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

As we rolled up the dirt road, I thought it strange that lights were flickering on the ground floor, since I wasn’t home. So I was shocked and angry to find Emil lounging in my living room with the television on.


“What in the Sam Hill are you doing here?” I roared. I’d gone from happy to livid in a few seconds. I was sliding into a panic attack.


Emil jumped, his hand knocking over the cut-crystal wineglass that had been resting on the end table next to the recliner. It shattered as it hit the floor. The glass was the last of my grandmother’s, the only thing I had left of hers. A nearly empty bottle of my special Erba Mountainside 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon sat on the floor next to the table.


“What? Huh?” He rubbed his eyes. “I was waiting for you to come home, Frankie baby.”


My head started pounding, and my vision blurred at the edges. I was hyperventilating and feeling dizzy.


Chapter 11