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 Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan.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

Stephen broke the embrace and looked down, apparently at Tate’s prosthetic leg. “Oh, you poor baby!” he exclaimed dramatically. “And a wounded warrior, too! That naughty Craig didn’t mention that you were a war hero. Just that you’d been in the Marines! Come in! Come in! Everyone will want to know the whole story. How tragic, how exciting!”


Stephen linked his arm in Tate’s and went into the house, leaving Julian standing in the doorway. Julian took a deep breath and followed. He heard Stephen call out, “Everyone, everyone! Look what I just found! Someone get him a drink!”


As Stephen ushered Tate through the sliding glass doors onto the pool deck, Craig came out of the kitchen. “Julian! So glad you could make it. I take it that it’s Tate that old queen is so excited about?”


Chapter 26