Chambers - Tribute Act

Riptide Publishing

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Burnsville, NC 28714

www.riptidepublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All person(s) depicted on the cover are model(s) used for illustrative purposes only.

Tribute Act

Copyright 2018 by Joanna Chambers

Cover art: G. D. Leigh, blackjazzdesign.com

Editors: Sarah Lyons, Carole-ann Galloway

Layout: L.C. Chase, lcchase.com/design.htm

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, and where permitted by law. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Riptide Publishing at the mailing address above, at .

ISBN: 978-1-62649-683-5

First edition

January, 2018

Also available in paperback:

ISBN: 978-1-62649-684-2

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Nathan Bridges hadnt intended to settle down in his hometown of Porthkennackhe just ended up staying after saving the family business from ruin. The truth is, Nathan cant stop himself from stepping in when problems arise. Hes a fixer, the man everyone turns to. But even fixers cant solve everything.

When Nathans sister needs an organ transplant, its his stepbrother, Mack, who the family turns to as Rosies only potential living donor. Nathans curiosity about the stepbrother hes never met turns to shock when he realises that Mack is his latestand hottest everone-night stand.

Nathan and Mack agree to forget their single night together, but thats easier said than done. When Mack moves in to Nathans place to recuperate after surgery, its not just the sexual tension between them that keeps growing. Against all the odds, and despite Macks wariness of intimacy, the two men grow close enough that Nathan begins to wonder what it would take to mend the rift thats kept Mack and his father estranged for over a decade... and whether Mack might consider staying with Nathan in Porthkennack for good.

Dedicated to all the fixers and donors out there.

Christmas Stocking by The Sandy Coves spent thirteen weeks in the top forty in 1989, with four consecutive weeks at number two. Written by lead vocalist and guitarist Derek Dex MacKenzie, it was the bands only top-twenty hit and remains a seasonal favourite. The singles success was helped along by a humorous video featuring Angie Ellis, a well-known soap star at the time, but the comic touches in the video together with the upbeat fast-tempo production mask a pretty simple tune with surprisingly melancholy lyrics. Rumour has it Dex wrote the song about his failing marriage to Karen French. However, despite writing a song in which he begged Karen to stay with him, it was Dex who left the marriageand the band after almost a decade togetherwalking out in 1990 for second wife and fellow musician Tammy Ferguson. He launched an unremarkable solo album, Seashells , a year later, but when his first and second singles both failed to break the top one hundred, he was dropped by his record label.

Bonus fact : After divorcing Tammy, Dex moved to Cornwall, married again, and opened his own ice cream parlour. He never released another record.

Do you remember last December?

We were so in love last year

I didnt have to try to please you

You were mine; I kept you near

Thinking now, I dont know how

We got in such a state, dear

Now we fight most every night

And losing yous become my biggest fear...

Christmas Stocking by The Sandy Coves, 1989

August

I hope this doesnt make you late for your night out, Jonathan love, Mum said.

Always my full name from Mum, even though everyone else called me Nathan.

Her voice was tight with anxiety, and though I couldnt see her from where I lay with my head wedged into the tiny space under the kitchen sink in Dillys, I could picture her wringing her hands as she watched me work.

I didnt bother answering her, instead continuing to wrestle with the uncooperative plastic waste pipe. The plastic fittings should have come apart easily but were holding firm, and there was something off about the whole arrangement. I peered it at it more closely.

It looked... crooked.

Has Derek been messing about under here recently? I called out.

Not for a while, Mum replied. Though come to think of it, the sink did block a couple of months ago and he had to clear out the U-bend. He mightve had some bother getting it back on. She paused, then added, In fact, now you mention it, Im sure he said something about having to glue it back on?

Fucking great.

Somehow, I managed to stop myself saying that aloud, though I couldnt suppress a long-suffering sigh.

I could see the problem now. Could see where Derek had forced the fitting too hard and broken it. The repair with... Jesus, what had he used? Superglue?

Derek, my stepdad, was a great guy to go to the pub with but he wasnt exactly the most thorough handyman in the world. A lick and a promise, that was his style. Which usually meant that Yours Truly would end up having to sort out the mess at some point. In fact, when it came to dealing with those sorts of problemswhether at Dillys or at homeDerek tended to go for the easy way out. It was a bit of a bone of contention between us.

And one of the many joys of combining family and work.

I squirmed out from under the sink and clambered to my feet, opening my mouth to deliver a rant about Derek and his slapdash repairsonly to close it again when I saw how exhausted Mum was. She generally favoured a glam look, but it had been a long day and her makeup had all worn off. She had dark circles under her eyes too and, worst of all, her roots needed touching up. I frowned to think shed done a shift today with her roots showingshe wouldnt even answer the door like that normally.