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

I looked up at him. Now more than ever I was glad I’d taken steps to become Frank McCord, version two. Version one had been felled by Emil’s theft.


“I don’t understand. Why is my stuff in Emil’s living room? Look around. These things aren’t expensive or fancy or anything. It’s just stuff. My stuff.” I got up from the couch and walked to the bookcase to shuffle through some items on its top shelf. “This rock is from the Empire Mine. It’s just a rock. Not gold. And this. It’s a piece of leather from Sutter’s Fort. I got it during a Living History Day tour when I was in grade school. And over here’s a tiny snapshot of my mother before she died. It’s not even framed. All these things came from one of the shelves downstairs. You couldn’t even see some of them unless you opened the cabinets and looked for them.”


Chapter 20