Dario Russo grew up on the road. The son of itinerant workers in California, he had no friends, no stability, and no concept of a normal life. Until the age of sixteen, when he meets Reverend Waters’ son, Billy Ray. The relationship is short lived, but it haunts Dario for the next thirty years. At the age of forty-six, he has the opportunity to return to Crows Landing, California, and the chance to track down the man who had meant so much to him.<br><br>But what he finds in Crows Landing is the last thing he expects. So wrapped up in his hopes for a second chance, he almost misses the very real interest from a local, Shawn Pederson. Shawn might not have the past working in his favor, but he’s willing to offer the future Dario always wanted.

Son of a Preacher Man

He needed to get his mind straightened out. Ruby had been right. Ruby was almost always right. Except when she thought he would be a good husband for her, but he wasn’t going to hold that against her. Pining after a guy he hadn’t seen in thirty years was pretty ridiculous when there was finally somebody in his life who felt right.


Somebody he had only known for a week. Barely a week. He didn’t even know if Shawn wanted a relationship, or a one-night stand, or a six-month fling. Or anything at all, really, since he might not be impressed with the fact that Dario had snuck away like a thief in the night. It never seemed this difficult when he was with women. With his first wife, Sarah, and with Ruby, he simply dated them until they made it clear they were looking for something more than just a boyfriend. Then he proposed. But none of the women in his life invoked Billy Ray’s ghost, and dating them never constituted a major life change.


Chapter 20