Common Threads in the Life, Book 5

The Runaway

by Ronald L. Donaghe

In December 1999, following a chaotic summer when both Tom and Joel (a gay couple) were shot by an old nemesis, a desperate teenager named Jared Rory makes his way across a hundred miles of desert in the dead of winter. He ends up hiding out in the barn at the Reece farm (owned by Joel Reece and Tom Allen) only to be discovered by Joel, when he is feeding his livestock.

Both Joel and his "husband" Tom are fully recovered from their gunshot wounds, their daughter Shara has returned to live with them,and when the runaway is discovered hiding in the barn, they immediately take him in. This is their way as a loving mixed family and always has been for three generations.

But first they must visit the runaway's grandmother, whom Jared calls Granny Mack to find out why he has run away. They are surprised at every step as they gain information, including Jared's questionable history with his "grandmother," not the least of which is that Granny Mack is transgendered.