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

When I pulled up the garage door, the little girl zipped in and started running her hands over the bikes. Her parents took one look at me and Rick, shared a surprised glance, and turned to watch their daughter.


“Honey, those aren’t the bikes you won.” I tried to remember her name, but couldn’t.


“They’re not?” She looked about to burst into tears.


“No, those are the used bikes. The bikes I lend out to kids in town. You won a new bike.”


Her father cleared his throat. “Um, what do you mean?”


“Well.” I gestured for the little girl to join us in the office. “I have samples of the new bikes here for you to test out and look at, but you can have any new bike that I can order.”


The guy and his wife looked a little stricken while the kid smiled even brighter.


“So, you can look through these brochures to see what you like or we can go outside and see the samples.”


The parents grabbed the pamphlets. The girl ran to the door.


Chapter 18