by J. R. Tate
They were going to make it. They were going to rebuild Harper Springs and look back on the demolished and ravaged land like it was just a bad nightmare. It was taking time but at least progress was being made. Ryan still had so many questions – how come help never came? Was the entire world facing the challenges of rebuilding and surviving that they were? One day they would have to travel and find out. Most of all – why was nature becoming so extreme? Massive tornadoes, detrimental drought, wildfires, and dust storms – Ryan loved fluctuating weather but he longed for a calm pattern for a change.
“Hey hon, what are you doing out here?” Cecilia joined him on the edge of the pasture, locking her arm in his.
“Just thinking. Still so much to do around here.”
“Your mind is a scary place.” She laughed and followed his gaze out on the fields. “You smell that?”
“Smell what?”
“Autumn. The first hint of dried leaves and cool air. A crisp night sure sounds amazing after all of this heat we’ve been having.”
“It does,” Ryan agreed. Taking a deep breath, he got a whiff of what Cecilia had pointed out. Before the disaster it meant football season, bonfires, and shorter evenings. He longed for how simple life was before their world had been turned upside down.
Autumn would be followed by winter. Winter meant hard freezes and no vegetation. Nothing would be able to grow. The importance of canning and storing would be heightened if they didn’t want to run out of food and water.
With the unpredictable weather they had been experiencing, Ryan feared what Mother Nature would have in store for them in the upcoming months.
The end.
BOOK THREE COMING SOON!
Acknowledgments:
This one is for Wyatt Lane! I will love you always and forever!
I’d also like to thank my mom – I pretty much thank her in all of my work just due to her having to deal with all of my neurosis. I don’t know where she gets her patience from but I’m eternally grateful for it day in and day out.
I’d also like to give thanks to my narrator – Tom Kruse. Not only has he done an excellent job narrating this series but he also has served as a proofreader and has been a tremendous help! Also to Leslie Goodfellow for giving this a good edit and offering some good ideas!
And as always, to you readers who make this a fulfilling and fun “job”, though it never truly feels like a job. Without you I’d have no reason to keep writing. If I can make one person be able to escape the real world for a few hours just from reading my books than I feel like I have been a success. Thanks a million!
If you have time, please leave a review on the product page! Any feedback is always appreciated and helps me grow as a writer! I also love getting emails and messages from people, and I always write back – all opinions welcome! Below are different ways to contact me and get updates on new projects and books:
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More books by J.R. Tate –
Through Smoke – Firefighter Heroes Series: Book One –
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Firefighter Michael McGinnis has a broken past. Using his troubled childhood as inspiration, he’s channeled his harsh memories toward working hard as a search and rescue man with the fire department. He’s no stranger to intense situations, but despite his years on the job, nothing can prepare him for helping Casey, his drug addict brother, when a dangerous bookie hunts him down for unpaid gambling debts.
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Michael McGinnis is hopeful that things are looking up for his family. Casey is in rehab in Texas, his and Eva's relationship is strong, and he will be back on the rig soon.
While visiting Casey in Texas, he is shocked by the devastation caused by the drought and wildfires. Learning that the local fire departments are staffed mostly by volunteers, he wants to stay and help. It's a different kind of firefighting than what he's used to, and Michael is forced to learn the basics quickly. Due to his lack of experience, he becomes vulnerable to the deteriorating situations in the largest and most destructive wildfire in Texas history.
The fire spreads rapidly, trapping the crew inside a wall of towering flames and thick smoke. With danger closing in on him, Michael must make a crucial decision that could be detrimental to everyone he knows.
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Michael McGinnis has finally escaped the clutches of alcohol. With his brother Casey doing well in rehab, for the first time in his life, he can look forward to the future - marrying Eva, raising children, and being promoted within the fire department.
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Nathan Gallagher doesn’t believe in ghosts. As a fireman, he’s seen his share of dead people, but they never spoke to him before—until now. His marriage is great, and his relationship with his son is strong, but Nathan is sure that if he tells them that he’s seeing ghosts, it is a quick ticket to a padded room and a straightjacket.
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Nathan Gallagher thought the ghosts were gone. He did everything they demanded, aiding in their souls passing on to the other side. But it’s not over for him – new visions appear and they’re not leaving until he helps them. Ignoring them only makes them more hostile, pushing Nathan and his son Rusty into a supernatural world of violence and uncertainty that edges them to the breaking point.
Realizing the ghosts won’t go away, Nathan begins to listen to what they need. It requires Dr. Clint - his missing in action therapist from before, and a self-admission to Sunset Canyon - the mental hospital that Nathan fears and swore he’d never return to.
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With time running out, he and Dr. Clint must come up with a plan to gather indisputable evidence that will vindicate the souls who sought
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Charlie Wright’s life is plummeting into chaos. A recent divorce renders him helpless in an attempt to hold his family together. A weekend with his children is just what he needs to prove to his ex-wife Cassie that joint custody is the best option for everyone.
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Lane O'Reily, a Baltimore Homicide Detective, takes on the case of a lifetime when he is handed a murder investigation involving a string of young women. Desperate to solve the case before another victim turns up, he must rely heavily on his only witness, a survivor to the crimes. She begins harassing and stalking him and with his marriage, career, and life on the line, he must decide if the obsessive witness is leading him down a path to the murderer, or down a trail littered with lies, betrayal and ultimately, a dead end.
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Ryan Shay wants to forget his past. Memories of an abusive childhood, betrayal from his family, and failure to trust anyone have held him captive his whole life. Afraid to confront his demons, it's a miracle he hasn't wound up a statistic in the war on drugs. Having no real purpose or reason to get better, he has failed several rehab stints and has always gone back to the one thing he finds comfort in - drugs and alcohol. After being accused of stealing from a local dealer, suffering from an overdose, and learning he might have a son, Ryan finds a strong reason to break the chains of his addictive past and end the cycle of his shameful ways. He is determined to become clean, despite the constant negativity sent his way from his friends and society. His success is not only for himself, but for someone who desperately needs him. What could be viewed as a careless mistake to many is possibly the one thing that might save Ryan Shay's life.
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Sean Murphy knows all about the dark side of growing up in a violent Irish family deep into gang activity. What he doesn't know about is love, but he wants to learn when he meets Gracie. She's the light to his darkness, but how can he have her when violence threatens his every action? Can he risk dragging the only woman he ever cared for into the middle of his dangerous life? He longs to leave the gang, but his only option out is in a body bag. Will his love for Gracie trump his allegiance to his family? As an all out war with a rival Italian gang rages, he is thrust into the thick of the battle, unable to see an escape from the way of life he's come to loathe.
