Two years ago, Chris and his boyfriend left the city to settle in a small town at the US-Canada border. Eager to start a new life, Chris bought the Frontier Café, but a year later, his boyfriend dumped him, leaving Chris the only openly gay man in town. Nowadays he's resigned to a life of romantic solitude.<br><br>Hank spent the last years traveling through the country for his job as a water plant engineer. Deeply closeted, he's careful about the men he meets. Like the rivers he studies, he runs fast through the land.<br><br>In town only for a few weeks, Hank is intent on getting the job done and returning home out west to take care of his father. But Chris’s warm manner and decadent desserts are no match for Hank’s defense mechanisms. For the first time in his life, he finds himself wanting to go with the flow.

No River Wide Enough

“Hey, I have emergencybacon. How ‘bout a western omelet, too?” I tapped the counter. “The rush is over, so I have a few minutes.”


“Chris, you’ve been on your feet for—”


“Don’t worry about it.” I poured them a coffee and leaned in a little, closer to Hank. “And what will you have?”


Hank sipped his black coffee and waved my offer off. “Nah, nothing for—”


“Eat,” Herman and I said, all at once, and I looked at Herman and laughed.


“Jeez, fine,” Hank said, that dimple in his cheek appearing with his smile. “I’ll have whatever you fix Dad.”


I slid today’s paper Herman’s way. “Here. I’m gonna steal your son for a few minutes.” I gave Hank a tender look and tossed my head at the kitchen door. “Gimme a hand in there?” I glanced back at Herman over my shoulder. “Ring that bell if anyone needs me.”


Hank was quick to follow me into the kitchen. Inside, I shut the door and leaned back against it, chuckling a little. “Hello, gorgeous.”


Chapter 73