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

“We’re sorry we didn’t help more,” Ben mumbled. “We could have stepped up.”


“Yeah, I’m sorry too. It wasn’t just your responsibility,” Connor added.


“You kidding?” I was appalled. “Of course it was my responsibility! I’m the oldest. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. At least both of you got a childhood, got to be teenage screw-ups. It all worked out. It just took me a little longer to figure out who I was, that’s all.”


“But it’s not fair,” Connor said. His face was stern as if our roles had suddenly reversed.


“Con, life’s not fair. Most of the time, the unfair parts even out and disappear, leaving only the good. Now, what’s going on with you? You look like you’re enjoying being a baker’s apprentice.” I beamed at him. “I’m enjoying the things you’re leaving for me every day.”


He smiled and blushed. Whatever was going on was something good and not something to worry about.


Chapter 34