On a bright autumn day, Flynn Marlowe lost his best friend, a beagle named Barley, while out on a hike in Seattle’s Discovery Park. On a cold winter day, Mac Bowersox found his best friend, a lost, scared, and emaciated beagle, on the streets of Seattle. Two men. One dog. When Flynn and Mac meet by chance in a park the next summer, there’s a problem -- who does Barley really belong to? Flynn wants him back, but he can see that Mac rescued him and loves him just as much as he does. Mac wants to keep the dog, and he can imagine how heartbreaking losing him would be -- but that's just what Flynn experienced. A “shared custody” compromise might be just the way to work things out. But will the arrangement be successful? Mac and Flynn are willing to try it ... and along the way, they just might fall in love.

Lost and Found

They checked out the menu, and Flynn realized that conversation was going to be well-nigh impossible over the general din of the restaurant. Not only was the chatter at an alarming level, there was also the roar of the cappuccino maker and a vague jazz soundtrack underneath it all. It was okay. After standing in line for almost a couple of hours, Flynn wasn’t sure how much he had left to talk about anyway.


“What are you having?” he screamed.


And Clara screamed back, “Banana walnut pancakes, I think! And a side of applewood-smoked bacon. Coffee, of course!”


Flynn nodded and tried to convey across the table that he was keeping it simple with a couple of poached eggs and one of their crumpets. Flynn loved nothing more—well, maybe a couple of things more—than dipping a good-quality baked good into a runny yolk.


Chapter 12