Fourteen years ago, on the banks of Craving’s Creek, Ryde swore to his best friend Alistair he’d never be alone in the world. Though Alistair was destined for the priesthood, there was something beyond holy about the first kiss they shared. But a fun camping trip went horribly wrong when Alistair was involved in a horrific incident. Now, at age thirty-one, Ryde’s life is a mess of alcohol and the painful imprint of his last look into Alistair’s desperate eyes. Since the evil they encountered on that shore, his first love has been lost to him ... until he learns a friend’s wedding is to be officiated by a priest named Father Alistair Genet. Amid the rush of emotions, one thought crystallizes: Ryde’s love for Alistair has never died. It’s stronger than ever. But can it win over the repressed memories slowly tearing Alistair’s mind apart?

Craving's Creek

I’m a little surprised. “Is Alistair here?” I stand in the entrance, but my eyes are steady on those stairs I want to run up. It smells like roasted chicken and thyme. People say Alistair’s mother is a really good cook. I wish I were allowed to have dinner here sometimes.


“Would you like some coffee?” She wipes her hands on the stained waist apron she wears when she cooks. “Or a Coke?”


Has she just offered me a beverage? This is a first.


“I’m fine, thank you.” I check the stairs again. Can’t he hear me? The boy’s deaf. Or maybe he has those earphones on again. “Can I go up and see him?”


“Not right now.” We stand face-to-face, and I realize she wants to talk to me. The Coke is an excuse.


“Is he all right?” I ask, my eyes straying to those stairs again and again.


“He’s had a fit. He’s sleeping.” She calls his migraines fits. I don’t personally like the word.


“Oh,” I say. Now, if she doesn’t let me go up there, I might have to climb that tree again. “Was it bad?”


Chapter 16