FREE Gay Romance Book Excerpt: Altered Parts Book Two
I'm going to start posting more of these free gay romance excerpts in the future. Readers have been asking me and I've hesitated because there's so much going on in gay news lately. I like to post truncated versions of recent gay news, with links. Most of the time I'm learning something new, too.
In any event, here is an excerpt from my latest book, Altered Parts Book Two. After I published the first book in this series, I decided it needed a follow up. But I doubt there will be any more books to come. I was never fond of turning a book into a full series. Whenever you see that I have done that it was because the publisher requested it.
Here's the link to Altered Parts Book Two and the blurb. The excerpt will follow.
There's a brand new generation living on Buddy's Mountain in remote Western North Carolina and they are trying to hold on to as much as they can.
Unfortunately, they can barely keep the old General Store running at a profit and the old night club days are long over thanks to changing lifestyles and the Internet. Clive and Cass are twin brothers running things now, but mostly it's Cass. They are both direct relations of Joe Buddy Barnes and Clay Totten who once ran Buddy's Mountain in the 1940s as a safe place for gay, lesbian, and transgender people.
Although Clive had never shown much interest in living or working on Buddy's Mountain, he finds himself in a situation where he is forced to return home and accept help from his brother, Cass. Cass doesn't mind in the least. He's not only thrilled to have Clive back, he can't wait to start making a few changes.
In order to avoid a vicious realtor named Marta who wants to develop Buddy's Mountain, who was also the ex-wife of the man Clive was about to marry, they come up with a plan to save the mountain thanks to their housekeeper, Saoirse. It won't save them completely, but it will keep them from financial ruin for a short time. And they both know they'll have a great deal of fun doing it.
The future of Buddy's Mountain depends on clear strategy and good old fashioned hard work. It's not going to be simple either. There will be tears shed and hearts broken. But it all leads up to a happy ending for now.
Excerpt. This is from Chapter Two and it is G-rated.
Besides,
Clive was so devastated he could hardly function. He kept forgetting to eat and
drink and he couldn't sleep for more than two hours at a time. The moment after
they carried William's body out of the house, Clive phoned his twin brother,
Cass, in North Carolina and told him what had happened. His voice shook; he
couldn't form clear concise sentences. His brother listened to everything he
had to say, and then he said, "I want you to go rest. As soon as I hang up
this phone, I'm going to pack a bag, I'm getting into my truck, and I'm driving
down to South Beach."
"I'm
okay," Clive said. "You don't have to do that. I'll figure this out
alone."
"I
don't want you alone right now," Cass said. "I'll drive straight
through the night and it should only take me about 11 or 12 hours."
Clive
started crying again, and he nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later tonight. I'll
wait up for you. Please drive safely and don't speed."
After
he hung up with Cass, he checked to see that the household staff was dealing
with wedding cancellations and clearing out the house. After that, he returned
to his bedroom and climbed into bed. He didn't eat; he didn't sleep. He just
remained there, flat on his back staring at the ceiling and wondering how it
was possible that William could disappear from his life…from the world…that
quickly. It didn't seem real and he wasn't sure how to process it. At that
point, he had absolutely no idea that he would never figure out why this had
happened and why he would have to live the rest of his life without William. He
would simply learn to live with it.
He
must have dozed off at one point in the middle of the night, because when he
opened his eyes the next morning the sun was shining and his identical twin
brother, Cass, was sitting on a chair beside his bed. Cass turned and sent him
a glance. "How are you?"
He
shrugged. "You're here. I'm not sure how I am." One of the most
difficult things he learned how to deal with during this time was waking up.
For a moment, and only a brief instant, he would wake up and everything would
be normal and William would still be alive. He didn't have that awful feeling
in the pit of his stomach and the world seemed normal again. And then reality
would set in and it would all come rushing back to him. All the pain would
overwhelm him.
"Well,
let's get you up and into the shower," Cass said. "Then we can go
downstairs and have breakfast."
Clive
sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed. He was still wearing the
same clothes he'd been wearing the day before when William collapsed in his
arms. "I can't eat. I can't even look at food. But a shower sounds
wonderful."
"Then
we'll have coffee and plain toast," Cass said. "I want you to have
something in your stomach."
Clive
just nodded and said, "Okay." He didn't have the energy to argue.
