Broken Silence

By Jade Buchanan

Rich Matheson has spent his entire life in Northern Ontario, and he has no intention of leaving even if it means living a lie. But, after he meets the new nurse in town Rich gets a taste of what he’s been missing.

When Matthew Clark came north to care for his ailing Great-Aunt he figured he could kiss his love life goodbye. Life suddenly becomes a lot more interesting when he meets Rich, but can he have a long-term relationship with a man buried in the closet?

Rich is terrified of breaking his silence, but he’ll need to decide if loving Matthew is worth the risk.

*includes the bonus story Broken Wings, featuring a touching reunion between two of Matthew’s friends*

*This book was previously published*

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jade Buchanan
• Release date: Jun 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311462657

Jade Buchanan

Jade’s writing is as eclectic as her reading tastes, with over thirty erotic romance tales currently published. She’s also been known to accept writing challenges from friends and family just to see their reactions. She’s a firm believer that love and romance are universal concepts, no matter a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation. Originally from Northern Ontario, Jade has lived in British Columbia and the Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East. Jade currently lives in Calgary, Alberta, where she’s hard at work on her next story.Jade loves to hear from readers! Visit her at http://www.jadebuchananbooks.com

Book preview

BROKEN SILENCE BY JADE BUCHANAN

Rich Matheson has spent his entire life in Northern Ontario, and he has no intention of leaving even if it means living a lie. But, after he meets the new nurse in town Rich gets a taste of what he’s been missing.

When Matthew Clark came north to care for his ailing Great-Aunt he figured he could kiss his love life goodbye. Life suddenly becomes a lot more interesting when he meets Rich, but can he have a long-term relationship with a man buried in the closet?

Rich is terrified of breaking his silence, but he’ll need to decide if loving Matthew is worth the risk.

PRAISE FOR JADE BUCHANAN

The talented Jade Buchanan delivers yet another laugh out loud funny and very sensual story. – Rosemary, Joyfully Reviewed

Ms. Buchanan is a talented writer with the ability to make even the seemingly impossible into the believable. – Susan W., The Romance Studio

Jade Buchanan is a natural at creating believable characters and stories that reach out to the reader. – Scandalous Minx, Literary Nymphs

The sexual tension and the sexual culminations were so hot I was wiping the fog off my ebook reader’s screen. – Hayley, Fallen Angel Reviews

Broken Silence

by

Jade Buchanan

Copyright 2016 Jade Buchanan

Smashwords edition

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Chapter One

When’s my baby coming home?

Matthew sighed, holding the phone away from his mouth so his mom didn’t hear it. They’d been over this before. He was low man on the totem pole, so he was going to be working the holiday. I’m not coming home, Mom.

You’re coming home for Christmas and don’t argue with me. Don’t sigh like that, either, I can hear you.

You hear everything.

Yes, because I’m your mother, and it’s my job to hear everything. Now, they treating you right at the hospital?

Yes, Mom. Matthew couldn’t help his grin.

Your Aunt Adeline is okay?

Yes, Mom.

Are you getting enough to eat?

Yes, Mom.

Have you found a nice boy to bring home?

Not yet. He fiddled with the phone, angling his body so his aunt couldn’t hear him. You never knew with her. You could be sitting in the same room, and the woman wouldn’t hear a thing you said, but whisper three rooms over and suddenly she could hear perfectly.

He definitely wasn’t three rooms over, so he wanted to be careful about what he said. Matthew glanced around the kitchen. It looked like a flock of geese had exploded in the room. The damned things were on everything – the tablecloth, the dishtowels, the wallpaper border, the rug, the stovetop. They’d even been stenciled on the cupboard doors. They all had the same blue hats and yellow ribbons around their necks, too.

He tuned back into the conversation. It’s not exactly that type of place.

His mom sighed gustily. Nonsense, gay people don’t only live in big cities, Matthew. There’s no reason you can’t find a nice man there. You deserve to be happy, be with someone who cares for you.

I know.

You promise you’ll tell me the minute you meet someone?

Yeah, I promise.

Okay, then. Pass me over to Aunt Addy and you can go off to dinner.

’Kay. Love you.

Love you too, Matthew.

Matthew moved into the living room and handed the phone to his aunt. Great-aunt, actually. She was the reason he’d moved up here. Aunt Adeline was eighty-five years old and refused to move out of her house. Only, an incident last year had made all the family panic and Matthew had been voted most able to move to Temiskaming Shores and take care of her. He guessed it didn't hurt that he was a nurse.

