Ben Haggerty is devastated when he returns home from work to discover his lover of eight years has gone off to complete his master's degree at another college -- and left no forwarding address. Not only has Ben chosen Rick over his beloved family, but he's supported his boyfriend both financially and emotionally the entire time. Unable to remain in their shared apartment, Ben moves and spends a miserable holiday season alone. With the New Year, however, he's determined to make a fresh start, so he manages to obtain Rick's address and sends him a card asking if Rick ever plans to return. Somehow, the card winds up in the wrong mailbox.<br><br>Jason Prescott is a genius, having obtained his first master's degree at twenty-one and now working on his second. When he receives a card in error, he returns both the card and a card of his own to be courteous, expressing his hopes Ben can get in touch with his boyfriend. This begins a correspondence that leads to friendship, and ... the start of something more? Jason introduces Ben to his family and reunites him with his own.<br><br>But will Jason, who's even smarter than Rick, be satisfied with someone as ordinary as blue-collar Ben feels himself to be? Or will Rick, realizing what he's let slip through his fingers, manage to persuade Ben to take him back?

Always, Ben

“Yeah. We’re identical. When we were younger, people had a hard time telling us apart.”


“I’d like to see that.” He blushed. “I mean…I didn’t mean…”


“I’d love for you to meet him. Now come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.”


“This house is a split and has four sets of stairs," Jason said as he showed Ben around the entry level. “The living room, dining room, and kitchen are here. And a half-bath.” As he spoke, he led the way down to the next level. “Here we have my study, which was the smallest bedroom originally. There’s also a full bath, and at the end of this hall is the laundry room.”


“How many bathrooms does this house have?”


“Three and a half. We’ll…uh…we’ll be sharing one.”


Ben smiled at him. “Yes. The Jack and Jill.”


Sweet!Jason cleared his throat. “This is the lowest level. It has another spare bedroom, a really large living area, and another full bath.”


Chapter 32