Quiet and imaginative, Derek O'Reilly spends a lot of time watching a movie in his head. His fiancé Nathan wonders why Derek hasn't taken any interest in their wedding planning, and Aunt Fran -- his spiritual guru -- would like to know when her guilt-tripping nephew became a kept boy. When she drops Derek's childhood journal on his lap, he's forced to remember the name he's been trying to forget since he was twelve years old. Nicolai Lund. Nick was Derek's neighbor ... and first love. Weeks before Derek's engagement party, a chance meeting with Nick catapults Derek into the past. But Nick isn't that seventeen-year-old rebel anymore. He's a man hardened by invisible scars. A man struggling with grief. As Derek reads through his childhood diary, he realizes what Nick was to him, still is today, and yet might be ... NOTE: This edition has been expanded and substantially edited.

Split

“No? Not taxes? Okay. Let’s see. Hm, no, that wouldn’t work.” She bit down on her lip and nodded, having a conversation with herself. She did that. The first night after I moved in, I’d stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling, listening to Lene discussing the Rogerian approach to active listening.


“How ‘bout you set up a website and—”


“Nice.” She smiled. “Do you accept credit cards?” She reached for my hand. “Oh, Der, you’ll find something.”


I sighed. “Lene, I’m twenty-nine years old. I’m too old for the jobs that starve the wallet and challenge the mind, but still too young for the jobs that numb the brain and pack the pockets. I’m overqualified, over educated, and under experienced. Not to mention, unmotivated.”


“You said that whole long boring thing without stuttering.”


I glanced up from my plate of nectarine wedges. “Guess I did.”


“I have to go to work,” she said, sliding off the stool. “What are you gonna do?”


Chapter 76