He didn’t mind. He’d needed the break anyway, but it was quite different from what he was used to. Starting with the name of the place... Temiskaming Shores, Tri-Towns, New Liskeard? All of the above, apparently, depending on who you asked. Temiskaming Shores was the official name, of only a few years, and it was made up of New Liskeard, Haileybury and Dymond. He’d only been up here a few times in the past with his parents, but his aunt had no wish to move out of the place she’d lived in nearly all her life.

If he didn’t stop woolgathering he’d miss his Friday night get together with the other nurses.

Wandering into the living room and waving his hand, he got his aunt’s attention and mouthed goodbye to her. She waved imperiously, causing him to grin. Aunt Addy sure was something.

It took him longer than he’d like to bundle up at the backdoor. They were in a bit of a cold snap at the moment and he hated it. Aunt Addy kept trying to tell him it was always like this in December, but he didn’t want to hear it. That might mean that it would get worse and he couldn’t exactly up and leave because he didn’t like the weather.

He slid into his boots before putting on all the requisite winter paraphernalia. Finally geared up in a jacket, scarf, gloves and tuque, he barreled down the steps and around the house to where his car sat in the gravel driveway. Minutes later, he was passing through downtown New Liskeard, on his way along the lakeshore to Haileybury and Matheson’s Bar and Grill.

He was the first to arrive, which wasn’t a shocker. Some of the folks in this town moved a little slower than he was used to. He spied a couple getting up from a table at the back of the room and quickly rushed over before it could be snapped up by anyone else. He grinned up at the waitress who came by to clean up the table before removing all his shit and looking around to see who else was here.

The place was packed like it always seemed to be. No surprise, since there weren’t that many restaurants you could actually go here. And that wasn’t very nice, but hell, he grew up in Toronto. This had been quite the culture shock the first time he’d driven around to find a spot to eat.

The long bar along one side of the large room was nearly hidden by the sea of men packed in like sardines. The sound of rock music battled it out with the hockey game in progress. The Leafs were fighting it out with the Canadiens on the big screen TVs and a quick peek of the score had Matthew cringing. His boys needed to pick it up if they wanted to do something this year.

Hey, Big Dick! I’m about to eat the table I’m so hungry. Where’s my nachos?

Matthew turned at the loud bellow from the table beside him. He recognized the men, but hadn’t met them personally. Jeff Dube was the one who had yelled and the other two were Marcus Blunt and Etienne Marcel. The only reason Matthew knew who they were was because of who they were friends with.

Swiveling around to look at the recipient of the bellow, Matthew sighed in longing.

Right there at the bar was the reason he loved coming here. Rich Matheson was sure nice to look at, with a combination of thick black hair, chiseled cheekbones and eyes that looked black at first until you got close enough to see the hint of blue. It was obvious his nose had been broken a time or two but it just served to take him from merely pretty to downright sinful.

He cursed himself every time he mooned over the man, but he couldn’t seem to help it. Hell, even the way Rich moved was poetry. He sauntered around the bar now, carrying a plate of nachos piled high. Matt wanted to yell at him to rest since he knew for a fact Rich had been in the hospital not that long ago.

Stupid idiot. Rich had walked out into traffic two months ago while completely drunk and only the fact that the driver hadn’t been going that fast had allowed Rich to twist out of the way enough that he wasn’t hit directly. He’d fractured his fibula and gotten one hell of a concussion. Luckily, he’d been in excellent shape, and as much as Matthew would like to say differently, Rich’d actually followed doctor’s orders exactly and progressed through his healing with flying colours.

Matthew had been on shift the night Rich had come in and it hadn’t been a pretty sight. The quick lurch in his stomach when he’d realized who it was had stunned him. Where the hell had it come from? Even now, he was still trying to figure it out. His moment of panic hadn’t made a lick of sense. Rich wasn’t anything to him. And he definitely wasn’t anything to Rich.

It didn’t stop him from fantasizing, though.

What would it feel like to come in here after a hard day at the hospital and have Rich aim that quicksilver grin at him? To be welcomed with a hug and a heated kiss, regardless of anyone else in the room? He wished he had the right to brush back the lock of wavy hair that seemed to perpetually fall forward over Rich’s forehead. Or caress that ripped body, feeling up muscles developed over years of playing sports and keeping in shape. Matthew didn’t have to stretch his imagination much to come up with that picture, since Rich had spent most of the summer wearing tight tees and cargo shorts that showed off his powerhouse calves.

