Home to Me

by Bybee, Catherine

  “I may have taken a hint.”

  “Congratulations.”

  Parker was giddy all curled up next to Colin as they walked to baggage claim. “We have so much to do. Nora is already planning an engagement party.” Nora was Colin and Matt’s mom.

  “Your life is about to become something you don’t recognize,” Erin told Colin.

  “Yeah, I’m starting to sense that.” The smile on his face said he didn’t mind. Erin had been a bridesmaid twice before getting married, and each one of her friends had acted the same as Parker. Their fiancés were just as laid-back. She had no reason to think it would have been different for her. But Erin had been wrong.

  “You could have picked us up curbside—hey, you okay?” Parker was standing in front of Erin and saying something she’d missed.

  “I’m sorry, yes. What were you saying?”

  Parker tilted her head. “Nothing.”

  The two of them stood back while Colin reached for one of their bags moving down the carousel.

  “How is Matt?” Parker asked.

  “That’s a loaded question,” Erin said.

  Parker chuckled. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

  Erin leaned closer, lowered her voice. “Not with Colin in the room. Those two tell more secrets than thirteen-year-old girls at summer camp.”

  “Girls’ night.”

  “When is that?”

  “Thursday. Colin suggested it on the plane. Said I needed wine, chocolate, estrogen, and bridal magazines.”

  She watched as Colin found their second bag. “He’s so thoughtful.”

  “Yeah. I’m lucky.”

  Erin placed an arm over her friend’s shoulders. “He’s the lucky one.”

  Colin rolled both bags in front of them. “Are you done talking about me?”

  Parker shook her head. “Not even close.”

  Their happiness was contagious. “Ready?” she asked.

  They turned and headed for the exit, and that’s when she heard it.

  Her name.

  “Maci?”

  It was far away. A woman’s voice. One that wasn’t familiar. Her steps faltered, and it took everything in her not to turn around to see who called her.

  “Did you trip on something?” Parker asked.

  “Maci? Is that you?” Still far away and behind them. Coming from inside the baggage claim area.

  She picked up her pace and wove through the mass of people exiting the airport. The light at the crosswalk was flashing the countdown with only nine seconds left. “We can make it.” And without waiting, she moved into the street and expected Parker and Colin to follow.

  She dug her sunglasses out of her purse even though it was dusk and hid behind them as they walked into the parking garage.

  “Someone’s in a hurry.”

  Erin listened for her name, the one she no longer used, and didn’t let up on her pace. “Sooner we’re on the road, the better.”

  “Why?” Parker asked. “Do you have a hot date? Oh my God, you do, don’t you? Are you and Matt going out tonight?”

  Now that they were safely in the garage, Erin dared a look behind them.

  Nothing. No one followed. Maybe she’d been mistaken.

  Maybe someone was calling out to another Maci.

  “It’s Tuesday. No one goes on a hot date on a Tuesday.” Erin looked over her shoulder and popped the trunk of the car open with the remote.

  “You do if your date works on Friday and Saturday.”

  She rounded the car and climbed behind the wheel. “Matt and I are not going out tonight.”

  Parker climbed in behind her, leaving the front seat for Colin.

  “When is your date?”

  “There isn’t one.” What was taking Colin so long? Get the luggage in already.

  “What? Why?”

  “You of all people know why.” Erin looked in the rearview mirror and sighed when Colin closed the trunk. She dug in her purse for a ten-dollar bill.

  “Erin . . . Matt isn’t him.”

  Erin scanned the rearview mirror, the side mirrors. No one lurked in the garage. “We’ll talk about this later.”

  Colin tucked into the passenger seat and closed the door. Before he could buckle up, she was backing out.

  Only once they were on the freeway, which resembled more of a parking lot than a highway, did Erin ease up her death grip on the wheel.

  “So . . . ,” she sighed. “Did you two set a date?”

  Instead of an answer, two sets of eyes just stared at her.

  “What?”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  A small dive bar in the center of town was the perfect place for happy hour when it included coworkers. And since Erin was with Parker and a couple of other girls having some kind of slumber party at the ranch house, Matt was entertaining Colin and a few of his work buddies. By entertaining he meant buying the beer and driving Colin home.

