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be right as rain.”
    I decided to change the subject a bit.
    “Hey, look a band is settin’up.” Robert followed my gaze as several guys in T-shirts or Western shirts and cowboy hats were setting up speakers and other equipment. Once they got started, their first song was an Alan Jackson hit, “Chasin’ the Neon Rainbow.” They weren’t half bad, and I was soon tapping my boot along with the beat. Robert made some obnoxious comment about hick music.
    “I thought you enjoyed country music?”
    “It’s one thing to have it in a gay atmosphere and quite another in a redneck atmosphere. Jeffrey, you have to understand. This is culture shock for me. The way you were raised was very different from how I was raised. You enjoy all this stuff, but to me it’s very intimidating. I keep expecting someone named Bubba to come up and try to start a fight.” I reached over and touched his hand.
    “I do understand because I feel the same way sometimes in San Francisco. You’ve showed me a different world there. Let me show you my world.”
    “Jeffrey, so many people I know disdain your world. I’ve been surrounded by them all my life, and some of it certainly has rubbed off. It’s very difficult for me to accept the hunting and fishing, the tobacco between the cheek and gum, the way men interact here. I don’t understand at all how I should act.”
    “What can I do to help?”
    “Come back to San Francisco with me.”
    “Just now that is not an option. I have to figure out what to do about Dad’s estate, the ranch, and all the stuff here. While you’re here, can’t you try to at least have a bit of a good time?”
    Just then Sandy walked up.
    “Hey, Jeff, boss asked me to get out on the dance floor to get people started, and I need a partner. You still remember how to two-step?”
    Sandy used to occasionally go with me to the local rodeos and dances. We had even gone to our high school prom together. She knew I was gay and had no problem with it. She was actually like a little sister, and we both loved to dance.
    “Easy as fallin’ off a horse.” I smiled at her, stood up, and held out my hand. We walked to the dance floor as Robert made a snide remark about “First blond hicks with shit on their boots and now a woman.”
    As we got to the dance floor, I put my hand at her waist and began to lead her around the floor.
    “So who’s your lady friend back there?”
    I didn’t bother correcting her sarcastic remark. “Friend of mine from San Francisco.” I also didn’t bother to let her know we were involved and lived together.
    She looked up at me with frank appraisal in her eyes. “You can do a lot better than that. Don’t sell yourself short. That one seems to hate just about everything about who we are. Who you are.” I didn’t answer, and she continued, “What’d he mean by blond hicks?”
    “I was talkin’ to Mike at the ranch, and he’s reading all sorts of shit into a conversation. Sandy, he’s really unhappy here. The guys got him on a horse, and he got bucked off. He’s sore, he’s in a bad mood, and he knows he doesn’t fit in here. He doesn’t understand it, and a lot of folks are critical of what they don’t understand. Please try to cut him some slack for me?”
    “I’ll try, but like I said, you can do lots better than him. Mike is a good guy, lots of hurt, lots of damage, but he’s got a heart of gold.”
    “I didn’t know you knew him so well; you two dating?”
    She laughed and said, “You’d have a lot better chance to date him than I would. You’ve got all the right equipment so to speak.” While I was sure Mike was gay, I didn’t make a comment. “He’s helped me with my car a few times. When it was broken down, he gave me rides to work and to the store.”
    “Hmmm… he seems real hot and cold to me. One minute he’s friendly, and the next he just shuts down and can make some pretty bitchy comments.”
    “Your Dad pegged him right. He is so afraid of getting