Daniel Greene is an artist with an exhibition coming up which he should be excited about, except he isn’t. He can’t sleep, he has no enthusiasm for social activities, and his constant tears and dark thoughts alarm him. When he’s finally diagnosed with depression, he starts the slow process of resisting the dark lure.<br><br>One day Oliver Campbell arrives at Daniel’s gate to deliver art supplies. He’s tall and muscular, and for the first time in a long while, Daniel feels there might be light at the end of the tunnel.<br><br>Yet Oliver has a secret. He has a son, five-year-old Cameron. When he reveals this to Daniel the morning after their first date, Daniel has the courage to reveal his own secret battle with depression. Will these two men be able to accept each other’s secrets and go forward together?

The Darkest Hour

In the morning, while I was preparing Oliver’s breakfast, I got to thinking about a gift for Cameron. I’d had a couple of ideas, although there was one in particular I was leaning towards. It had to be something that didn’t upstage whatever his father was going to give him and it also had to be something special, to show him I loved him like I loved his daddy.


“I was wondering…” I said handing Oliver a plate of sausages and scrambled eggs. “…if I could borrow that picture of Cameron in your wallet.”


Oliver looked at me blankly. “What for? I mean, sure you can, but…” Then he started grinning. “Really? You’re going to paint my boy?”


He reached into his back pocket and retrieved his wallet.


I sat down opposite him with my coffee. “Why not?”


Oliver took out the photo and passed it across the table to me. “Are you going to have enough time?”


“Even if I have to work twenty-four hours a day, every day until his birthday.” I laughed. “Actually, when exactly is his birthday?”


Chapter 22