Woodrow “Woody” Anker is an 28 legend -- the boy who lived. Orphaned at the age of three due to a car accident that killed his parents, Woody is taken in by the Zumpano family. He becomes best friends with Serge, the youngest boy, and looks up to Rafe, the oldest. As the years go by, Woody’s feelings for Rafe change into something else entirely. Except, Rafe is straight. And in denial about his alcohol abuse.<br><br>Rafe Zumpano, now the town Sherriff and Lothario-extraordinaire has been a heavy drinker since his teens, and it’s getting worse. He’s got a secret that he drinks away every night, but when the truth finally comes out, it ruins everything.<br><br>It will take a lot for both men to move beyond alcohol-fueled vitriol, self-doubt, and internalized homophobia to get to the part where they stop throwing punches and have their happy ending.

Norwegian Woody

I stood by the driver’s side of the truck for a full minute before Serge gently took the keys from my hands and said, “I’ll drive.”


Saturday morning, I awoke early since it was my habit. By six o’clock, I’d already had a cup of coffee and was deciding which project to start on first: the broken rocking chair, or keep working on the headboard that I wanted to give Mila and Peter for Christmas. I decided on the chair. I left a note on the fridge for Serge and went out to the shed I’d built next to the cabin as my workroom.


I’d been numb on the drive home the night before, speech lost to me for the first time in years. I ended up using sign language with Serge, which made him even more pissed off at Rafe. I simply didn’t have it in me to try speaking. It had been too traumatic then. And as of this morning, I still felt the same way.


My pocket buzzed and I checked my cell phone. Rafe was calling me. Again. Nope, not happening. I blocked his calls and went to work.


Chapter 6