Recent graduate Dr. Fenton Miller takes December off to decide which job offer to accept. Then he meets his landlord, sous chef John Barton. Suddenly, thinking about his career becomes his last priority. A better option might be a month-long roll between the sheets with John. While John is attracted to Fen and might even agree to his plan, John has got more pressing matters to worry about. His past has arrived in tiny Stone Acres from San Francisco and is intent on sucking him back into a life he hated. Promising to help John and shelter him if necessary, Fen finds he's also being threatened by a homophobic father who doesn't find Fen as entertaining as his kids do. As they wade through their problems during the happiest time of the year, Fen and John rely more and more on each other for happiness.

Short Order

Since she saw herself as a local businesswoman, I knew Beth was thrilled I’d made headway into the newcomer group, especially since they were establishing themselves as the antihate people. It wasn’t so much that she wanted to be accepted by this recent “in” crowd as it was that she wanted the queer community to be united and not split by celebrity/noncelebrity divisions. Ricky seemed to be part of the new group, if only on the periphery.


After I explained my daily routine and gave him a couple of simple but important jobs to do, I discovered Ricky was as chatty as John was silent.


“I like having friends.” He gave me an exuberant hug after I complimented him on cleaning up the holiday greenhouse display. “Not a lot of people want to be my friend.”


I understood. Ricky was oddly childlike in his enthusiasm and his acceptance of everyone he met. His emotional level dipped and soared almost minute by minute. He exhausted me.


Chapter 14