Cascade Failure - stand alone - Torquere | Amazon
Family Time - Anthology - Torquere | Amazon
Main Book 'Blurb
These twelve stories range from first-time parents, to a couple still trying to conceive, to a ready-made family hoping to make it official, to parents just trying to get from one day to the next.
But it can't all be about the kids. Especially when the kid to parent ratio favors the kids. You might have sneak out of your own house. Or remind your spouse what grown-ups can do when the kids are away.
From veteran and new authors, these families contain several M/M couples, an F/F couple, and an asexual mom who has some explaining to do to her genderfluid teen.
Story 'Blurb
The conflict between work and home life has never been greater for Eric Hopkins -- trying to make a better life for his children, Eric takes a job with high travel, leaving him hundreds of miles away when his family needs him the most. For Temple Richardson, local employment and more time at home means dealing with school officials, toddler mishaps, and sick dogs, all while trying to plan the perfect birthday for his spouse.
When one mishap leads to another and the whole day comes tumbling down, can these two very different men get their lives, and their priorities, straight? Or will cascading failure finally rip them apart?
Excerpt
There was absolutely no reason whatsoever, under any circumstances imaginable, that anyone in this modern day, should be out of contact with their families for more than a few hours.
Eric glared at his phone. Surely, surely, Temple would have called if everything wasn't all right. The last he'd heard from his husband was that A.J. had a mild concussion; a brief text. And then nothing. Temple hadn't logged into Skype for their evening conversation. A dozen e-mails had gone unread. Temple hadn't responded to probably thirty phone calls and the last time Eric attempted to call, the voice mail had reported as full.
Eric waved away the offer of another beer from the bartender. He pulled his phone out again. No messages. No texts. No e-mails. He opened the map program and tapped the screen. It was just closing on midnight. It was an eight-hour drive from Cumberland, Maryland, to Hartford, where Eric had built the house for Temple so many years ago, not knowing that they would, in the end, build a life there. Eric could grab four hours sleep and be on the road by dawn, and home by midafternoon at the latest. Even if there was still maddening construction around Yonkers. He could miss Friday, stay home for the weekend, and get back to the site by Monday afternoon. He'd be dead tired, but... Eric chewed his lip. "Fuck it," he decided.
God, Dennis was going to kill him. Eric punched in the number for the general contractor, explained the situation. Then called Dominick, his lead. The two of them had worked together for almost twenty years now. If anyone would tell him that he should go, it would be Dom.
"Look, can ya hold the crew together for me for the weekend?" Eric asked. "A.J. ended up in the ER, and I cain't get in touch with Temp."
"J'check his Grindr?" Dom asked. Under normal circumstances, Eric would have laughed. He and Temple hadn't exactly met through the dating app, but the story had made the rounds a few times.
Eric sighed. "Yes or no, Dom?"
"Yer really worried," Dom postulated.
"Ya think?"
"My rugrats is all growed up these days," Dom pointed out. "Not like to call their old man if they take a tumble down the stairs. But I'm sure that the professor's taking good care of 'em."
"Maybe it's nothin'," Eric hedged.
"But you'll feel better if you're there. I get it. I do. I'll cover it."
"I owe ya one."
"Yah, yah, you owe me like forty, at this point, Skipper. Get goin'. I'll see you on Tuesday?"
"I'll let you know."
"Hope everything is okay."
Yeah, Eric thought as he disconnected the call, me, too.
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