Renowned interior designer Fredi Zimmer is surprised when outdoorsman Max Greene, owner of Greene’s Outdoors, hires him to revamp Max’s rustic cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Fredi is an out-and-proud Metro male whose contact with the outdoors is from his car to the doorway of the million-dollar homes he remodels, and to Fredi, Max is a typical straight man’s man. When Max blatantly and clumsily flirts with Fredi, Fredi’s stereotypical view of Max is shattered. Is this a build-up to a gay bashing? Cautiously believing Max is closeted and is trying to come out, Fredi decides he’s game to put a little spice into Max’s life, whether it’s in the colors and fixtures he’ll use to turn Max's dilapidated cabin into a showplace or over one of the many lunches and dinners they share talking about the remodel. Who can blame a guy for adding a little sensual pleasure as he retools Max’s life visually? Besides, Fredi has a backup plan if he’s wrong about Max’s intentions. Life would be all wine and roses if it weren’t for Max’s former friends and their conservative families. Alarmed with Max’s obvious infatuation, they make it their business to save him from sliding into hell. With the battle on, will Fredi and Max win the fight for a life of happiness together?

Redesigning Max

“We’re going to begin in the kitchen and living room,” I told Max. “You need to clean out everything you want to keep and have it put in storage for the time being.”


We’d met again for lunch, this time at Monique’s Bakery and Café, one of the places I loved and had to hold myself back from. As I often told friends, I could gain ten pounds just walking by the cafe and taking a deep breath.


While I craved Monique’s baked goods, I twitched every time I stepped into the place. It sat at the end of a tiny group of stores built during the 1980s. Someone had told me the bakery and cafe had originally been a pharmacy with a tiny soda counter. Gradually the soda counter had expanded into a cafe and the pharmacy was pushed out. Unfortunately, Monique’s retained every one of the tables and chairs from its origins. I itched to redecorate.


Chapter 12