As Josh Tully returns home from running errands, he stumbles across a handsome man leaving his apartment complex. Distracted by the charming new stranger, Josh spills his groceries across the front stoop. As the new neighbor helps Josh pick up his belongings, a sudden surge of electricity sparks between the two young men. When Eddie returns to Josh’s apartment with a fresh gallon of milk, a chance meeting turns into mutual attraction. But a severe case of pneumonia lands Josh in the hospital and Eddie stays at his side, and their budding friendship deepens. Eddie is not the nesting type, and he does not stay in one place for long. But as days turn to weeks, something in Josh’s laid-back persona draws Eddie to the small Minnesota town of Gordonville and through the door of Josh’s heart. Will Eddie decide to stay this time ... and for how long?

A Door to the Heart

Josh drops the umbrella to his side. Bewildered. “Mom? Dad?” He turns to see if Eddie is still watching from the hallway.


With arms outstretched Lynn Tully steps into the room, making a grand entrance, announcing excitedly, “Hello, J!”


Josh sees his father, Stephen, standing in the shadowy recess of the staircase behind his mother, waving wildly.


Lynn envelops her son into a cloud of her sickly sweet lilac perfume and motherly smooches. “We were worried, J. We had to see how you were doing.”


Josh’s father, Stephen, walks into the room, all six-foot four inches of him, and extends a handshake to Josh. “Son.”


“I couldn’t sleep, J,” Lynn says.


Over his father’s football shoulders, Josh mumbles, “So you drove five hours to see me?”


Chapter 11