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

Slowly, he put it in and unlocked the door.


The red ribbon split into four, each ending in a bike.


The kids screamed and ran for the bikes they wanted “more than anything in the world”.


Mack and Lee looked at their mom, probably wanting to ask if they could go riding. They stopped when they saw her stricken look.


“Mom? You okay?” Mack got off his new dirt bike and walked over to his mother. He put an arm around her.


“Mommy?” Lee’s tiny squeal and her rush to her mother almost upended both of them. “Mommy? What’s the matter?”


Patty turned to me, a dazed look on her face. “That bike is for me?”


“Well, I don’t want to be the one keeping tabs on the kids. You have to have something to keep up with them.” I shrugged.


Chapter 29