Julian Junk was often teased about his last name and his father's occupation as a garbageman. Mackensie Keller grew up privileged and spoiled. As teens, Junk and Mickey make plans for their future, but when Mickey is sent off to boarding school, he tells Junk their parents are probably right -- they just don't belong together.<br><br>Back in town ten years later, Mickey is all grown up. He and Junk reconnect as adults, but so much was said, and so much has changed. Though he asks for forgiveness, which Junk grants, though old romantic feelings are quickly rekindled, Mickey is reluctant to bring a new man into his young daughter's life after his last relationship's failure. He's also harboring a secret, one that threatens to spoil upcoming Thanksgiving plans.<br><br>Once Junk discovers the source of Mickey's dilemma, he devises a crafty plan to make everything right. Will it work out? Will Mickey accept his help, and can the two of them make a go of it with so much stacked against them?

One Man's Junk

Mickey kept a neat house. My kitchen, mine and Pops’, always had stuff out on the countertop. We weren’t slobs. Everything got put away eventually, but two or three days’ worth of mail, the jelly jar from breakfast, clean laundry, since the washer and dryer were in that room, something was always in the middle of the décor to make it look not as nice as it could. Mickey’s countertops were bare, save for appliances, a coffee maker, and a toaster. Not the one I’d given him.


There were turkey and pilgrim window clings on the windows, a turkey napkin holder, and salt and pepper shakers on the table, and harvest kitchen towels hanging about, even though the jack-o-lanterns still stood guard outside. A plastic pumpkin filled with chocolate still sat on Mickey’s kitchen island, too. There were two things Pops and I didn’t have. I’d polished off the leftover Halloween candy by ten P.M. on October 31, and our kitchen was too small for an island or even an islet.


Chapter 15