Fiction critic Micah Berk makes a point to spend as much time as possible with neighbor and pianist Tuck Martini. During twenty days of a particularly hot August on the shores of Lake Erie, the two men fall head over heels in love.<br><br>A year later and life has unexpectedly changed for Micah. He meets and falls hard for Carl Bascoe, an irresistible and dark-haired carpenter. Carl is witty, romantic, and the sweetest guy along the lake.<br><br>What happens when events from Micah’s past mix with those in his present? What will Micah do when various ties between his twenty days with Tuck and his current days with Carl begin to unravel? Will Micah finally experience the true meaning of endless love?

20 Days of Tuck

I drove to Prescott Airport, a small airfield next to Lake Erie for privately owned Cessnas, Pipers, and Beechcrafts. On the drive to the airport, Tuck told me that he didn’t have a fear of flying. Rather, he said, “I love to be in the clouds, up in the blue. It brings out the man in me.”


I told him, “Trust me I can bring out the man in you. You just have to give me forty-five minutes to show you.”


He lightly and playfully punched me in a shoulder. “I’m going to miss you, guy.”


“You won’t. You’ll be with your family having loads of fun.”


“I doubt that. I think I’d have more fun staying here with you.”


Maybe he was right. I wasn’t sure. What I did know was rather elementary: his family had missed him and wanted him to come home. His mother had paid for his short flight, which was under an hour long. Perhaps his father, Joel, had even missed him, but I wasn’t sure.


Chapter 34