On his thirtieth birthday, barista Jimmy Patterson decides to get rip-roaring drunk after his roommate-boyfriend abandons him at a bar in the tiny California foothills town of Stone Acres where they have relocated from San Francisco. Jimmy is immediately rescued by the burly owner of Stonewall Saloon, who has had his eye on Jimmy since the first time he came in months before.<br><br>Jimmy’s fine with being saved but wants to know the bartender’s real name since the guy has worn name tags with an assortment of names every time Jimmy has spoken to him. After Jimmy nicknames him Guy, the bartender decides to turn guessing his first name into a game, giving Jimmy a guess a day for a week and promising to wine and dine him during that time. If Jimmy’s guess is wrong, he owes Guy a zing-zow, knock-your-socks-off kiss. Jimmy agrees since this sounds like a slam-dunk, win-win deal.<br><br>While he searches for cringe-worthy given names, Jimmy is distracted by the destruction of his shopping mall coffee shop. He is also beset by the town council that doesn’t want him to buy an historic bank building in Old Town Stone Acres to set up another coffee shop. The celestial high of being romanced by Guy and the abyss of business worries don’t seem like the road to happily ever after. However, Jimmy and Guy might be in for a big surprise.

What’s in a Name?

At around three in the morning, another deputy had taken the last of the preliminary statements, the security gates were down, and we’d visited the hospital where Jason and Evie were all bandaged up and being held overnight for observation.


Guy moved Felicity into his guest bedroom. The teens were all right, but their parents were irate—not at Felicity and me, but at “whoever” had trashed the place.


Evie’s parents were the most vocal. Well, at least her mother was. Guy and I both got the idea Evie’s dad suspected who was behind the destruction and was pissed his daughter had been caught up in it. He was closemouthed, but fighting mad. Just as I was.


“If you set up somewhere else, Mr. Patterson, just tell me where it is, and I’ll get all the moms and kids there. I don’t want you to lose anything over this.” Mrs. Evie’s anger made me take a step back.


Chapter 26