Sunset on Turtle Lake

By Carol Lynne

Winter isn't the only chill in the air on Turtle Lake.

When Sam Burgman's mother, Gloria, nears the end of her battle with cancer, Sam makes the hard decision to leave his job as a corporate lawyer in Miami to take his mom home to Turtle Lake, Minnesota.

Ian Mendoza takes his job as Gloria's caregiver very seriously, but, unlike the assignments he's taken in the past, Ian fails to maintain a professional distance when it comes to Sam. Unfortunately for Ian, Sam refuses to open his heart despite their mutual attraction.

Born and raised in Miami, Ian isn't prepared for the frozen landscape that is Minnesota in the winter, but the chill he wants to erase is the one coming from Sam.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Nov 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781786515155

Carol Lynne

An avid reader for years, one day Carol Lynne decided to write her own brand of erotic romance. While writing her first novel, Branded by Gold, Carol fell in love with the M/M genre. Carol juggles between being a full-time mother and a full-time writer. With well over one hundred releases, one thing is certain, Carol loves to keep busy writing sexy cowboys, shifters, bodyguards, vampires and everything in between. Although series books are her passion, Carol enjoys penning the occasional stand-alone title. As founder and President of GRL Retreat, Inc., Carol helps organize the annual GayRomLit Retreat. Now in its sixth year, GayRomLit is an annual retreat that brings together the people who create and celebrate LGBT romance for a one-of-a-kind, must-attend gathering of dynamic, informal, and diverse fun.

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Sunset on Turtle Lake

ISBN # 978-1-78651-515-5

©Copyright Carol Lynne 2016

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright October 2016

Edited by Sue Meadows

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2016 by Pride Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

Pride Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

SUNSET ON TURTLE LAKE

Carol Lynne

Winter isn’t the only chill in the air on Turtle Lake.

When Sam Burgman’s mother, Gloria, nears the end of her battle with cancer, Sam makes the hard decision to leave his job as a corporate lawyer in Miami to take his mom home to Turtle Lake, Minnesota.

Ian Mendoza takes his job as Gloria’s caregiver very seriously, but, unlike the assignments he’s taken in the past, Ian fails to maintain a professional distance when it comes to Sam. Unfortunately for Ian, Sam refuses to open his heart despite their mutual attraction.

Born and raised in Miami, Ian isn’t prepared for the frozen landscape that is Minnesota in the winter, but the chill he wants to erase is the one coming from Sam.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

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

GMC Yukon: General Motors Truck Company

Chicago Tribune: tronc, Inc.

Ensure: Abbott Laboratories

Bamm-Bamm: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.

Bud Light: AB InBev

Minnesota Twins: Jim Pohlad

Kumbya, My Lord: Julian P. Boyd

Daisy Dukes: Warner Bros Television

Chapter One

Sam Burgman stared at the looming black clouds out of his twenty-third-floor office window. Usually he loved watching the weather roll in, but the approaching storm merely foretold the emotional turbulence that was to come.

According to Ian Mendoza, his mother’s caregiver, Gloria Burgman only had a matter of weeks, perhaps a month, before she succumbed to the cancer that was eating away at her already fragile body. Sam didn’t care what anyone said—watching someone you love suffer was worse than watching them die.

The streak of lightning that lit up the sky felt as if it had found its way to Sam’s heart. There was no path to redemption for him. His mom had one person in the world who should have known what was happening, who should have been there, and Sam had failed because he’d been too busy to make frequent trips home. It hadn’t been until the doctors had confirmed his mom’s stomach cancer that she’d told him she’d been having issues for quite some time. Worse, since she’d already fought a battle against breast cancer ten years earlier, she’d refused treatment for her current illness. Sam had been so angry with his mother for refusing to fight that he’d done the unthinkable and had moved her from their family home north of Bemidji to Miami. She hadn’t taken the move easily, but, at the time, Sam had believed he had little choice. He was in the middle of a high-profile trial, and walking away hadn’t been an option. He’d hired a live-in nurse to care for his mother and had gone right back to his usual schedule of long hours and non-existent weekends while his mom grew sicker.

A quick glance at his computer screen told him he’d already missed his mom’s bedtime. It wasn’t unusual for him to go days without seeing her when he was working, but that wasn’t the case this time. He simply couldn’t bear to go home, as if not seeing it would keep his mom from withering away in the luxurious Miami apartment they shared.

Sam hated the fact that Ian had become a better son to his mom than he was, but it was the truth. On several occasions, he’d stormed out of the apartment because Ian had been able to ease his mom’s pain when Sam hadn’t. Sam didn’t know what he hated worse, being jealous of the bond Ian had formed with his mom or being so attracted to Ian that he had trouble sleeping at night.

The guilt that seemed to be his constant companion lately drove him to pick up the phone.

Hello? Ian answered.

It’s me. Just calling to check on Mom. Did she have a good day?

A few seconds ticked by before Ian answered. She spent the afternoon talking about the lake again. I think most of the time she believes I’m you, which is fine except I think you’ll regret not hearing the stories she remembers in those brief periods.

Sam rubbed his forehead. The fact that his mom often mistook Ian for him said it all. Ian looked nothing like him. Sam had the same Nordic-coloring as his father and grandfather, while Ian’s mixed Latin heritage was also evident.

It’s hard, Sam finally said.

I know, but someday you’re going to wish you had those moments back.

Yeah. Sam was at the point that his guilt clouded every aspect of his life. Moving his sick mother to Miami had been a huge mistake, one he doubted he’d ever forgive himself for, but now that she was at the end of her life, he’d decided it was time to face the truth of what was happening. Do you think she’s well enough to take the trip back to Minnesota? Christmas is next week, and I would love to give her one last holiday in our old house.

I think she’s coherent enough to get there, but it depends on how long you plan to stay whether or not she’ll be healthy enough for the return trip, Ian said.

Sam’s throat seemed to grow thick as suppressed emotion fought to surface. I didn’t really plan to bring her back. I’ve got some vacation coming, I thought I’d talk to my boss about taking it all. I know it won’t make up for taking her away from home in the first place, but I’m hoping it’ll help ease her pain, now that her time is coming to an end. The problem is, I don’t think I can handle it on my own. Sam didn’t know why he couldn’t just come out and ask Ian to accompany them on the trip. Maybe it was because he knew so little about his family. It was a damn shame, really, another of his faults. Despite Ian living in his apartment for the last three months, he’d done everything possible to avoid being in the same room with the gorgeous man.

There was too much going on in his life to become distracted by the pleasure he knew Ian would willingly provide. Not to say Ian was a slut, because, honestly, he didn’t know enough about him to make that determination, but he