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

Around sunset, the weather seemed to be straightening out. No wind gusted, but a deeper cold moved in like a wraith on a stealth mission. I didn’t need an old-timer’s rheumatism or lumbago to tell me it was going to feel like winter at the North Pole tonight.


I piled up more logs next to the wood stove and turned on all the baseboards.


By suppertime, Tommy was awake, and I’d fallen asleep in the armchair, my feet up on the bed.


“Hey. What’cha doing here?” His voice was a little slurry, but I put it down to him waking up and not a critical health problem.


“How’re you feeling, Slip Slider?”


His eyes lit up with humor when I added his new nickname.


“Yeah, that’s me. What was that Olympic skier’s name? Oh, I remember. You can call me Bode Miller,” he quipped. “I’m doing good, just hella hungry. When’s dinner?”


I laughed, stretched, and then stood up.


Chapter 23