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 ...

“She dashed out from the shadows on my first night here and never left. It’s…,” Makai started, swallowed hard, and added, “it’s less lonely with her here. I like the company.”


He looked at the cat and felt Emil’s gaze on himself like a hesitant touch. When he turned to Emil, he quickly looked away again. Skittish. Makai had seen a lot of that in the newcomers in prison. Even in the mirror.


“She’s a good cat. You don’t have to call her Mouse, though.” Emil’s tone tried for levity, Makai thought, and almost hit it too.


He laughed a little. “I think it’s as good a name as any other. I hadn’t named her anyway.” Then he chuckled. “I can’t wait to hear Doc Donovan’s thoughts of the name, though.”


“Do you fish?” Joy asked, peering at Makai.


“No, never have had the chance. Why?”


“Cats like fish. Maybe we could come with a fishing rod, like those ones with the bobber, and try to fish for her?” She looked at Emil now, and he smiled at her.


Chapter 18