Heatstroke (extended version) (15 page)

 

"Good job, dude," Charlie mouthed.

 

Michael winked at him. "You, too."

 

It was the best day ever, Michael thought as he got ready for bed that night. The family was

 

complete and finally together. More than a miracle, it was one hell of a happy ending.

 

He closed the bedroom window, and was about to turn around when he noticed the two figures

 

walking towards the beach. They were holding hands but didn't seem to be talking. After almost

 

forty-five years together, Michael figured they didn't have to in order to communicate.

 

He'd watched them all day. He'd seen them share subtle and not so subtle touches; feed each

 

other and hug lovingly when they went in the pool. That there was still passion between them was

 

obvious, and looking at them now had Michael thinking that that was exactly what he wanted for

 

himself. He wanted the real deal. He wanted the true love story and a happily ever after. After watching Richard and Manny together, he didn't think he'd ever be able to settle for less.
Chapter Fourteen
July 15, 2011
I have spent four hours visiting my past through journal entries I wrote an eternity ago. Journals that I believed
were lost but have now been returned to me by a smart, talented and loving young man that I finally get to call
grandson.
I find myself analyzing my feelings and thoughts at the time, and wonder what could I have done differently in
order to at least decrease the amount of pain I caused some people. Stay single; don't listen to Benjamin; don't listen to
Helen; grab your man and runaway with him… the answers are a dime a dozen.
But like Manny always says; hindsight was always smarter than foresight, and sometimes we just have to live and
learn.
Our journey was anything but easy for a long time. If I ever need any reminders, I have the journals to attest to
that.
Together we survived police departments that harassed our community and a legal system that persecuted it. We
witnessed the first establishments that catered to homosexuals and the riots with the police as a result. We witnessed
the beginning of the gay liberation and attended the first Gay Pride march. People were starting to see we were not
sociopaths after all. But soon after we thought that we were safe, many of our friends began to die, victims of a merciless murderer that targeted men like us.
Manny and I lived through all that. It was never easy, but it was worth it.
On a personal level the journey was even more difficult. Many years were dedicated to the search for an ex-wife who
didn't believe I deserved to see my son, and many others praying to God for guidance, as we didn't know how was best
to proceed once I found my son.
It all paid out at the end.
Today I feel blessed. Today I celebrate my union with the man I fell in love with the moment I saw him. A man
that even after all this time has but to look at me in order to set me ablaze. Today I celebrate surrounded by friends,
family, my daughter in law, my son and my grandson. I never dared to entirely believe this day would some time come.
We met forty-seven years ago in this tropical paradise we now call home. Our friends at the time thought the affair
would only last as long as the summer vacation, but Manny and I always knew ours was the love of a lifetime. I'll drink to that.
About the Author
Taylor V. Donovan is a compulsive reader and author of gay romantic suspense. She is
optimistically cynical about the world; lover of history, museums and all things 80s. She is crazy
about fashion, passionate about civil rights and equality for all and shamelessly indulges in mind
numbing reality television.
When she is not making a living in the busiest city in the world or telling the stories of gorgeous
men hot for one another, Taylor can be found raising her two daughters and their terribly
misbehaved furry baby in the mountains she calls home.
You can find out more about Taylor at
http://www.taylorvdonovan.com