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 ...

“Okay, let’s press the button, then.”


Monica bustled in, did her thing, and gave Makai another button he could press if the pain became too much. There were instructions and warnings and such, but Emil let Mom take notes while he went to shower and shave in the tiny attached bathroom.


Makai was right: he hated to have stubble.


Makai got better slowly but steadily. Once he could have actual conversations, they talked about how he’d cope posthospital. Emil told him what his mother had suggested, and they agreed it was the best idea. It wasn’t like they wanted to be apart anyway, and Makai would need the help.


After the first week, they let him go home. It was good, because Emil knew he wasn’t doing as well as Makai.


“So you’re completely moved in?” Makai asked, smiling at him from the passenger’s seat of his truck, which Emil’s parents had brought to Woodruff a couple of days ago.


Chapter 75