Shakespeare-loving teacher Elliot Dunn has been unhappy living in the big city for a long time. He yearns for fresh air, visible stars, and stillness, but his relationship with divorce lawyer Mick Hudson keeps him from moving away. When a dramatic event occurs in Elliot’s class, he’s shaken to his core and suddenly can’t stay anymore. He leaves his partner of two years behind and returns to the tiny town in the mountains where he grew up. Living in a rented cabin in the woods, with only an owl for company, Elliot slowly regains his peace of mind. But being away from Mick is agonizing, and when a ghost from Elliot's past pays him a visit, everything comes to a head. Elliot is faced with a hard decision. Should he stay on the stress-free mountainside alone, or return to the hustle of the city and try to make a life with Mick?

Find His Way Home

He sighed and sipped his coffee. Why couldn’t he write words like that? Plays or novels that would capture audiences for centuries, or at least word geeks like himself?


Elliot shook his head and returned to the play, but it no longer held his attention. His mind wandered, and he remembered one of the first dates with Mick: a dinner and a movie at Mick’s place. Mick had fixed the food, and Elliot had brought the movie. It was his favorite version of Much Ado About Nothing, but Mick hadn’t been all that impressed. Not enough explosions.


“Blasphemy! How can you not like Shakespeare?” Elliot had asked with exaggerated indignation in his voice.


Mick had seemed alarmed at first. They hadn’t known each other well enough to know when the other was joking, but he’d relaxed as soon Elliot burst out giggling.


Chapter 12