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

“Anyway,” I say, coming to the end of it, “I’m sober now, and I think I can stay the course. I really like being in control of my mental faculties again.” I’m suddenly embarrassed at everything I’ve admitted so easily. “I’m thinking of writing again. Not sure what, but I can feel something simmering inside.”


“You wanted to be a writer,” he says. It’s an affirmation but a question too. “We talked about that, I remember.”


I look at him, hoping he can see the younger version of me in my face. “I used to write things, little messages, in those houses they were building near our street. Do you remember?”


He frowns and his features strain. “Yes,” he says, after a moment. “There was one…I remember it didn’t have a chandelier.”


Chapter 51