Deputy Mark Forrest and Nurse Francis Archer can’t deny the chemistry that arises between them. A chance meeting awakens the idea of something greater than either had ever imagined.<br><br>Mark craves being able to let go, and Francis loves to take him out of his head. But Mark’s past bears a truckload of personal demons that have kept him in the closet and made him lash out at the LGBTQ community in the town he’s come to regard as home.<br><br>Despite finding love and a new purpose in Acker, Francis’s new job might end up being temporary, and he doesn't want to lose the life he's settled into. Can the two of them build a future together despite a bitter past, and diverging paths?

Thirteen

“Did the daughter have any special requests?” Mark asked, sipping his coffee as he relaxed in the chair. This wasn’t about him, so everything was fine.


“Just that when we have a chance, if we would do a favor. She doesn’t know many people in town, she went to some fancy school in Michigan since she was about fifteen, I think, so she never really spent much time in town.”


“Aren’t the Grahams like closer to ninety now?”


“Yeah, I think Henrietta is ninety next year and Charles is a few years younger.”


Mark let out an impressed noise. He’d never thought he’d live that long. Forty would probably be pushing it. He didn’t have a reason to, really, other than pure stubbornness.


“Okay, so drive there to check up on them when I have time? Weekly?” Mark made a thoughtful face, wondering how it would fit his schedule and if the Grahams would appreciate it more if there was a set day and time when he’d go.


Chapter 25