Aftershocks (Earthquake #4)

By T.A. Webb

Everything was going so great for Charlie Turner...his relationship with Amos Greene took off and his brother resembled a human being again. Then all hell broke loose, and Charlie was left standing amidst the ruins of his life.

But that’s not the end of the damage. To truly heal, all the makeshift bandages Charlie applied to his hurts over the years must be ripped off. Without Amos and his family at Mountain Shadows, he might fold under the weight of all the pain.

But Charlie’s willing to stand and fight for the people who are important to him...can the same be said of them?

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.A. Webb
• Release date: Aug 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310113468

T.A. Webb

T.A. Webb is the writing name for the Mean Old Bear That Could. By day, he's the director of finance for a non-profit agency. He's worked with people living with HIV/AIDS and with children in the foster care system for over twenty years, and takes the smaller pay for the chance to make a difference for those who can't help themselves. After hours, he's the proud single papa of four rescue dogs, was born and raised in Atlanta, where he still lives, and is a pretty darned good country cook. His sister taught him to read when he was four, and he tore his way through the local library over the next few years. Always wanting more, he snuck a copy of The Exorcist under his parents' house to read when he was eleven and scared the bejesus out of himself. Thus began a love affair with books that skirt the edge, and when he discovered gay literature, he was hooked for life. T.A. can be found at Facebook under AuthorTAWebb, tweeted at #TomBearAtl, or if you really want to, you can email him at [e-mail].

Book preview

Everything was going so great for Charlie Turner…his relationship with Amos Greene took off and his brother resembled a human being again. Then all hell broke loose, and Charlie was left standing amidst the ruins of his life.

But that’s not the end of the damage. To truly heal, all the makeshift bandages Charlie applied to his hurts over the years must be ripped off. Without Amos and his family at Mountain Shadows, he might fold under the weight of all the pain.

But Charlie’s willing to stand and fight for the people who are important to him…can the same be said of them?

Aftershocks (Earthquake #4)

T.A. Webb

Copyright

Aftershocks (Earthquake #4) is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by T.A. Webb

Cover photograph from iStock.com

Cover Art by Laura E. Harner

Edited by Jae Ashley

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-310113-468

Warning: All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any many without written permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this book.

Contact the publisher for further information: [e-mail].

Smashwords License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Trademark Acknowledgements:

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Cardinals: Arizona Cardinals Football Club LLC

Village People: Can’t Stop Productions, Inc.

Justin Bieber: Bieber Time Holdings, LLC

Russell Crowe: Russell Crowe Individual

Putt-Putt: Putt-Putt, LLC

Peter Piper Pizza: Peter Piper, Inc.

Dedication

To Tom Russell and Twilynn Jourdain. Two finer people I have never met, and the work they do with children, especially those in the foster care system is amazing. My role models.

Table of Contents

Front Matter

Copyright

Trademark Acknowledgements

Dedication

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

About the Author

Also by the Author

Chapter One

I was a little early to the session, but that was kind of the norm for me. Dr. Linda Westbrook was a patient lady and I liked her. After Damon’s assault, we searched hard for the right person for him to talk with, and his reluctance to open up to another man narrowed the search down substantially. When we got a recommendation from his primary care doctor for a licensed counselor who specialized in trauma and assault in teens as well as family practice, I knew we had a winner.

Damon had been seeing her for about two months. And I decided I needed to talk to someone after I almost walked away from my brother and Amos. That scared the shit out of me. But desperate times and desperate measures and all that crap, so I pulled my head out of my ass and made an appointment to see her myself a couple of weeks later. Now, after a month, we were having a family session that included Amos too.

I had to be honest with myself—this was scary stuff. Damon was seeing Dr. Westbrook twice weekly, and I was there for myself once a week. Then I’d been in a couple of the sessions with Damon, twice with Amos, once with my mother, once with her and Damon…it was like some math problem I’d had to tackle back in high school. If you have four pieces of fruit, how many combinations can you form?

Fruit. How appropriate.

Now me, Amos, Damon, and my mom…all four in the same room at the same time. Linda—she preferred to keep things a bit less formal and structured—assured me this was the right and necessary next step in my treatment