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

Why hadn’t I asked if he loved me? Because I knew I couldn’t take it if he said no. I just couldn’t.  14


The next day breakfast arrived at my door on a tray with a red rose and a note in Christopher’s handwriting: Frank, buddy, we need to talk. XOX Christopher


The “buddy” zinged right through my heart. A red rose and buddy? Breakfast delivered? Was it at my door so I wouldn’t come downstairs to eat?


My sadness colored the rose gray, and the breakfast became dust.


Depressed, I left town for the day, walking in the woods so I didn’t have to deal with Christopher, Henry, Riley, or the townspeople who would show up to see what was going on with the remodeled hardware store.


When the woods didn’t cheer me up, I drove to Sacramento but didn’t have the heart to party. I wallowed, took a tour of the capitol, and went to a movie. I called Riley to let him know I was still alive, but really, I wasn’t. I was hanging on, but not alive.


Chapter 35