Tag: dear john

Hello everyone! Thank you, Ally, for allowing me to swing by. I’m Holly Day, and I write MM Romance in all sorts of subgenres.

By now, you might be aware we’re doing a group thing for World Letter Writing Day. Nell Iris, A.L. Lester, K.L. Noone, and I have each written a gay romance novella with letters in it. I always write stories for specific days. This is actually story number… let me count… thirty-three that I’ve written for a specific day.

Insane, but so much fun! 😊

My story for this project is called Dear John, and yes, if you know what a Dear John letter is, you can guess where this is going.

I know I said above that I write all sorts of subgenres, and I do, but I don’t do historical. I’m amazed by those who do, all that knowledge and research, but it’s not for me. I’d be terrified of getting it wrong, so instead I was trying to come up with a reason for there to be letters, old-fashioned, handwritten letters sent with snail mail today.

And the characters could’ve been letter-writing kind of people, they could have been, but they’re not. Not under normal circumstances. So I had to change the circumstances. And I did. I placed them on a one-house island without any phone reception.

The island is a digital detox resort. All screens are forbidden, and there is no phone line and no reception. And those attending aren’t allowed to leave the island. The remaining possibility of communication with the outside world is letters.

Logan is a cop working undercover and posing as the resort manager. Their intel says a syndicate leader will spend six weeks alone on the island, but instead, it’s his boyfriend, a lonely artist, who shows up. It soon becomes apparent the syndicate leader won’t show, and Logan gets to know Zion, the artist, instead.

Zion knows the relationship he’s in is beyond salvage, and he needs to end it, both for his own sake and because he sees something in Logan, he’d like to investigate closer. So… he sends a Dear John letter.

No one knows exactly where the expression Dear John letter comes from, but it’s believed it came into use among the American soldiers during World War II. The soldiers had wives and girlfriends (and probably a few boyfriends too) back home that they were forced to leave for months on end. It wasn’t uncommon for their partners to meet someone else while they were away, and then they’d send a Dear John letter, calling things off.

So that’s what Zion does. And since Logan is a cop working undercover, he steams it open and reads it.

Excerpt:

Zion looked at him for several seconds before turning around and leaving through the kitchen. Logan made coffee and when Zion didn’t come back into the room, he put a kettle on the stove to steam the letter open. He winced. It was his job, but he didn’t want to betray Zion’s trust.

Sipping on his coffee while little by little getting the glue to let go without burning his fingers, he soon had the envelope open.

He peeked into the dining room to make sure Zion had gone to bed before pulling the letter from the envelope.

Dear, John.

Logan double-checked the address. It was for Igor. He snorted and kept on reading.

Yes, it’s one of those letters. Spending time on this island has got me thinking, and I can’t go on the way we have been. I’ll arrange for a moving company to clear out the apartment. I won’t come back once my stay here is over.

This is the last letter I’ll send to you. All future communication will go through my lawyer. Don’t try to contact me, and don’t come here.

I hope we can resolve this as smoothly as possible.

Zion

Logan didn’t know what he’d expected, a longer letter perhaps. He swallowed the last of the coffee, resealed the envelope, and headed toward the motorboat.

He’d send the letter, call Carr to make sure someone was watching the apartment, and then he’d go to the library to use the computer to look for apartments… or did Zion want a house? Was he planning to buy or rent? Maybe the house-hunting could wait till tomorrow.

The sky was overcast this morning, and Logan feared it would rain. So far it hadn’t rained. He hoped he’d make it back to the island before it started. He should’ve kept an eye on the weather report. Being out on the sea wasn’t smart if there was going to be thunder, and he didn’t think the boat would do well in a storm. He had to report to Carr, though. He had no idea how Sidorov would react to Zion’s letter, but they had to survey the apartment.

He had his phone out the moment he set foot on land, calling Carr.

“Yes?” He sounded stressed.

“I’m about to post a Dear John letter, express mail.”

“Oh?”

Logan nodded at an old man walking down the jetty. “Yeah, don’t know if it’s gonna make any difference, but he writes he’ll have a moving firm empty the apartment. I don’t think he’s hired anyone yet, unless he did while I slept, though how could he without a phone or internet? He wrote all future contact should go through his lawyer. I don’t know if he has one.”

“Steer him toward Catalina Moreno, she’s handled similar cases before.”

Logan hummed. He’d never spoken to her, but she had a reputation for being unflinching.

“Bad weather is rolling in, so I don’t know if I can make contact tomorrow. We’ll see how it develops.”

“You have the satellite phone should you need to call.”

“Yes. It’s in my room in the house.”

“Good.”

They ended the call, and Logan stepped into the small post office. The woman behind the counter smiled at him. “The retreat, right?”

Damn, did everyone know who he was now? He hadn’t been here long. “Yes.”

“I have a letter for you that arrived this morning.” Her English was good. So far, he’d hardly met anyone here who didn’t speak English.

“Great! And I have one I want to send. Could you make it so it arrives as soon as possible?”

She hesitated. “It costs extra.”

He nodded, well aware it cost extra.

The letter addressed to Zion burned in his pocket as he exited the post office and headed to the tiny grocery store. There were more people than usual, and when he heard someone mention the oncoming thunder, he added an extra loaf of bread to his shopping basket. Stocking up, that’s why there were more people than usual.

“Will the storm be bad?” He studied the cashier as he put his items on the conveyor belt.

She grimaced. “I doubt it. Most of these people live on the island, though, so it’s a precaution. They’re already well-prepared, but it’s a chance to connect.” She smiled. “It’ll be the same once it’s blown over, then everyone will come in to check on each other and report the damage.”

“There will be damage?” Shit, he wasn’t ready for a gale, hurricane, typhoon or whatever they got out here.

Her hands stilled on the bread as she watched him with narrowing eyes. “The retreat, right?”

Damn, did everyone know who he was? He nodded.

“It’s a solid building. There are no trees on the island. Make sure to tie the boat properly, and you’ll be fine.” She rang up the bread. “You have a satellite phone, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re all set.”

Was he? He’d never been afraid of the ocean, but he and Zion would be alone on a tiny island. He’d better get going so the storm didn’t catch him halfway there.