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

We shared a shocked moment before scurrying away to our bedrooms to get dressed in warm, dry clothes. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I was berating myself for slipping into libido mode. I was over thirty. I could keep myself in line. Besides, this was Tommy, who I would like to have as a friend again—especially on nights like this when it was cold and dark and lonely. What I really wanted was his company. I could get hard over him on my own time.


When we were dressed, both of us bundled against the cold, Tommy stoked the wood stove and I finished cooking dinner, lighting candles to see by. The Doc had a full box of tea lights in the pantry, so I set a few at the table and on the counters. Their cheery dancing flames took away some of the awkwardness and erased the moans and groans of the wind outside.


We ate in silence for the most part. Tommy complimented me on the mock stroganoff I’d fixed using my grandmother’s pioneer recipe. I shrugged my thanks.


Chapter 13