1974, California

𝒴our hand closed around the beer can. You watched the fire rise and the meat, the fat rendering and the fibrous tissue cooking. Henry pushed the now white coals under the cooking meat, his shirt sleeves rolled up. You saw his hands slightly dirty from the coals and his forehead damp with sweat. He took a handkerchief and wiped his hands.

— "It needs a little more time, we have to let it cook." — he said, moving away from the grill.

Inside the house, you heard laughter, from your children and Henry's, and through the window overlooking the kitchen, you saw your wife, Linda, and Henry's wife preparing salads.

— "Come with me." — Henry said, looking at the same thing as you, but he saw an opportunity.

You approached the shed, he opened the door, and you followed him in.

— "C’mere." — Henry said after closing the doors, taking you by the waist and pulling you close. — "Give me a kiss. Just one and we’ll go back out there, like nothing happened."

He kissed your cheek, then your jaw.

This secret had been around for months. You always knew there was something there, ever since you started taking pills to force yourself to be with Linda in private, and ever since you didn’t need them anymore when Henry showed you a whole new world.

To the outside world, you two were perfectly normal traditional parents, best friends who got families together on Saturdays for barbecues. But behind closed doors, you were more than that, something that would make any neighbor who was a member of the local church look with disgust. The church you went to every Sunday, the church Henry went to too.