Big, burly CEO Abe Behr is furious to discover someone -- probably a relative -- is embezzling from Behr Construction, a family-run business in the Sierra Nevada foothills outside Lake Tahoe. To confirm his suspicions, Abe takes the unprecedented step of hiring a non-family accountant, handsome Jeff Mason, to go over the books and help find the culprit. As they talk to Behr relatives and visit construction sites, Abe and Jeff are drawn to each other, bringing out new, softer emotions in workaholic Abe. Since he has sacrificed romance all his life to build the construction business, Abe’s surprised by his feelings for the handsome Jeff. He’s even more shocked when they come face to face with homophobia in the small foothills community where generations of Behrs have called home. Abe had always thought Stone Acres was a live-and-let-live kind of town. As he and Jeff get closer, he finds out how wrong he is when he comes out to both family and a community who think he’s making a big mistake. Will being the head of a large, powerful family and a pillar of the community be enough to win Abe his happily ever after with Jeff?

Behr Facts

But now I felt as if someone or something had died. The old me, maybe? Whatever, I was engulfed in it. Burned with it.


I felt a hand on my arm. Junior was looking up at me, concern written in his eyes.


“Yeah. Just a little winded.” I straightened up. Stood tall. Gave him a tight-lipped smile.


We walked into the Bottom together. He kept giving me quick glances, but I kept it together and was my strong, resilient self.


Jeff smiled at me as I walked up and sat at their table.


“Abe!” The happiness in his voice smacked me in the face.


I grunted and nodded to each of them. Was I ready for whatever they had to tell me? Did I have a choice? I gripped onto my years of strength and clutched it like a shield. As my grandfather used to say, “This too shall pass.” All I had to do was get through it without breaking down. I gritted my teeth. Bring it on.


Chapter 29