Beaten by the IT recession, Justin has come back to his hometown where he’s inherited a small house from his mother. Surely Barry, his old crush and sometime nemesis, is long gone. Jobs are scarce, so impulsively Justin seeks to buy into a pet grooming business. But when he has to visit the local bank for a loan, who sits behind the big desk but Barry?<br><br>Justin’s appearance jolts Barry out of his miserable rut of a life. What if they were to pick up where a brief boyhood attraction abruptly ended? Then his mother’s sudden stroke throws his whole life into a tumbled ruin.<br><br>Juggling business and pleasure can be a complex, risky endeavor. Will Justin resist Barry’s charms and flee again, or will fate give them a new leash on life?

A New Leash on Life

Back at the coffee shop, he’d learned Barry Barlowe was not miles away after all. He was right here in Linda Vista, sitting in the chair of the bank president at Miner’s and Merchant’s. In all probability, it was Barry he’d have to convince to approve the loan he required if he was going to buy the failing business. How could he hope to make a success of it? Where did he get such audacity? There would be hard questions, and the person asking them would make it that much worse. As he stepped through the door he whispered a prayer to every deity he could remember that there really was a loan officer, anyone except Barry Barlowe.


Dear oh shit and shit oh dear. Going hat in hand to his old hero-cum-nemesis was going to be the most difficult thing he’d tried in many years. With his confidence in the toilet and his heart beating like a jackhammer, he entered the bank as soon as it opened on Monday morning.


Chapter 4