Second Wind
By A.L. Lester
()
About this ebook
What do a shy French-horn-playing accountant and a single dad trans trumpet player have in common other than both being members of the community orchestra at Theatr Fach in the little town of Llanbaruc?
Gethin’s been more or less hiding from life since his marriage broke up a couple of years ago. He joined the orchestra because his sister told him he needed a hobby rather than sitting at home brooding about his divorce.
Martin is careful who he dates because of his gender and his teenage daughter. He came to Llanbaruc as a stage manager for the Theatr Fach twelve years ago. He has a good set of friends here. Shannon’s a good kid. They’re a team.
Martin and Gethin hit it off. Will their mutual baggage prove too much to sustain a relationship?
A.L. Lester
Writer of queer, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense. Lives in the South West of England with Mr AL and two children. Likes gardening but doesn't really have time or energy. Not musical. Doesn't much like telly. Non-binary. Chronically disabled. Has tedious fits.Instagram, tiktok, fb: CogentHippoMastodon: @CogentHippo@Wandering.Shop
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Second Wind - A.L. Lester
Second Wind
By A.L. Lester
Published by JMS Books LLC
Visit jms-books.com for more information.
Copyright 2022 A.L. Lester
ISBN 9781685503390
* * * *
Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com
Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.
All rights reserved.
WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.
This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America.
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To Elin, Lillian, Ofelia, and Nell, who’ve helped me keep going over this summer.
* * * *
Second Wind
By A.L. Lester
Chapter 1
Martin
Shannon!
Martin yelled up the stairs. If you want a lift, I’m leaving in ten minutes!
Okay! Okay! I’m coming! Don’t yell at me!
Shannon shouted back, appearing on the landing wielding a hairbrush and her school bag. Is it raining?
Martin usually only drove to work in the morning when it was hacking down.
Not this morning. I’ve got to run some errands so I’m taking the car for that. Do you want some toast?
If I can eat it in the car.
Martin shot her a look. Eating in the car was forbidden. He hated cleaning the car, he couldn’t afford to get it valeted on a regular basis, and the solution was to not fill it up with crap in the first place.
Fine, fine! I’ll be down in a minute. I just need to do my hair.
Her hair was another point of contention, but this morning it seemed to be reasonably normal-looking rather than something that gave him a seventies punk vibe.
He sighed, shoving bread into the toaster. It wasn’t that she was a bad kid, quite the opposite. It was just that he was on his own with her and sometimes felt he had no clue what he was doing. He seemed to have turned his back for a moment about three years ago and she’d gone from a sweet, biddable pre-teen to someone who had firm ideas about life that didn’t necessarily fit with his own. He’d thought he was quite savvy and clued up about culture, art, music. He worked in a theatre for goodness sake! But…he knew nothing apparently. Nothing at all.
The toaster popped, making him jump. He’d been staring into space. Pull yourself together, Martin. It’s orchestra tonight and Shannon’s going to Lee for the weekend and you can spend two days in bed if you want to. Just get through today.
He was always like this in the summer. The theatre was busiest then, the arts centre and the cafe bringing lots of Llanbaruc’s tourists to their doors for shows. They always tried to put on something that ran most of the summer as well as fitting in touring shows. The last couple of weeks of June were a flurry of rehearsals and getting it all in place in time for the season to kick off at the beginning of July and run through August and early September.
This year they were running a kid’s book that had been adapted for the stage. It should bring holidaying families in through the doors, along with the usual workshops and lectures and they had a half a dozen visiting performances as well. Martin was knackered just thinking about it at this point; but he always was at this juncture in rehearsals. Once they got the next couple of weeks out of the way and were into the actual performance routine, he’d be fine.
Today though…he had to finish painting the scenery for a Victorian alleyway and work out how he was going to move the flats in and out for the scene changes. A stage-manager’s life in a small theatre was full of variety. He grinned to himself. If he’d carried on with his career in Birmingham after he’d had Shannon, he’d have been in a big place by now. Somewhere he could just wave a languid hand and have minions run around and do the actual work.
He smirked to himself as he buttered the toast. He preferred it here. Theatr Fach was tiny, a little theatre for a little seaside town. But he loved it and wouldn’t change what he did for the world.
Shannon slouched in behind