The Last Night

Ed Cohen owes his life to Alex Evergreen. Now, after three years since they last saw each other, he has a chance to repay his debt.

Alex’s wife has walked out on him, and he finds no reason left to live. Ed, however, won’t let his friend go without a fight. Ed bargains for one week to change Alex’s mind and find Alex’s true family: the birth parents he has never known.

Armed with only his mother’s name, their journey from Seattle to San Francisco to Los Angeles to the California desert captures the fear, heart, and humor of second chances. Unless both men discover how to stop their collision course, both will lose everything by The Last Night.

Excerpt

Pine and eucalyptus trees surrounded the Westfield Academy baseball diamond, forging a sort of haven where the only sight was dusk overhead. I felt I was somewhere far away in the mountains, in another world entirely, forgetting that just past the trees and through the winding passageways of Coldwater Canyon lay metropolitan LA.

This was a welcomed escape.

When I stepped onto the field for the first time in almost nine years, with that sharp smell of freshly cut grass still warm from the summer sun, I couldn’t help but think of all the nights I’d spent here before I left for college. I felt the familiar grind of infield dirt beneath my shoes. My head hung low to watch my feet balance along the first-base line, to see my toe drag across the chalk as it created a white crescent against the earth. I saw myself back when I used to play, fielding grounders at shortstop and throwing the ball to Alex at first. Those were our simple times.