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    The Carpenter and the Actor
    The Carpenter and the Actor
    The Carpenter and the Actor
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    The Carpenter and the Actor

    By RJ Scott

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    About this ebook

    A dramatic rescue of a man with amnesia, a loaded firearm, and an unsolved murder, might just be the start of falling in love.

    Paramedic Jamie escaped the city and relocated to Ellery, seeking a fresh start. Settling in at the small Ellery hospital, Jamie is content. He wants to make a difference in a community in dire need, and he’s prepared to work long hours to help. Little does Jamie know that his life will be forever altered when he’s part of a rescue mission for an unidentified individual, known only as John Doe. The man is trapped in a wrecked vehicle perilously perched on the edge of a ravine, Jamie risks everything to save him, and as John regains consciousness, revealing captivating violet eyes, Jamie is more than intrigued.

    However, beneath the surface of a growing attraction between them, a veil of mystery shrouds who John really is. He’s suffering from amnesia, rendering him unable to recollect the events leading up to his shooting of the car's passenger. In addition, the presence of the firearm discovered in his possession further deepens the mystery surrounding the incident.

    Determined to help John regain his lost memories and find solace in the truth, Jamie immerses himself in a tireless quest for answers and giving his unwavering reassurance during moments of frustration and confusion. Driven by the desire to protect John and help him reclaim his identity, Jamie finds himself falling deeper in love with the complex, mysterious man who has become the center of his world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRJ Scott
    Release dateMay 11, 2017
    ISBN9781785640704
    The Carpenter and the Actor
    Author

    RJ Scott

    RJ Scott is the author of the best selling Male/Male romances The Christmas Throwaway, The Heart Of Texas and the Sanctuary Series of books.She writes romances between two strong men and always gives them the happy ever after they deserve.

    Read more from Rj Scott

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      Book preview

      The Carpenter and the Actor - RJ Scott

      Chapter One

      Jason McInnery pulled another blanket from the pile at the bottom of his bed and used it to block up any small space around him that could let in the cold. When he’d gone for rustic, he hadn’t realized he’d be getting the equivalent of sleeping in a tent. He couldn’t get the heating to work, it was two in the morning and sleep had so far eluded him. The hot water bottle he’d found in the cupboard above the sink was still warm, but it really needed to have the water replaced with steaming, boiling heat. That would mean getting out of bed, though, and placing his feet on the icy-cold wooden floor.

      So not going there, he muttered to himself.

      The new blanket helped, and finally, he had a cocoon that at least meant he wasn’t shivering. No wonder the cabin had been cheap to rent if it didn’t come with working heat. He knew he should have stopped at the chain motel he’d seen just outside Ellery. But no, his idea of hiding was self-imposed isolation halfway up a mountain and twenty minutes’ drive from the town he’d been born in. He should have gone to his parents’ house in Las Vegas and got some of that desert sun.

      Freaking paparazzi. They knew where his parents lived, and would assume it was one place he would go. Hell, he was lucky they hadn’t followed him to Ellery, or had any inkling he would go back to the town he’d left before he was old enough to remember it. His cell phone rang, and he rooted around under the covers, where he’d pushed his only link to his other life. The life where he was a famous, successful, openly gay actor who had charmed his way into millions of hearts on a successful TV comedy and in two kids’ films. The actor with the brother who had died. The screen lit up brightly, and the name wasn’t a surprise.

      Hey, Mom, he answered. The cell was warm from having been wrapped in the quilt. Midnight at his parents’ place meant his dad snoring in bed and his night-owl mom watching recorded shows. It’s two a.m., you know.

      There was a show on, and I was thinking about you.

      You need to stop watching those gossip shows, Mom, he said patiently.

      I can’t help it, J. It’s everywhere.

      Jason shifted deeper under the covers and sighed inwardly. He’d grown a thicker skin now. Having his private life plastered over magazines and TV shows was part and parcel of the whole celebrity lifestyle. That didn’t mean it had gotten any easier over the last seven years since the ratings of the small comedy show he starred in had exploded. Hell, it wasn’t ever going to get any easier for his poor mom. Not only had Ben died with too many secrets and too many lies twisted around him, but Jason had been smacked around the face with the fallout of his brother’s actions and his own subsequent arrest.

      I’m fine, Mom, he said.

      I just wanted to… She didn’t finish the sentence.

      Jason’s throat tightened with emotion. He didn’t call her on phoning him this late—she’d wanted to hear his voice. Losing Ben had destroyed his parents. Maybe he should have gone home to Vegas, but doing so would have put his mom and dad in the spotlight. They were struggling as it was.

