Rafael Patino has a great life in Rain Valley. He’s a teacher at the high school, has a great group of friends, and enjoys the occasional baseball game. Other than the sporadic call from his drunken mother, he’s pretty content. He’s also been in love with his best friend Dustin for nearly a decade. Years of keeping those feelings under control are put to the test when they begin a summer project together. Dustin Vance builds furniture for a living, has just earned his pilot’s license, and has an amazing best friend. When he buys a 1976 Cessna Skyhawk, he asks Rafael to help restore it, then travel with him to Wisconsin for the largest aviation convention in the world. As they spend their days working on the plane, they begin to spend their nights together. Will they find love in the clouds, or will they stall out before they even take off?

Love in the Clouds

“So, Jack says you make furniture?”


“Desks, chairs, tables…I’ll design anything to order.”


“I’ve always liked building things, but I never really thought of it as a career until I was in my senior year of college. I was majoring in business and wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do with it. Not even sure why I’d chosen the major, other than I had to declare one and I’d always been good with numbers. But I still made furniture as a hobby and someone saw a buffet table I’d built for my aunt. Long story short, they have a store near Branson and they started taking furniture on consignment. Now I also take orders.”


“Yeah, I was already there, so why not get the degree? Plus I wasn’t sure if making furniture was the smartest move. At the time, I had no idea if it would pan out. I’m lucky it did.”


Chapter 17