When they graduated from high school in 1962, best friends and secret lovers Jim McCutcheon and Ronnie Mayer had high expectations for the rest of their lives. Six years later, both are back in the small Nebraska town they called home, and worse, no longer together.<br><br>Once the golden boy, Jim now works on his grandfather's farm, away from the town's disappointment he didn't end up at NASA. Ronnie lives in his parents' basement, recovering from the blast that sent him home from Vietnam. Neither is where they want to be, but it takes a special request from Ronnie's mom for Jim to swallow his pride and visit.<br><br>Though it doesn't go well, it opens the door for the two young men to start communicating. One question haunts them, though. Have they changed too much to find their way back to each other again?

Silences of Fallen Stars

“I was daydreaming on the way home from Lincoln today,” Ronnie said, his voice hushed, almost reverent. “Imagining us living in some big city where I was going to school, and you were teaching science or math or working at an observatory, and we could be together without anyone giving us lectures about all the mistakes we’d made in our lives and all the ways we’d disappointed them. I dare you to tell me that doesn’t sound terrific.”


“It does.” And when he was gazing up at all those silvery pinpricks, reminders of worlds and experiences and creatures that had been long gone before he was even born, it actually seemed feasible. “I just don’t know if I can risk it all again.”


“You did it for me. When you came to visit.” He was smiling when Jim looked at him again. “Why not do it for your second love, too?”


Stated like that, it seemed so simple. Who knew? Maybe it actually was.


“I can’t make any promises. But I can tell you I’ll try.”


Chapter 25