      I can be home by tomorrow, Jason offered. He could get tickets and be on a plane in a few hours. Hell, it would probably be warmer on a plane anyway.

      No, Jason, we talked about this. I love you—I just wanted to tell you.

      I love you too, Mom.

      When the call ended, he clutched the cell close and pulled the blankets up and over his head. Grief balled in his chest, and not for the first time since he’d left LA, he wondered what the hell had made him come to Ellery. He might as well have stuck a pin in a map as a way of deciding where to hide out.

      He had three weeks. Three weeks until filming started for the next season. Ellery was as good a place as any.

      Loud noises woke him to bright sunlight streaming through the large windows, and he glanced at his cell phone. The screen showed it was just after seven a.m. He’d banked five hours’ sleep, but he still felt like complete shit. His dreams had been filled with Ben and a scene that was something like a movie, with him and Ben running. He hated the running dream—it never failed to leave him frustrated and tired beyond reason, and had occurred on too many occasions recently. Rolling onto his side, away from the window, he screwed his eyes shut tight and willed sleep to happen.

      The knocking on his door was part of a dream—it had to be. No one would be knocking on the door of this remote cabin at ass o’clock in the morning for any imaginable reason.

      Groaning, he shifted until he could listen with both ears. The knocking wasn’t stopping. This wasn’t the short, sharp knock of someone at the door. This was repetitive and noisy and…hell, right outside his window. What the fuck was happening? Pulling the blankets back over his head, he attempted to sleep. When that didn’t block out the banging, he searched on his phone for an app that produced white noise. When that didn’t work either, he gave up on sleep.

      What the hell? Grumpy, uncoordinated and tired, he clambered off his bed and got twisted in the five blankets he’d laid over the quilt. Tripping unceremoniously to the floor, he cursed the parentage of whoever had pulled him from sleep. The banging hadn’t stopped—if anything it became louder the nearer he got to the window, and when he pushed the catch to open it, he was overwhelmed by the sound of a drill and a hammer.

      What the hell! he shouted over the noise. He couldn’t see the face of the person in control of the drilling, but he could see a figure hunched over the steps leading up to his cabin. Wood lay around him in disarray, and there was a bucket of nails and a pile of fresh timber. For a second Jason imagined grabbing the nearest thing, the bedside lamp, and throwing it at his early-morning torturer to get his attention. Then an episode of some hospital drama had him recalling the sight of a drill passing through flesh, and he didn’t want to be that kind of distraction. Huffing to himself, he pulled on jeans over his boxers and shrugged on a sweater.

      He threw open the front door, crossed his arms and stood in the doorway. The man doing the work wasn’t looking his way, but any minute now he would register that Jason was there. Then Jason’s work would be done. The idiot would stop drilling and hammering, and Jason could go back to bed.

      When that didn’t work, Jason moved the few steps to pass into the worker’s peripheral vision, then stood in a similar arms-crossed-over-his-chest stance. The guy apparently registered that he was being watched, since suddenly and quite spectacularly, he jumped to his feet, narrowly avoiding the still-whirring drill as it fell from his hand and impaled itself in the mud and grass.

      Holy shit! he shouted, and clutched his chest dramatically.

      Jason raised an eyebrow in that expression he’d perfected for his role as the dry, sardonic café owner on the comedy series Late Last Night.

      And the reason you’re making this much noise outside my cabin at dawn is…?

      He waited patiently as the man stood with his hand still on his chest and his mouth open. Evidently, he was more than just a little surprised that Jason was there.

      Shit, he said. Sorry. I didn’t know… No one said… Hell.

      Sentences work, Jason prompted.

      Brenda didn’t tell me this cabin was occupied. It’s the most remote we have, and no one is close enough to be worried about the noise. The weather was good when I woke up, so I thought I’d beat the predicted rain and get a head start on my work. The man dropped his hand and shook his head. I can only apologize, but this week we got behind, and Daniel and I have been working on the staff cabin, and so today was the first day I had to get this fixed. I needed to get a head start—

      So you said, Jason interrupted. He wasn’t sure the other man had stopped to draw a breath.

      Daniel said—Daniel is the son of the owner, Brenda—he said we should clear the work on this cabin, because the last person said there was an issue with the hot water and heating and this step needed fixing because the top slat had come loose—

      Okay, Jason said. He held up a hand to stop the other man from rambling on about absolutely everything in his head. "Can you leave this now and maybe come and take a look at

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