Bowing to his parents’ homophobic demands, Professor Henry Rodimacher always chose Christmas with his family over spending it with his partner. However, when Jeremy became terminally ill, Henry defied his family and stayed home for Jeremy’s final Christmas. After Jeremy passes, Henry decides it’s time to mend fences, so despite a raging snowstorm, he starts the long drive home. Before he gets very far, though, he’s alarmed to see a hitchhiker out in the weather, Henry offers the man a ride, and is surprised the hitchhiker is Jimmy Wilks, a former student of his. The heavy snow eventually forces Henry and Jimmy to leave the highway and take refuge in an abandoned log cabin. As the two hunker down to wait out the storm, they give into their mutual attraction and celebrate a wonderful Christmas together. Can their newfound love survive once the snow thaws? Will history repeat itself with Henry going back home alone, or will the magic of their best Christmas ever live on into the New Year and beyond?

Best Christmas Ever

Wood was stacked to one side. On either side of the fireplace was a door. A roughhewn wooden table with two chairs stood in the middle of the room. Henry got a log from the pile and closed the door, using the log to secure it.


Together they walked through the door on the left of the fireplace. The adjoining room contained a small dresser, nightstand with lamp, and a bed—neither a single nor quite full- sized.


“At least we’ll have a place to sleep,” Jimmy said.


Henry looked at the bed. He hadn’t been with anyone since Jeremy had gotten sick. After Jeremy passed away, Henry hadn’t given much thought to sex in any form. But today Jimmy had aroused something within him. Henry both welcomed and rejected the thought. As attractive as Jimmy was, Henry had no way of knowing if the young man was oriented in that way, and he had been a student. Better to leave it alone.


Chapter 4