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

“You’re sweet. Can you just let me finish, though? This isn’t easy.”


Flynn’s features darkened. At last Mac bore witness to worry and fear on Flynn’s handsome face.


“What?” Flynn asked, his voice low, the word borne up on a sigh.


“When I was back in West Virginia,” Mac said, careful now with his wording, “I had a kind of epiphany, if you will. A realization.”


“I knew I just lost my grandma. She was more of a parent to me than anybody. I really, really loved that woman. She was my heart and my soul. I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t with her when she passed. I still love her, though—with all my heart. Always will.” Mac paused to peer more deeply into Flynn’s eyes, searching for understanding. “See, what I realized back home is that love never dies. So even though Grandma is no longer with me in a physical sense, she’s always a part of me. Always there. Never lost.”


Flynn laid his head on Mac’s chest. Mac stroked his dark hair as he continued talking.


Chapter 71