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 Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan.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 heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Tate standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Julian could tell from Tate’s eyes he’d been crying. Julian got up and went to him. Tate let Julian hug him.


“I want to believe you,” Tate said into Julian’s shoulder.


“Do you think your dad would want you to hide yourself away in this house? Cut yourself off from friends, life?”


Tate raised his head and looked at Julian. “No,” he said simply.


The two men stood for some time just holding each other. Finally Julian asked, “Are you hungry?”


“Then have a seat and I’ll get us some supper.”


The meal was a pleasant one. They put the topic of Tate’s accident and its ramifications aside. It was not that they were avoiding it, rather Julian sensed that both he and Tate were letting the insights of the afternoon be sorted out and take root.


Chapter 21