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

“Barley,” Flynn whispered, heart hurting, and wondered for the second time if he had lost his dog.


He waited and waited, but Barley didn’t move away from the door for a long time. And when he did, Flynn would swear it was with an air of despair and disappointment. Barley sighed and curled up in a corner, facing the wall.7


Mac stared out the window of his attic room. It was Sunday, and he’d just finished his shift at Crumpet Strumpet. The afternoon, empty and devoid of responsibility, stretched before him, almost unwelcome. It had been one week since he’d last seen Hamburger…or Barley, Mac guessed he should call him now.


Outside, a rare-for-Seattle summer rain was drizzling down, making Green Lake look misty and green. Mac could imagine himself being in Ireland. Sundays in summer, the lake was usually crowded with visitors and Green Lake Way, beneath him, choked with bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic.


Chapter 22