Can two broken men build one life? Ten years. That’s what Makai lost for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s been exonerated, but the abuse he suffered in prison isn’t so easy to leave behind. He heads to the one place he remembers being happy: Acker, Wisconsin, where he spent summers with his grandpa. Unfortunately, not everyone wants Makai there. Ten days. That’s how long Emil, now twenty-one, was held prisoner as a teenager. The mental and physical injuries he suffered at the hands of a drug trafficking ring still haunt him. Nightmares, anxiety, and PTSD challenge the connection forming between Makai and Emil, though together, they might find a way to move beyond their pain and into a future -- and a relationship -- that both had thought impossible. Now they just have to convince Emil’s father, the town sheriff. It won’t be easy with danger closer than they know ...

He went to the closest corner and kicked the support beam through the partially rotten boards the building was made of. The whole thing shook, and parts of the ceiling fell into the water with splashes. Frowning, Makai decided it would be best to tear the thing down during the early summer. It was a hazard for anyone or anything who might go inside, and he didn’t even have a boat, so he didn’t need it anyway. If he got a boat later, he could make a new shed or figure out something else to cover it with.


He turned to go back, making a mental list of things he still needed to buy for the renovations. There were some tools in the shed, but he didn’t trust the wooden handle of the sledgehammer as far as he could throw it, so maybe he should get a new one of those, too, for the demolition. He needed to ask Mr. Miller if there was somewhere he could dump the remains of the shed, or maybe he could burn them or something.


Chapter 17