Stacy Fischer met Oliver one rainy winter night in a seaside art gallery that was hosting Tango Night. He steps in for refuge from the storm but is coaxed by the gallery owner into dancing. After some trepidation, Stacy let Oliver dance him across the room. Not knowing that Stacy was dealing with the heartache of losing his wife but also afraid of his sexuality, Oliver shows him that his life isn’t over. Like dancing the tango, all Stacy needs is to follow his heart. The following day, Stacy returned to the beach where he’d gone to connect with his deceased wife and ask for her forgiveness. Oliver went with him and was so moved by Stacy’s words to the heavens, he kissed him. 

After some soul-searching, Stacy returned to Rehoboth Beach to find Oliver. All he knew was his first name and his occupation. With a new-founded determination, he found Oliver and the two started something more than a friendship – a first for Stacy. After several weekends at the shore, the two men start dating, Stacy’s first gay relationship.

But Stacy’s repeated weekend trips to the beach raised the eyebrows of his two kids who think it’s too soon after their mother’s passing for their dad to start seeing another woman. Stacy tried to assure them he was not seeing another woman but he never mentioned seeing a man. To prove to his kids that he goes to Rehoboth Beach for rejuvenation and not a woman, he takes his kids with him for a weekend and to tango night where they too fall in love with Oliver, even Stacy’s teenage son. 

The relationship between Stacy and Oliver deepens but Stacy is not yet ready to reveal it to his kids. For that summer’s vacation, Stacy rents a beach house for a week and his two kids and their beaus. Oliver makes a point to be there when he can. He charms the four kids as he had done to Stacy. But Stacy’s daughter’s boyfriend sees what looks like inappropriate advances from Oliver toward Stacy and gets in Oliver’s face. Stacy’s in a tight spot he’s in love with Oliver but afraid of what his kids will do, especially his homophobic son.

But Oliver doesn’t hide his sexuality and the breakup was palpable. Stacy’s daughter guesses and tells her father she understands and she likes Oliver. But Stacy’s son is another thing, he’s not accepting. One night, at the end of the vacation, the kids went to dinner without. They planned on going to the pizza joint on the boardwalk but ended up on the other side of town at the seafood house. While eating on the deck, the kids see Stacy and Oliver walking across the street. Stacy’s son freaks out when he sees them holding hands. He runs out, and rants and curses. Stacy dragged him home to calm him down and tell him the truth. The entire family ends up on the beach, just as Stacy and Oliver had done so many months before, to speak to Stacy’s deceased wife to ask for permission, guidance, or forgiveness. 

An epilogue takes us through the lives of the son and daughter who mature into sensible and loving adults. The son made a complete reversal and ended up following in Oliver’s footsteps and becoming successful. The daughter married and had a baby, insisting that Oliver be there even though he and Stacy were no longer a couple.

This 90,000-page love story is really about how Stacy and Oliver’s lives unfold. They show that even though you may not end up with the person you thought was ‘the one’, that person can still be the most important relationship you ever had. The two men never lose their love for each other.

To read an excerpt, click here.