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

“Don’t worry about Emil. Okay, Frank? You just get yourself back together.” With a reassuring pat, he let me go and walked out onto the porch, where Emil waited for him.


I could hear Emil’s staccato voice complaining, probably about me, as they walked to the sheriff’s van. Idly, I wondered how long it would take Emil to wish he was back in jail after he got to his room at the motel. From what I’d heard about the place, it was little better than a pigsty and about as loud as a hen house when a wolf attacked. My guess was that Emil would blame me for his having to stay there overnight, just as he blamed me for everything else that seemed to have gone wrong in his life.  10


The next day at work started like a whirlwind and didn’t seem to want to back off until noon.


First, self-appointed town mayor Bernie Phillips turned up in the store, huffing and puffing with regal importance and purpose.


Chapter 26