any and all that there was a rich old lady nearby.
    Mrs. Miller appeared not to have heard him. She tipped her head and squinted her eyes, huge spider legs tangling over crazy liquid blue. "You're gay, huh?" Jordan held his breath, stunned at the boldness of her statement, but really, really needing to know the answer.
    Cal gaped. Sputtering, visibly livid, he frowned and shoved at the dog, apparently done with the being polite to your elders bullshit. "I don't see how that's any of your business, or how the hell you get off asking me outright!"
    Yep. Definitely gay, Jordan thought. Unfortunately, not exactly thrilled about it.
    "Oh, dear," Mrs. Miller stepped back, over-rouged cheeks flaming even brighter. This time the random thought was that the pink of her skin clashed horribly with the rose red of her makeup. Her hand was flapping about again. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! That really was horribly rude, wasn't it? I only asked because Winston is wildly sensitive to gay men. He almost never acts like this, but when he does, which is hardly ever, mind you, it's always over a man and he always ends up being gay." She babbled, and then gasped. "Oh, not that he turns them gay, because he obviously can't do that. That would just be crazy. What I mean is I come to discover the men happen to be gay."
    Cal appeared to be stumped, edging towards perturbed. Jordan couldn't blame him. How does one react to that kind of nonsense? Run. That's how. Cal responded before Jordan could even come up with what the hell to say to that. "That's, uh, interesting, ma'am, but I don't …" He trailed off, raising his eyes directly to Jordan's. But, to Jordan's dismay, they darted away too quickly to read.
    Mrs. Miller was nodding vigorously, as if he were visually placing the pieces together before her very eyes. "That's right. Doctor Mac is gay, too."
    Okay. Time to snap out of it. Jordan wrapped a hand around Mrs. Miller's bony arm and tugged gently to alert her to his presence. She hadn't once looked in his direction, even when the dog had grunted in acknowledgment of his arrival. But to his horror, she ignored him and suddenly leaned in uncomfortably close to Cal to whisper way too loudly, "I think Winston thinks you two belong together."
    "Oh? Did he tell you that as well, then?" Cal snapped, and Jordan thought he must be wondering at this point how he had managed to get dragged along on this train wreck.
    The illustrious Mrs. Miller only shrugged and held her hand palm up, as if to imply he had just answered his own question by stating the most logical conclusion given the 'facts' presented.
    "Mrs. Miller," Jordan intercepted, and she looked at him now, blinking owlishly as she stepped away from Cal. Winston, apparently taking pity on the