He
was so weak he couldn't even remove his own clothing. Cass had to pull off his
shirt, pull down his pants, and guide him into the shower slowly. When Cass
realized that Clive was still in a daze, he just removed all his own clothes
and he climbed into the shower with Clive so he could help him. Cass lathered
him up with soft sweet smelling soap and he let the hot water stream down his
naked body in such a quiet soothing way that Clive leaned his head toward Cass's
chest and he started to sob. Cass put his arms around his twin brother and
patted his back gently. He told him that everything would be okay and that he
would be there for him the entire time. A moment later, he rinsed all the soap
off Clive's body and helped him out of the shower. He dried him off with a soft
white towel and helped him put on fresh, clean clothes. Although Clive could
barely function at all, he would remember what Cass had done for him that day
for the rest of his life. He would always be grateful.
Two
days later, a small group of people gathered at the cemetery for graveside
services and Clive sat in the front row of a small group of chairs that had
been set up for the closest of family and friends.
Clive
sat in between Cass and William's attorney. He noticed a few long time members
of the household staff standing around them, and a few people he assumed had
worked with William. The most Clive knew about William's business dealings was
that he'd made most of his money in real estate and that he didn't like to
combine his personal life with his professional life. William had always been
so easy and so generous Clive had never felt the need to ask too many questions
about his business. He also thought he had a lot more time to get to know more
about William's business dealings after they were married. He never could have
predicted he'd be sitting in front of William's ashes that morning.
It
wasn't going to be a religious ceremony, and the funeral director stood up to
say a few words. As he turned and stood in front of a black podium, a middle
aged woman walking in between two younger men appeared in the distance near a
large oak tree and they were heading directly toward the gravesite. The woman
wasn't obese, but she was about 30 pounds overweight. She wore a tight fitting
black designer suit, black pumps, and large black sunglasses. She had long
thick hair that had been colored in 7 expensive shades of blond. And her purse
looked as if she'd paid as much as Clive had paid for his black shoes. The two
young men were attractive and they were both wearing black suits. But more than
that, they were identical twins, with blond hair and large blue eyes.
Clive
had never seen any of them before so he leaned to his right toward William's
attorney and asked, "Who are those people? Do you know them?"
The
attorney sighed. "That's William's ex-wife, but I'm not sure about those
guys."
Clive
blinked. "William has an ex-wife?" This was news to him.
The
attorney shrugged. "You didn't know? I wasn't sure if William had told
you, or not."
Clive
blinked again. "No, I didn't know. I thought he was single all his life,
and that he didn't have any family left."
"I'm
sure he would have told you eventually," the attorney said. "They
were only married for a year, and he never considered it a large part of his
life. Actually, he ignored that part of his life as much as possible. They
divorced when he came out of the closet and he gave her a very generous
settlement to make sure she was taken care of for the rest of her life. I
remember how generous it was because I was just starting out as his attorney,
and I don't think they ever had contact after that. At least I never knew if
they did. I never heard William mention her again."
The
woman and the two young men stood off to the side and the funeral director
cleared his throat to speak. Cass leaned toward Clive and asked, "Are you
okay? Who are those people over there? The woman with the two guys?"
"Oh,
you'll never believe it," Clive said. "I'll explain it later."
The funeral director began to speak and there was no point in explaining it
now. Clive cast a backward glance over his shoulder toward the woman with the
two young men. She caught his gaze immediately and acknowledged him with a
half-smile. He nodded at her, and then turned back to face the funeral
director.
A
few days later, William's attorney asked Clive to come to his office. The attorney
was gay and he knew William's living situation with Clive and that made Clive
feel a lot better. Of course they'd never discussed wills or anything even
remotely related to that. They didn't even have a chance to get married, let
alone plan out their estates. However, they had been together for almost 5
years and Clive figured William had left him in charge of the estate.
Cass
went to the attorney's office with Clive and they entered the office and found
William's ex-wife already there with the two young men who'd been at the
funeral service. Clive walked up to the attorney's desk and gave him a look as
if to ask why those people were there.
The
attorney gestured to the ex-wife and the two young men and said, "Clive,
this is Marta Kane, William's ex-wife. And these are her two sons, Levi and
Torre." Then he introduced them to Clive and Cass.
Cass
smiled and he took a seat on the other side of the Attorney's desk. Clive
nodded at Marta, Levi, and Torre, and said, "It's nice to meet you. I didn't
know William had been married up until now. He never mentioned anything about
you."
Marta
moved her shoulders as if she might shrug and said, "I'm not surprised. We
had no contact. As a matter of fact, he didn't even know he had two sons. I
never told him."
Clive
opened his eyes wider and tightened his fists. "These two are his sons? You
never told the man he had twin sons? Who does that? What kind of person are
you?"
"I
didn't approve of the lifestyle he'd chosen," she said, lifting her chin a
little higher. "And I didn't want my boys influenced in any way by him or
his sinful homosexual ways."
