Abe Cooper is starting over. For fifteen years he's lived the life that was expected of him, but not anymore. He's packed up his things, bought himself a cabin in Northfield, and managed to secure a job at the local high school teaching gym and coaching the football team. But his new beginning didn't include running into Crazy Joe on his first trip to the grocery store.<br><br>Jonas Raghnall has everything he needs -- good friends and a job he loves. He's worked hard to get over what happened sixteen years ago, but one run-in with his past and all the memories come flooding back. Seeing Abe Cooper, The Abe Cooper, sets everything out of balance.<br><br>Abe had pictured a fresh start with no ties to his past, but now that Jonas is there, he wants nothing more than to be close to the man who had butterflies filling his belly when he was in high school. Jonas doesn't want to come face to face with his past, but if he sees Abe every day, it's not really meeting up with your past, is it? It's more like a date with your future.

Crazy Joe

“I have a cabin about a twenty minutes’ drive in direction of Snowmelt. Bought me some land.” He grinned, and Jonas’ heart skipped a beat.


“Yup.” He leaned back on the kitchen chair. “I plan on working part-time in the school and the rest of the time in the forest. I asked Wright if I could have all my classes spread out over three days so I could have full days in the forest.”


Jonas frowned. “I don’t think that’s doable. Gym needs to fit with the rest of the lessons.”


“Probably not.” He shrugged, not looking too bothered. “It doesn’t matter. Means I get to see you every day, right?”


“Eh…” Jonas rubbed his chest, his heart needed to calm down. Perhaps seeing Abe every day would be a good thing. He grinned. Yeah, if he saw Abe every day it wouldn’t be his past coming to remind him of things he wished he could forget, it would just be Abe. Abe Cooper who’d given him shy smiles when no one else was around.


Abe stood and stretched. “I’m gonna go.”


Chapter 13