Everything about thirty-five-year-old Stone Acres hardware store owner Frank McCord is old-fashioned -- from his bow tie and overalls to the way he happily makes house calls. He dreams of lasting romance, true love, and marriage. Frank’s ancestors have run the store and been mainstays in the small California town for over a century. While genial Frank upholds tradition and earns the respect of friends and neighbors, he fears he’s too dull and old to attract a husband. Maybe it’s time to break out of his mold. Then handsome thirty-six-year-old electronic games designer Christopher Darling and his fifteen-year-old son, Henry, come into his life. Christopher has everything Frank could want in a potential partner: charm, kindness, and compatibility. Also, he’s a terrific father to Henry. When their Stone Acres home turns out to be uninhabitable, Frank offers the Darlings temporary lodging in his ancestral farmhouse, where he and his tenant Emil reside. Since Emil thinks Frank is his, sparks fly. Suddenly, Frank’s monotonous life promises to explode with love and change him forever.

Frank at Heart

“No. I told you this morning that I’d be here until after two.” I looked down at the calendar and tapped the cover. “Now I’ll be here until after three.”


Emil took out a hankie, today a rainbow-striped bandanna, and wiped his face.


“It’s too hot.” He drawled the complaint and looked around for an audience. When the Darlings ignored him, he stuffed the hankie in his back pocket. “Why’s it so horrible in May? It’s not supposed to get this way until July.”


Having no answer to his questions, I walked through the wide arch separating the sales section in front from the workroom in back to see if I had the test materials ready for the afternoon. Emil followed like a pet dog. Riley, who was already in the back, gave me the evil eye. He hated Emil with a passion I’d never seen him show for anyone else.


“What’s he want?” Riley whispered while he was bent over putting together some furniture


“Tell him no. Don’t let him walk over you. He’s crazy.”


Chapter 5