Winter Cowboy

Austin
I made it to age eighteen as Frankie Morse—Frank, Junior—my dad's prized possession and sometimes punching bag. But only because Dad never knew I was gay. On my eighteenth birthday, I defied him, and ran. Crossed three states, in the miraculous gift of an old truck, before I ran out of gas outside the Star & Bar ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Now I'm broke, they aren't hiring, and my string of luck has apparently come to an end. But here, in the free California air, I can choose to use my middle name, Austin. I can be as gay as I please. And maybe, just maybe, the approval I see in a weathered winter cowboy's eyes means I haven't totally wrecked my life.

Seth
After messing up bigtime years ago, and letting a young man get hurt on my watch, I'm never mixing business and pleasure again. I'm gay, I'm out, but when I'm around the horses and the cattle, I refuse to be distracted. Even by a young man with a world of hurt in his eyes, and a mouth created to tempt me. Austin needs a helping hand, but that's the only kind of hand he's getting. If he's even willing to bend his pride enough to take that.

I'm 33, he's 18 and barely finding his feet, and anyhow, we're full up with ranch hands for the winter. But when I find him bartering barn-cleaning for a place to sleep that isn't below freezing, I'm not made of stone. My cabin's small, but I can give him shelter. Just for one night, or two.

A novel connected to "Cowboy Dreams" featuring a determined young man, a cautious older one, difficult pasts, stubborn pride, a truck named Tilly, some horses, cows, and dogs, and only one bed.
(Content warning for abusive parenting and attempted assault. Contains spoilers for "Cowboy Dreams.")