Oh, he had such a weakness for toned, muscular legs.

Here’s your fucking nachos. Now, stop yelling at me, asshole. Rich dropped the plate on the table before bracing one hip against the edge.

Hey, that’s not what you called Doobie when he gave you a reach-around last night.

Jackass. Rich reached out and swatted Marcus on the back of the head. You know how I know you’re gay? Cause your face smells like ball sweat.

And that, right there, was why Matthew hated coming here.

***

Rich grunted happily when another couple entered Matheson’s. He was turning into his dad, but he did like seeing the place packed. It brought back memories of when he was growing up, but it also proved that he was doing the right thing by continuing the business.

He figured he had a few minutes free, so he squatted beside the table where his friends were currently going through nachos in record time. The four of them had been friends forever, it seemed. Doobie was small and wiry with a bald head but a full beard. He’d grown up just down the street from Rich all through childhood.

Etienne was the resident Frenchman in their group. He had a head of curly brown hair and blue eyes. He’d come from Noranda when they were all in junior high school, and had fit right in.

Marcus looked more like Rich than the others. He was just as big as Rich, both topping six feet and a few inches. He had black hair that made him look like a caveman and thick black eyebrows that looked like two giant fuzzy caterpillars had crawled onto his face and died.

Doobie picked up a heaping handful of nachos and stuffed them in his mouth. Wannn hee my dew seery?

Don’t talk with your mouth full.

His friend swallowed before looking up with a grin. You wanna hear my new theory?

Marcus started to laugh, so Rich figured he’d already heard this one.

About what?

Doobie inched forward, placing his elbows on the table. He looked around at Marcus and Etienne before focusing on Rich. I think chicks and dudes are like locks and keys.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Think about it. A key that opens a thousand locks? That’s an awesome key. But, if you have a lock that can be opened by a thousand keys? That’s a shitty lock.

Rich snorted. Don’t let my sister hear you say that.

Why? She have a lock I ca—

She’s my sister, douchebag.

So?

So, she’s off limits. End of story.

Ah, come on, Big Dick. That’s not what she said to me, Marcus joked.

Rich pointed his finger at Marcus. Don’t make me fuck you over.

Yeah, you don’t want that. You know why they call him Big Dick, after all. Etienne grinned before raising his brows at Rich in clear demand.

Rich placed his hands at either side of his fly. Come over here and I’ll show you.

His friends roared with laughter at the familiar saying. It never got old, no matter how many times they did it.

Rich! How’s your mom? A gentle hand landed on his shoulder, capturing his attention.

His smile took a second to materialize on his face, but he didn’t think she noticed. Mrs. Brogan. Nice to see you. Mom’s doing good. She’s gone down to Toronto with dad for the night. They’re picking up Lora tomorrow.

Oh, she’ll be so happy to have your sister back home. If you see her before I do, tell her I’d like to chat.

Will do. I think I’m going over for dinner tomorrow so I’ll let her know. He watched as she carried on to the next table over and hugged the new nurse before sitting down beside him. Rich let his gaze linger on the handsome man for a moment, hoping anyone would think he was staring at his friend’s mother. Matthew was definitely a looker. But, that was all Rich was going to do.

The older he got the worse this became. He was pretty much resigned to the fact that he’d never find someone to be with long-term. Not if he carried on the way he was going, at least. The fact that Rich felt a twinge of pain whenever he saw Mrs. Brogan just made that clear.

It had nothing to do with the lady, and everything to do with her son. Or the person her son was currently living with, to be perfectly honest. And just that quickly, he was thrown back into where he’d been two months ago...

Rich took another swig from his bottle, stumbling slightly before he caught himself. Fucking stupid. He was so fucking, god-damned stupid.

He could have what they were going to have. He'd had Jonah right here in front of him but he'd let him go instead of chasing him down. Now the man was with Neil, and from the way everyone was talking tonight they were definitely serious. Hell, Neil was going to move to Calgary. Didn't get much more serious than that. Neil, not Rich, was going to get to his happily ever after. Rich was going to stay here, like always, and rot inside his perfect little life.

He was so caught up in his pity party he didn’t see the headlights until they were right in front of him.

