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 Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan.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 set the table. He would wait to actually cook the eggs, warm the Canadian bacon, and make the toast until Tate arrived. Julian liked it that way. It seemed more like they were living the life he hoped one day they could live. Julian would pretend Tate had just gotten up from their shared bed, wander into the kitchen all sleepy eyed and tousled haired, asking, “Coffee ready?” Then Julian would pour him a cup, add the milk and sweetener the way he knew Tate liked, and serve it to him with a kiss. Sometimes he didn’t have to pretend as they would make love as soon as Tate arrived, before they had breakfast. Julian liked these times best.


Julian was roused from his reverie by a knock on the front door.


Chapter 30