Schoolteacher Julian Reynolds is disillusioned with the seedier side of gay life in New York City with its self-absorption, vanity, and preoccupation with sex. When his long-time relationship with his high school sweetheart ends, he returns to his hometown and vows to live a simple life free of the extremes of the gay lifestyle and romantic entanglements. With that end in mind, he rents the carriage house next door to a large Tudor-style home.<br><br>Tate Butler, a former student of Julian’s, lives in the big house with his mother. Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan. Fearing rejection from his mother and blaming himself for his father’s death, Tate stays firmly in the closet and punishes himself by refusing to learn how to walk again.<br><br>Can Tate and Julian help heal each other’s pasts and forge a real and lasting future together? Or will the driveway that separates their houses prove too wide a gulf to cross?

The Marine Next Door

Julian made himself a deli turkey sandwich and a bowl of beef noodle soup for his dinner. This Patch was more than interested in. She returned to the kitchen, announcing loudly that this was the fare she’d been waiting for. She circled in and out between Julian’s legs as he prepared his meal.


“Sorry, my dear, but Virge isn’t here to spoil you and I’m going to follow the vet’s instructions and feed you like a cat.”


Patch didn’t seem to agree, as she increased the insistency of her yowling. She was now stretching up, and with her paw, trying to reach the countertop and the plate on which the sandwich lay. Julian laughed.


He sat down at the kitchen table and ate his dinner, doing his best to ignore the cat as she continued to circle his chair. He’d almost finished the sandwich when he gave in.


Chapter 12