After the end of a bad relationship and the death of his dog, Geoffrey is left with a choice: live the rest of his life alone or start over. But starting over is easier said than done, and alone in the woods one night, Geoffrey writes those very words on a rock.<br><br>To his surprise, when he returns later, he discovers someone has replied. The lengthy written conversation that ensues over days leaves Geoffrey less lonely, and also quite hopeful and intrigued about the future and the identity of his mysterious new friend.

Written in Stone

“Fine!” Geoffrey raised both palms toward the sky. “I isolate,” he said to cloud shaped a bit like a dog’s ear. “But I was never lonely with you around.” He kissed his fingertip and put it to the stone. “Even when you weren’t here, I felt as if you were. “As out of it as Geoffrey had been by the end of the night of Ryan’s final kiss in the meadow, part of him remembered the tickle of Max’s dreads on his face. A hallucination due to trauma and shock, Geoffrey told himself for the hundredth time. “It had to be, huh, big guy? You were with Kent.”


Kent had recently told Geoffrey it was time he find someone new to heal the scars in his heart. Geoffrey wasn’t sure if he’d meant someone human or canine. It was too soon for a dog. As for a man, “Unless he comes to the house or this field, Maximillian, I think the odds of meeting a kind, handsome stranger are pretty slim.”2


Is it because of how much you were hurt the last time you loved?


Chapter 3