He shook his head from the memory of that night. Yeah, he was fucking stupid all right. Neil Brogan had the good fortune to be with a man that anyone would be lucky to have. Jonah Chevalier was a keeper. Too bad Rich was too stupid to realize it all those years ago. Rich envied Neil, for having the onions to actually leave town after telling his parents he was gay. Jonah left all those years ago and was happier for it.

It’d been completely obvious when he’d come home this summer that he was stronger and more sure of himself. Even under the horrible circumstances of his mom passing away, Jonah had exhibited an inner strength that Rich knew was missing inside of him. Fuck, just look at him. Rich was a few years into his thirties and he still didn’t have the stones to tell his parents that he’d rather be sleeping with men. He couldn’t admit it to his friends, either. Instead he found the odd man to fuck in between sleeping with women. Pretending to be something he wasn’t.

Deciding that he might as well punish himself even more, he nodded to his friends before walking over to Mrs. Brogan’s table. It had filled up during his woolgathering and a few more nurses had joined the group. He recognized everyone from his short stint in the hospital a few months back, but then again everyone at the table was a long-time resident, with the exception of the new nurse. The new nurse that he most definitely wasn’t looking at.

The nurses had been doing this Friday night get-together for a while now. The players changed depending on who was on shift, but they got pretty rowdy after a few drinks and appetizers. It was always good for a laugh, from Rich’s perspective. Most of these ladies were his mom’s friends, after all. Seeing them all hooped up was pretty funny.

What can I grab for you ladies?

And gentleman, Mrs. Brogan reminded him gently.

Rich couldn’t stop his lips from curving as he studied the red expression on Matthew’s face. Oh yeah, the nurse didn’t like that. Sorry, didn’t see you there. You lot want your usual?

After a chorus of yeses, he meandered back to the kitchen to give in the order of a couple plates of appetizers before handing over the drinks order to Michelle.

Stop taking my tables, Rich!

He laughed at his waitress. Then hustle your buns faster, babe.

His cousin glared at him before sticking her tongue out. You’re more annoying than Uncle Dan. Go bug your friends. I brought their food, and just put in an order for a round of beer.

Rich took a minute to pour the beers before walking back to his friends. He noticed they’d finished the nachos and were starting in on huge sandwiches. He stole a handful of fries off Marcus’ plate. Damn, he hadn’t realized how hungry he was.

What’s new since I left?

Jesus, don’t ask, Marcus muttered.

What?

I wanna be the dude in a dude sandwich, Doobie moaned between bites of his BLT.

That’s fucking gay, Rich said.

That’s what I just said, Marcus quipped.

How? Doobie furrowed his brow.

Rich couldn’t believe he had to ask. A dude sandwich? You want to be sandwiched between two dudes? That’s gay.

No! I mean a dude sandwich, like with me as the centre between two women.

Rich shook his head. Why call it a dude sandwich, then?

Well, you call a piece of baloney slapped between two slices of bread a baloney sandwich, right?

I don’t care if you’re right or not. It still sounds gay.

He shared a laugh with Marcus, both of them rolling their eyes at Doobie.

Change of subject. When’s your sister coming home? Etienne asked.

Rich shrugged. Tomorrow. Her flight gets in to Toronto some time in the morning and the parental unit is already down there so they can drive her back.

You heard from her since she left?

Nah. Mom and dad have, so that’s good with them. You know how mom would have freaked otherwise. They’ve been telling me bits and pieces of her trip, but I figure I’ll just take her out for dinner when she’s back and hear it all at once. You know what Lora’s like.

Etienne nodded. Still, Turkey? That’s a big trip.

Yeah. But, the squirt went with some of her friends from University, so it wasn’t like she was all alone or anything. Could have been worse.

She could have gone with Marcus. That would have been worse, Etienne joked.

Seriously, stay away from my baby sister, Rich said in a threatening tone.

Come on, we had one date in high school and I haven’t touched her since.

You better not have touched her then, either, douchebag.

Marcus shrugged. Calm down. You know I never. His friends might joke, but they all knew when to draw the line.

Uh oh, Michelle’s glaring daggers at you. Better get moving, Rich, Doobie said.

Rich sighed. It was going to be one of those nights. They were busy, then quiet, then busy, then quiet. He could never quite tell what was going to happen. Looked like they’d picked up some in the last ten minutes, though.

He left his friends watching the game and went to calm his cousin down. After getting an earful, he decided to pitch in again and deliver food from the kitchen to clear up the backlog that had taken over.