Homeless for over two years, Merl has hunkered down to endure a second winter in Eden, Colorado. He has lost the ability to trust or accept kindness as anything but a sneaky attempt to weaken for an attack. He sells aluminum cans and other trash to survive, knowing he should attempt to get back into the mainstream but he lacks the will to try.<br><br>Nate has led a sheltered and privileged life as the only child of wealthy older parents, now deceased. He is working on a photo journalism piece about the homeless people in Eden when he first encounters Merl. The big man impresses him so much that when an early blizzard hits, he goes back to the camps try to bring Merl and others to shelter in his own home.<br><br>Can he win Merl’s trust and cooperation in an effort to provide positive long term help to other homeless people in the area? Even more important, can he forge a real partnership with the suspicious older man?

Homeless in Heaven

Nate stopped as if he realized the procession had halted, clustered barely inside the door in catatonicshock. “Hey, it’s okay. Shut the door, Merl. Everybody, you can take off a coat or two here. I’m going to fix us something to eat. It’ll be fast and plain because my cook/ housekeeper is away for a fewdays. Still, it’ll be hot and food and all you want to eat.”


He shrugged out of his parka, gloves and boots and carried them through a doorway across the room. In a few seconds he returned, opened another door, and came back out with an armload of red-and-white labeled cans. He set them on the island in the middle of the room, pulled a can opener out of a drawer underneath, and then grabbed a big pot off a hook overhead. “I hope everybody likes soup. Any vegetarians?”


The four campers glanced at each other and then all shook their heads.


Chapter 6