Find His Way Home

By Nell Iris

Shakespeare-loving teacher Elliot Dunn has been unhappy living in the big city for a long time. He yearns for fresh air, visible stars, and stillness, but his relationship with divorce lawyer Mick Hudson keeps him from moving away.


When a dramatic event occurs in Elliot's class, he's shaken to his core and suddenly can't stay anymore. He leaves his partner of two years behind and returns to the tiny town in the mountains where he grew up.


Living in a rented cabin in the woods, with only an owl for company, Elliot slowly regains his peace of mind. But being away from Mick is agonizing, and when a ghost from Elliot's past pays him a visit, everything comes to a head.


Elliot is faced with a hard decision. Should he stay on the stress-free mountainside alone, or return to the hustle of the city and try to make a life with Mick?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: May 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781634863810

Nell Iris

Nell is a forty-something bisexual Swedish woman, married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, and now spends her days writing, surfing the Internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love. Nell writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angst, and wants to write diverse and different characters.

Book preview

Find His Way Home

By Nell Iris

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2017 Nell Iris

ISBN 9781634863810

* * * *

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author's imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

* * * *

As always I offer my warmest thanks to my most trusted beta readers, Amy Tasukada and Addison Albright. Amy, I appreciate your strict teacher's eye and I'm very sorry for the traumatizing tea bags. Addison, thank you for your wise comments, your continuous support, and your generosity.

Also, thank you to my publisher and editor for putting up with my never-ending questions.

This book is dedicated to my amazing family.

* * * *

Find His Way Home

By Nell Iris

Chapter 1: December

You're a good man for not leaving your friend all alone during the holidays, Mick, but bring a girl next time. You're what, thirty-four?

Yes, sir.

Time for you to meet someone, start a family. You won't do that with a buddy tagging along all the time, trust me. You don't want them to think you're gay, right?

N-no, sir.

The words rang in Elliot's ears, and he winced as he remembered the abrasive laughter that had followed the gay remark. It wasn't the first time his lover's boss had made snide comments about gays, but it never ceased to surprise Elliot. In this big city and with same-sex marriage finally legal in the entire country, he was flabbergasted that a highly-educated lawyer was so homophobic.

He sighed and leaned his forehead against the panoramic window overlooking the streets. Mick had promised things would be different this time, but Elliot had hardly seen his partner since they entered the swanky apartment of one of the senior partners at the firm.

It was the annual Christmas party. The entire staff mingled, and everyone had fun. Except for Elliot. He should have turned around and gone straight home as soon as Mick had pulled his hand away and put more distance between them when they stepped on the elevator. But hope was the last thing to die--as the old saying went--so he'd attended as Mick's friend, feeling like an outsider since everybody else brought their partner or spouse.

The wailing of a siren pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked down on the street. Not even this far up, on floor double-digit-something with the constant buzz of a party in full swing and boring piano renditions of Christmas classics, could he escape the cacophony of the city. The ever-present hum of the traffic, interspersed with squealing brakes, was like an entity of its own, impossible to avoid. A bloodcurdling scream echoed between the houses, making Elliot shudder. He let his gaze drift upward as if he was afraid of seeing the reason behind the horrifying noise.

But, as usual, there were no stars to soothe his ruffled feathers. Even the waning moon was just a pale sliver, almost completely drowned out by the light leaking from this enormous urban area.

He missed the stars and the quiet. As a kid, he always used to sneak out in the backyard and gaze up at the heavens. There was no light pollution to speak of in the small town where he'd grown up, and the sky was sprinkled full of bright flecks of light. He'd learned to point out all the constellations and had even learned the Greek mythology associated with each one. In the city, he was lucky if he could make out the Big Dipper.

He sighed again and took a sip of the dairy-free eggnog, grimacing as the overpowering taste of nutmeg hit his tongue. He needed to rejoin the party, hide the disappointment of being introduced as a good friend behind his best smile, and mingle.

But when he turned his back on the window and the busy streets, he saw his lover in deep conversation with a blonde. She wore a pretty red dress that hugged her curves in a conservative way, and her hair was swept up in an elegant chignon, revealing a long, delicate neck. Her manicured hand rested on Mick's forearm, and he listened intently to whatever she said. A few feet away, his boss regarded them with a smile, nodding in approval.

Elliot wanted to scream. He understood this was the reason for Mick's reluctance to introduce him as his partner, that his life at the firm would become difficult if his boss found out he was gay. But Elliot needed more. His coming-out process had been painful, to say the least, and he resented being shoved back into the closet.

The blonde took a step closer, and Mick's back stiffened. His smile lost some of its genuineness, but she didn't seem to notice. Maybe it was only apparent to Elliot, who'd spent hours mesmerized by the way Mick's mouth quirked up more on the left side, and how it curved