Thirty-three-year-old gay farmer Vladimir Wozniak IV lives for his crops and the hard work that makes them profitable every year. Five miles up the road, former rodeo bull rider and rancher Thomas Sullivan is just as committed to his corn-fed beef. Once best friends until VJ kissed Tommy during freshman year in college, they stopped speaking when Tommy rejected VJ. Ten years later, after the country doctor who helped bring them into the world dies and his will names them as co-owners of property, they decide to check out their inheritance together to see which one wants to buy out the other. As they travel down memory lane through the Doc’s correspondence and visit familiar sites on the land, can they work their way back to friendship ... and possibly beyond?

The Thaw

I hadn’t told any of them this little mom and pop operation was a million dollar international business. Not that they didn’t already suspect it.


“How about you?” I asked Tommy. “Didn’t your dad talk about turning the Crazy S into Sullivan and Son at one time?”


“Yeah. That was before I took up bull riding instead of getting engaged or horse tied.” Tommy got a faraway look in his eyes. “I like to call those my exciting summers. I loved following the circuit. What can I say? The regular shots of adrenalin from the bulls made my life quite a ride. In September I’d suffer the downtime of school semesters and ranching.”


Tommy wiped his lips and took another swig of coffee. “Then my sister Cassie got married, my folks died unexpectedly, and I suddenly was being called boss by everyone.” He sighed. “Now I’m over the thirty hump, having dropped girlfriend-number-too-high-to-count, and am meeting up with my past. Remember when time was elastic and days seemed to last for weeks?”


Chapter 6