Marisburg Connections

By Emily Carrington

Marisburg Connections: Four couples from Marisburg share a connection that’s stronger than anything the universe -- or even a small town -- can put in their way.

Sunlight (Marisburg Connections 1): Jack and Tyler struggle with family complications and Jake’s loss of eyesight. Will their love survive six months apart?

Out For You (Marisburg Connections 2): The story of Erik’s fears of being out of the closet and the extraordinary lengths to which he’ll go to keep his lover, Trent, in a state where being gay is considered amoral.

Guilt (Marisburg Connections 3): With Mike’s help, Aidan wrestles with his past. Can Mike’s love help him lose the shadow of guilt?

Dachshund Blocked (Marisburg Connections 4): The tale of three rambunctious little dogs and Peter’s fears about the coming wedding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Oct 21, 2022

Book preview

Marisburg Connections (Marisburg Chronicles 6)

A Sticks & Stones Romance

Emily Carrington

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2022 Emily Carrington

BIN: 010534-03423

Formats Available:

Adobe PDF, Epub

Publisher:

Changeling Press LLC

315 N. Centre St.

Martinsburg, WV 25404

www.ChangelingPress.com

Editor: Crystal Esau

Cover Artist: Angela Knight

Adult Sexual Content

This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

Legal File Usage -- Your Rights

Payment of the download fee for this book grants the purchaser the right to download and read this file, and to maintain private backup copies of the file for the purchaser’s personal use only.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this or any copyrighted work is illegal. Authors are paid on a per-purchase basis. Any use of this file beyond the rights stated above constitutes theft of the author’s earnings. File sharing is an international crime, prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice, Division of Cyber Crimes, in partnership with Interpol. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is punishable by seizure of computers, up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 per reported instance.

Table of Contents

Marisburg Connections (Marisburg Chronicles 6)

Sunlight (Marisburg Connections 1)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Out For You (Marisburg Connections 2)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Guilt (Marisburg Connections 3)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Dachshund Blocked (Marisburg Connections 4)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Emily Carrington

Marisburg Connections (Marisburg Chronicles 6)

A Sticks & Stones Romance

Emily Carrington

Marisburg Connections: Four couples from Marisburg share a connection that’s stronger than anything the universe -- or even a small town -- can put in their way.

Sunlight (Marisburg Connections 1): Jack and Tyler struggle with family complications and Jake’s loss of eyesight. Will their love survive six months apart?

Out For You (Marisburg Connections 2): The story of Erik’s fears of being out of the closet and the extraordinary lengths to which he’ll go to keep his lover, Trent, in a state where being gay is considered amoral.

Guilt (Marisburg Connections 3): With Mike’s help, Aidan wrestles with his past. Can Mike’s love help him lose the shadow of guilt?

Dachshund Blocked (Marisburg Connections 4): The tale of three rambunctious little dogs and Peter’s fears about the coming wedding.

Sunlight (Marisburg Connections 1)

Jack and Tyler struggle with family complications and Jake’s loss of eyesight. Will their love survive six months apart while Jake learns to cope with his blindness?

Chapter One

It was early June when Jake emerged from the three-story building that housed the ADA Coordinator’s office. He’d been moving quickly but the moment he opened the door, the world went white. He stumbled to a halt and covered his eyes partially with his left hand. His right tightened on the handle of the white cane he’d only been half paying attention to. It wasn’t that he didn’t need the cane to get around. He’d learned rather quickly that the white cane could save him from many embarrassing or painful situations. But, inside, he barely noticed its whispering across the floor in constant contact with the rugs or tiles. Now, he wished he could just duck back into the safety of the building’s dimmer interior.

But Tyler, his lover, was waiting for him out in the parking lot and Jake really needed Tyler’s comfort. He hadn’t struggled through a bad day, hadn’t done that in a while, but the glare from the sun that turned everything white made him both sad and timid.

He allowed the door to close behind him, listening to its click of finality. Oh, stop thinking like that, he remonstrated himself.

He needed to get to Tyler. So, closing his eyes, he put the cane out in front of him and swept it right to left, checking for obstacles. And, taking his first tentative step forward, he thought, I guess the ophthalmologist was right. Glare was bound to affect me sooner or later.

He wanted so badly to be able to peek and make sure that he was headed in the right direction that he covered his eyes all the way to not allow himself that opportunity. Even assuming he could see something other than white light, he’d give himself a blinder of a headache by trying to use his vision when his eyes were already streaming with tears of strain and overexposure to light.

He heard a door ahead of him somewhere open and close. Then, Tyler said, Are you okay? He was still a good distance away but surely he could see Jake’s hand over his eyes. Jake cursed softly, squeezed his eyes even more tightly shut, and dropped his hand. Even through his eyelids, the world was terribly bright but at least he could walk without opening his eyes.

He started to move faster, needing to get to Tyler and the shelter of the truck. He swept his cane from right to left and left to right, trying to feel everything. But he missed something, maybe a crack in the sidewalk, maybe nothing more than an imagined crack, and tripped. He kept hold of his white cane and managed to right himself before Tyler reached him, but both were near things.

Are you all right? Tyler asked, touching his arm and then making a sound Jake thought was frustration. Obviously you’re not. What happened?

Jake wondered if that frustration was with him. He doubted it. Tyler was the world’s most patient person. He took a breath, needing to confess because he’d end up blurting it out sooner or later. The glare is killing me. Dr. Metz was right. It finally showed up. The sun… He shook his head and turned away slightly. When I’m not looking directly at it, it hurts less.

Tyler ran his hand up Jake’s arm to his shoulder. Then he leaned close and kissed Jake’s temple, which was thoroughly distracting in a way that made Jake aware of his cock as he hadn’t been all day.

Maybe it’s time to meet with the white cane instructor again, Tyler suggested.

Jake’s orientation and mobility teacher was a busy man. He had most of their part of Pennsylvania to look after. If he’s ever free.

I’ll take you to Philly once a week if that’s what it takes.

I love you, Jake blurted. It wasn’t a new concept, but he felt completely overwhelmed with gratitude and desire.

When Tyler kissed him full on the mouth, making him weak at the knees, he knew Tyler’s answer, in his own way, was, I love you too.

* * *

This was sort of an important day, but Tyler tried not to share that, either with his family or with Jake. He’d introduced Jake to his parents and those of his brothers and sisters who didn’t know his boyfriend. But his immediate family were always supportive of his boyfriends.

Not that he’d had all that many.

But his mother’s family was more religious and ultimately more judgmental than Tyler’s parents and siblings. Tyler tried not to think of them like that. They were all, including him, Christian. But his mother’s sisters and his cousins took things like the Old Testament rather more seriously than Tyler. He’d once tried arguing the point that Jesus was the fulfilment of the law and thus no one was trapped under the old laws but that didn’t fly. All he’d managed to do was piss off several people. And he was still sort of bitter about the groundless arguments they’d used.

All of that was to say he wasn’t sure how Jake would be received. Jake was gay. Jake was his boyfriend. Jake was blind, or at least severely visually impaired. And Jake was white.

There was no basis in the Bible for racial discrimination but that didn’t stop it from happening. And while there were many white people who deserved to be treated with caution or outright disrespect, Jake wasn’t one of them. Jake was gentle and kind.

Most of Tyler’s family, immediate and extended weren’t racist. But some of them had been personally hurt by white people, and Tyler knew it was hard for them to separate past pain from current people.

So, Tyler thought as he flipped burgers on the grill in his parents’ backyard, why did I invite Jake?

The simple answer was also the truest. He loved it when Jake was around. All the