Shadow and Light

Henry Greenaway was a professional hockey player until a man who made him feel worthless left him badly hurt in a car accident. He survived life-threatening injuries, but his career is over and his vision is damaged. He is cut off from his family, his money is gone, and he is sinking into despair. People tell him to hold on to hope because he is young and fit, but hockey was his freedom, and he has lost it.

Apollo Vasquez has spent most of his adult life looking after others and living alongside quirky athletes, most recently as caretaker to one of America's richest hockey-playing heirs. His best friend, Adler Lockhart, has spent the past year more and more with his boyfriend, on the ice, or travelling, and Apollo has begun to feel like a third wheel in a luxurious, empty apartment with no one left to fuss over. At a crossroads, he moves to the desert town of Tucson to take a job caring for Henry, who plays for the Raptors, while Henry recovers in body and mind.

Adler has arranged for Henry to stay in a large Lockhart-owned mansion that feels vast and lonely. Apollo arrives with a sunny smile, infectious optimism and firm house rules, and slowly becomes a central part of Henry's days. Cooking, cleaning and offering moral support gives Apollo a new sense of purpose, and he finds himself falling for the sweet, lost man who wins him over one timid smile at a time. Henry wonders whether his feelings are real or only a product of his circumstances, and what will happen when he is well and Apollo no longer has a reason to stay.