Everyone hopes his road to happily ever after will be carefree and smooth, but too often hair-pin turns and detours seem to get in the way. Having thought he was on the road to forever before, former Silicon Valley programmer Dan Lassiter is leery about pedaling down it again. His elderly companion Charlie urges him to get to know Rick Reardon whose bakery is across the street from Dan’s bicycle shop. Under the watchful eye of Charlie, Dan and Rick take tentative steps toward each other, all the while trying to avoid potholes such as exes, homophobes, and family problems. As summer turns to fall and then winter, they hope that the road will be smooth going from their first date and first kiss to having what Rick’s sister euphemistically calls their “sleepovers.” At each step, though, they are tripped up and wonder why there seem to be so many bumps in their road. Maybe Dan and Rick should heed some of Charlie’s sage advice, or maybe they should listen to their hearts instead of the ghosts from their pasts.

Heart of the Holidays

“Yeah, I know. How could someone do that to a family member? It cut me doubly deep since I don’t really have anybody. Since Manny and I were sleeping in the master bedroom, I thought Charlie could move into the spare. Manny threw a fit. He moved into the spare out of spite.”


I shook my head. Instead of leaving, the bad memories were flooding in.


“Charlie was so grateful when I offered him the living room couch, even though it was just barely big enough to fit him. Manny and I argued whenever Charlie was out and about. Then I finally had enough and threw Manny out.”


“Yeah, he came back. Had his mother beg me to take him back. Heard my story about Charlie and reprimanded her son for his callus attitude. He whined. I threw him out again. He called for a while, but finally found some blond from Pacific Heights, who kept him as a token from the barrio to show how PC he was.”


He closed his mouth but still looked stunned.


Chapter 15