Page 1 of Country Road Romance

CHAPTER 1

“Ugh, this guy is theworst,” Jared muttered to himself. “No one should get to be that handsome and successful and also be gay and be from West Virginia. It just isn’t fair.”

“Who are you talking to?”

He turned around to face Rebecca Oggleson, the director of the Mountain State Queer Film Festival, his boss and, not coincidentally, his best friend. In an earlier time and place, she would have been called a lipstick lesbian. Her honey-blonde hair was styled into a variety of tight curls, and her full lips pushed out in a bright-red pout. Though she was just over five feet tall, her pointed high heels gave her another couple of inches and, with her sleek pantsuit, she looked like she was about ready to run for office.

“Um,” he stammered, “no one.” He knew it was too late to try to cover up who he’d been looking at on his computer, but he was still tempted.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes and then, when she saw what was on the screen, actually smirked.

“You’ve been internet stalking Charlie Garrett again, haven’t you?”

He sighed and thought about disputing that claim, but it would be a waste of time. “Fine, yes, I’ve been internet stalking Charlie Garrett,” he said, throwing up his hands in mock exasperation. “You got me. Are you happy now?”

“I don’t know why you have such a hang-up about him,” Rebecca said. “He’s handsome and successful and also gay and from our state. And, perhaps most importantly, he happens to be a pretty good actor. What’s not to love?”

Jared snorted at that. “I guess that’s true,ifyou count being in cheesy romance movies for the Romance Network being a good actor.”

“Don’t be a film snob.”

“I’m not,” he insisted. “It’s just that I think there have to be some standards where movie acting is concerned. He’s handsome enough, but that doesn’t mean he’sgood.”

“Well,” she said, “are you sure that you’re not being hypercritical of him because you have a little bit of a crush?”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “There’s no way I would ever have a crush on someone like that, and let me tell you why. Not only is he a subpar actor; he also does literally nothing for West Virginia or the LGBTQ community, either here or elsewhere. He made it out, and he’s never looked back, which is apparently good enough for him. As ifthatweren’t enough, he’s also one of those ‘straight-acting gays’ who thinks they’re better than those of us who are more explicitly queer.” He snorted to show just what he thought of such self-hating gays.

As he went on, the look on Rebecca’s face became more and more concerned, and he started to have a dark suspicion about what she was going to say next.

“What?” he said, interrupting his own diatribe.

“Well, you know how we’ve been struggling to put the film festival together?”

Jared nodded. It was no secret that there were some members of the Huntington City Council that would have liked nothing better than to see the Mountain State Queer Film Festival canceled altogether, and Rebecca had had to make do with both a very small staff and a very skinny budget. He admired her abilities in that regard, and he’d been open with her about that fact. Her next words, though, made him rethink all of that.

“It turns out that we were very fortunate in our timing, because your celebrity boyfriend has a new movie coming out,The Gentleman Usher,and as part of the promotion for it he’s volunteered to headline our festival. Surprise!”

Jared couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Oh, sure, he’d read the rumors about this new project of Garrett’s and how it would elevate the erstwhile TV star into the realm of movie stardom, but he’d never imagined it would premiere in Huntington, let alone that Charlie Garrett himself would be here.

Ugh,” he groaned, “that’s just great. Didn’t you hear what I just said? We’re going to have a straight-acting gay headlining ourqueerfilm festival and, as if that weren’t enough, now the whole city is going to make a nuisance of itself, with middle-aged wine moms beating down the door to get a sight of him.”

Rebecca wagged a finger at him. “They’re going to buy tickets, and that’s the important thing. And it wouldn’t hurt you to be a bit more positive about this. This is a big get for us, and it’s gone a long way toward convincing City Council, particularly Councilman Rhodes, that this festival has the ability to be a genuine draw for the city. The paperwork is all signed, sealed, and delivered. This is going to be our crowning achievement.”

Jared could tell from the way that she was talking there was something she wasn’t telling him, and he knew it was going to besomething he didn’t like. He narrowed his eyes at her and was rewarded with a faint blush.

“I know you’re hiding something from me,” he said. “Out with it.”

“Well,” she said, dragging out the word, “it turns out that one of the conditions for him coming here was that he have someone to show him around town. You know that he did his degree at WVU, and amazingly enough he hasn’t ever been to our little corner of the state. So I kind of…volunteered you to do it.”

“You did not.”

She shrugged sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Jared, but you were the only other member of the board who was going to be available. Besides, you know Huntington like the back of your hand. If there’s anyone who can show him the best points of interest it’d be you.”

He snorted. “You’re actually a native of the city, you know. I’m just a transplant who’s been here too long.”

“Yes, but I’m also the chair of the board and the one handling all of the rest of the planning.” She batted her eyes at him. “Surely you’d love to be a key part of the festival’s success?”

“Okay fine,” he said. “I’ll do it. But I’m not going to be happy about it, and I can’t guarantee that I’m going to be very nice to the guy.” He huffed. “I’m sure you knew I’d cave the moment you asked.”

---