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

“I don’t mind,” she went on. “He thinks I do, but he’s my boy. I just want him to be happy.” The dry whisper of her hand as she patted his cheek was gentle, almost tender. His throat closed in reaction to the rush of affection. “You’ll be good for him. I know.”


This. This was what Thomas should’ve seen. She was entirely lucid. Andre was positive of that. She’d had other periods, but this was such a different side to her, like they were co-conspirators and protectors of everything Thomas, it was like meeting a brand new woman.


His hand shook a little as he wrote, Why don’t you tell him?


Her smile faded, and she fidgeted with the yarn in her lap, winding the loose end around the tip of her finger. “Because he might leave sooner if I do that. Look at how long it took him to come see me now. I want to make this visit last.” She looked up, a sudden fear in her eyes. “But you’ll make sure he comes back for Christmas, right? I have to give him his sweater.”


Chapter 34