HomeBird
by Amy Lane
Crispin Henry isn’t an adventurer. He learned early on that the world is a frightening place and that home is rare and precious. If his friends didn’t drag him to sports games and ill-advised trips to Vegas, he wouldn’t get out at all—and his trip to Munich for Oktoberfest is no exception. But it’s there that he meets Luka Gabriel, and he learns to take a chance.
Luka is a free-spirited world traveler, working at Oktoberfest to feed his enchantment with new places and new people. His only possessions fit in his backpack, and he depends on the kindness of strangers for a place to sleep. Crispin should know better—but he takes Luka’s hand anyway, and together they turn three nights in Munich into the relationship neither of them has been brave enough to risk—and neither can let go of.
When Luka turns up on Crispin’s doorstep before the holiday season, Crispin takes him in on hope alone. Yes, he knows the odds are good Luka will flutter out of his life again and leave him bereft, but isn’t it worth it to see if Luka is a homebird after all?
The thing is, I love writing stories for this time of year.
It’s like that habit of making one day a year as perfect as possible (and we are imperfect people so it’s not particularly perfect) for my children extends to my writing.
The projects I’m working on currently are rough. They’ve got pain and every day problems and things like money and family and destructive decisions all matter.
But my Holiday story is my one chance to really BELIEVE in in hope and joy and happy endings, without strings.
In a holiday story, a world-traveling hottie and a shy homebody can meet, can fall in love, can have a happy ever after.
So I hope you all enjoy this story. I loved writing it. Make sure you check out the forward when I talk about the story of the story.
And definitely allow yourself to believe in happy ever afters, even when they’re at their most unlikely.
All yourself to dream.
Amy
