Thomas Durling escaped his small-town upbringing for over ten years, until a single phone call drew him back. Told his mother has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, he returns to the small northern Michigan town he once called home to find a mute stranger taking care of her in his stead.<br><br>On the surface, Andre seems harmless enough, but Thomas has enough problems trying to deal with his mother’s illness. He doesn’t need a gorgeous young man to distract him, especially in a town that drove him away once already with its homophobia.<br><br>But Andre has nowhere else to go. A wolf without a pack, he’s been on the run since witnessing his father’s murder, always looking over his shoulder, never looking ahead. Taking care of Thomas’s mother has given him a welcome sanctuary, as well as a place he can call home for a couple months. He wants to stay, but more importantly, he wants to help, even if Thomas isn’t ready to accept that they could actually be friends ...

Moon-Touched

He could kick Andre out without remorse. The guy was a stranger, and Thomas was the actual son in this equation. But he’d befriended Mom when she likely needed him most, and from the looks of it, he could use the sense of accomplishment helping out provided. Plus, both of them were right. Thomas couldn’t do this alone. He’d almost lost it just driving into town. It killed him to realize he was on the verge of losing his mother to Alzheimer’s. She was too young for such a debilitating disease.


“I don’t want to disrupt her routine more than I already am,” Thomas said. “You can stay.”


“Good call.” Pastor clapped each of them on the shoulder, his arms a bridge though Andre flinched at the firm contact. “You won’t regret it, Thomas. Andre’s a fine young man.”


Color crept into Andre’s cheeks at the compliment. If Thomas had met him under different circumstances, he would’ve been charmed enough to consider buying Andre a drink or asking for a dance.


Chapter 6