February, 1950. Lee County, Florida. In the freewheeling, celebratory aftermath of World War II, survivors and veterans are starting new lives, resuming old ones, or just picking up the pieces. Former Navy officer Dan Ewing feels safer than any gay man might expect in a segregated, dry county where the Ku Klux Klan is still strong. Managing an ultra-private club-hotel in Ft. Myers with a mixed-race staff, untaxed alcohol, high-stakes card games and escorts of both sexes, hes been acting like he has nothing to lose business is good and his romantic life is better. Lee County Detective Bud Wright, a former Marine sergeant and Dans secret lover, is outwardly strong and brave, but uneasy with the knowledge that, every time he and Dan get naked together, theyre breaking laws hes sworn to uphold.
