Fox McHardy leads a charmed life. Puget Sound penthouse, gorgeous boyfriend, jet-setting job -- everything he’s ever wanted, he’s gotten, including the heck out of the small Iowa town he grew up in. Even the trip he takes to Miami to surprise his boyfriend Jeremy is something of a long-shot wish fulfilled. Until he arrives in South Florida. Once things start to unravel, they do so with alarming speed, and he finds himself riding shotgun in a rented convertible with his new sworn enemy faster than he can say, “I want my old life back.” During an unscheduled stop on the cross-country road trip From Hell, Fox passes up a perfectly good opportunity to keep his mouth shut and finds himself planning the town’s first legal gay wedding -- his own, to a man he’s pretty sure he should hate. But someone needs to set a positive example for the queer and questioning youth in this corner of Middle America and, after creatively arranging certain of the facts of his life more attractively, he is proud to offer himself up as a role model. Small Town, USA, steps up; the grooms are widely celebrated, and generous offers of food, flowers, and picture-perfect venues pour in. The only real challenge will be keeping the lies straight and the truth under wraps until they can get out of town.

Crazy Like Fox

The shorts and t-shirt I had worn into town were the only things in my suitcase that I had not had stolen by an angry mob, stuffed into an airport trash can, or sold out of the trunk of the car in the parking lot of a gas station, and so I had little to pack. Hitting the road was, for me, a matter of rolling out of bed, pouring a cup of coffee, and kissing a few cheeks. Mikey had a few boxes and two huge suitcases, and I stood on the porch and let his new husband worry about packing the car. I was waiting for the all aboard when Bob-Gunnar came out onto the porch and walked up behind me. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. “It was amazing having you here, Fox,” he rumbled into my ear.


I turned to face him and put my arms around him, too, as best I could. “Thanks for everything, Bob-Gunnar. I thought waiting for this car would be the most hellish week of my life, and you made it one of the best.”


Chapter 60