The
young blond man sitting to her right that had been introduced as Levi looked at
Clive and said, "We had no idea. Not a clue. And for the record, it wouldn't
have bothered us that he was gay."
The
other one named Torre said, "We're just as shocked as you are." Then
he sent his mother a look and frowned. "Our mother is an unusual woman, to
say the least."
"And
we told you, mother," Levi said. "We’ve told you a million times that
Gay men don't choose their lifestyles. It's not up for choice. It's like you
didn't choose to be straight. You were born that way."
She
seemed disinterested. She just rolled her eyes and waved her well-manicured
hand. "Whatever. Not my concern."
It
was hard to tell whether Levi and Torre were gay or not. With a homophobic
mother like Marta it made perfect sense for them to still be in the closet, at
least in front of Marta. Even though they were both about the same age as Clive
and Cass, they'd clearly been raised in a homophobic environment.
Clive
sent both brothers a glance and said, "It's a shame you never had a chance
to know your dad. He was a wonderful man. You would have loved him, and he
would have loved you. I think this might be one of the saddest things about his
death: that he never knew he had two sons."
With
that said, Marta sat up in the chair and squared her back. "Okay. Let's
not drag this out, shall we. We're here for a reason."
William's
attorney sent Clive a look and frowned. Then he glanced down at a file on his
desk, opened it, and cleared his throat. "Obviously, William wasn't
planning on dying so suddenly. I'm afraid there's nothing. It's an insolvent
estate."
Cass
lowered his eyebrows. "And what exactly does that mean?"
The
Attorney looked at Clive and frowned. "William had debts and what's left
will just about cover them. There's no money."
"You've
got to be kidding me," Marta said. "He was loaded."
Clive
leaned forward. "That can't be true. William was a very wealthy man. And very
generous. We never had to worry about money. There must be something you're
missing."
"I'm
afraid not," the Attorney said. "He wasn't in bankruptcy but he was
heading there eventually. He had just about enough money to cover all his debts.
He kept going in this vicious circle for years."
"He
never said a word," Clive said. "I had no idea. No wonder he was so
stressed."
"He
didn't want anyone to know," the attorney said.
Cass
set his palm on Clive's shoulder and asked, "So that's it? There's
nothing."
"Well
the house in Coral Gables is okay," The Attorney said. "But there's
no will. Against my wishes, William never had a will. He was superstitious that
way. He thought if he had a will he would die."
Marta
smiled. She spoke with an affected accent of some kind. "Irony."
"So
that's why he was so eager to get married," Clive said. Clive hadn't been
eager to get legally married. He thought they had plenty of time, but William
kept insisting that if they got married Clive would have legal protections.
The
attorney nodded. "Yes. He just didn't want to trouble you with all the
details."
"So
if there's no will, what happens now?" Marta asked.
"We
pay off the debts with what money there is. And there's just about enough to
cover everything. I'll itemize everything and make it all very clear so you can
see where the money is going. The only thing left will be the house, which then
goes to William's legal next of kin," the attorney said.
Marta
smiled. "That's Levi and Torre. They're his sons. They're his legal next
of kin."
The
attorney nodded. "Yes, apparently, the house goes to Levi and Torre."
"What
about me?" Clive asked. "We were together of 5 years. We shared
everything. If he'd waited 3 hours to die we would have been married and I
would be his next of kin."
The
attorney shrugged. "I'm sorry, Clive. There's no way around this. Legally,
Levi and Torre are William's next of kin and they get the house."
Levi
looked at Clive and said, "Of course we want you to stay in the house for
as long as you like. It's your home."
Torre
nodded. "Yes, you can stay there as long as you want."
"Within
reason," Marta said, with a sneaky smile. "I'm going to flip this
place."
Clive
sat back in his chair and his shoulders slumped.
Cass
gave him a pat on the back and said, "It's going to be okay."
Clive
was still in shock about William's death, and now this new turn of events with
William’s awful finances made him feel numb, as if he couldn't even move his
legs. All his plans, his entire future, had come to an abrupt halt. He was only
working as a counselor at a suicide prevention clinic and he couldn't even afford
an apartment of his own. And he was planning to go to law school that fall, and
he wasn't going to work at all. In fact, William never wanted him to work in
the first place. He claimed he liked knowing that Clive was free to go anywhere
at a moment's notice. The only thing Clive had ever wanted was to make William
happy. So Clive hadn't focused on a full time career, or on making a living
wage, which had been one of the biggest mistakes of his entire life. Now he was
about to pay the price.
![Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51zNy11g1lL.jpg)
![Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41kq7EeIZUL._SY346_.jpg)
