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

“So have you talked it over with John?”


I shook my head, then realized we weren’t skyping.


Again she gave an annoyed grunt, which irked me even more.


“Well, don’t you think it’s about time you man up?”


Sometimes, even if she was the perfect mother with the perfect son, I hated her.


John was hiding out from the very few reporters who were still chasing after him. I joined the group of people trying to pin him down. Now he was leaving meals for me again. I heated them in the microwave after I got home from the nursery. We still slept in the same bed, but that was all we did in it. He came in after I fell asleep, and I left for the nursery before he woke. Two ships in the night had a greater chance of colliding, it seemed, than we did.


I’d had a long talk with Beth and Kate, and they’d approved my life plan. In fact, they were ecstatic about it.


Chapter 33