  “Parker is solid, man. I couldn’t be happier for you.” The words came from Colin’s work buddy Fabio. Outside of his long hair, he didn’t look anything like the man who’d graced the covers of romance novels in the eighties.

  “She’s pretty special.” Colin was two deep in foam-topped beer, and a third one was lined up.

  Glynn bumped into Colin’s shoulder. “She still slinging a gun around?”

  “Only when she has to,” Colin said.

  “That woman belongs in Texas where she can put a rack in the back of a truck. You heard about all that, didn’t you, Matt?” Fabio asked.

  Matt nodded. “I’ve heard a few tales about Parker and her shotgun. Didn’t she grab a gun on the first day you met before she walked you up the wash?” Matt asked Colin.

  Colin placed a hand to his chest. “Love at first sight. I knew she was someone I had to know better.”

  “She’ll keep you in your place,” Glynn teased.

  Lots of male laughter and a few sly remarks about long legs and curves. None of which went too far in light of the fact that Colin was now engaged to the woman. A certain amount of respect came with the title. The truth was, Parker had gained the respect of all the men on Colin’s crew because she never simply sat back and watched them work. Her hands were just as dirty and her back ached just as much as theirs at the end of the day. Matt knew. Mainly because Colin bitched to him about it constantly. Much as Colin wanted to be the one coming to the rescue all the time, Parker never waited for him and just did things herself.

  Matt had to admit his own admiration for the woman. “She’s going to make a fine Hudson,” he told his brother.

  Colin’s expression softened. “Wow. I didn’t really think about that. Parker Hudson.”

  “Mrs. Parker Hudson,” Glynn added.

  Matt raised his glass. “To one less bachelor in the neighborhood.”

  A toast and cheers were followed by a couple of burps.

  “. . . so there we were, fighting to get off the small boat Colin had chartered to take us out to Lovers’ Beach. Colin was already off the boat and standing beside the ladder to help me down when up comes this rogue wave. The boat goes one way, I fly back. Colin tries to catch me and we both end up on our backs in the water with another wave crashing on the shore. We were laughing so hard we couldn’t stand up. Try limping onshore in a sundress that’s plastered to your legs.”

  “That’s crazy. If the weather was so bad, why bother?”

  “Because Colin had a plan. And besides, the clouds hadn’t been there the whole day so the skipper, or captain . . . whatever you call the boat guy, he kept saying, ‘No problem. I get you there.’”

  “He wanted your money,” Erin told her.

  Grace kept nodding her head while Jennifer, a friend of Parker’s, refilled their wineglasses.

  “So we’re on the beach and suddenly Colin starts tapping his pockets in a weird game of head, shoulders, knees, and toes, and then he turns and runs back into the water.”

  Erin’s jaw slacked. “He dropped the ring.�
�

  Parker’s smile grew. “Yes.”

  “Oh my God!” Jennifer took her place on the sofa.

  “How did you find it?”

  “Wait, so he starts yelling, ‘It’s in a black box, it’s in a black box!’ and I’m like, ‘Holy shit,’ so now we’re both back in the water searching the sand for a little black box. I just kept thinking, It’s gone. I mean, the Sea of Cortez is super turbulent and the waves are merciless.”

  Erin picked up Parker’s left hand. “You obviously found it, what happened?”

  “Wait, I’m not there yet. We had to have been out there for thirty minutes, running back and forth, sifting through sand. Eventually other people on the beach saw us and asked us what we were doing. They joined the search. Finally I just turned to Colin and told him it was hopeless. He told me he wanted the moment to be perfect. I told him that bad weather and water brought us together and we shouldn’t let it kick us again.”

  Grace sighed. “That’s so beautiful.”

  Parker was beaming now. “So your brother gets down on one knee, in the water, and grabs my hand. I could tell he’d practiced his speech, but he kept messing it up, cuz he kept repeating himself. It didn’t help that the waves kept blowing up around us. But it didn’t matter. He told me he’d replace the ring the second we were home. Even buy something from a street vendor in town to hold me over. Then he asked me to marry him. I was crying. He was crying. It was so damn perfect.” Her eyes were misty with her memory.

  Erin brushed away a tear.

  “You still didn’t tell us how you found the ring,” Jennifer reminded her.

  “Oh,” Parker laughed. “We got back on the boat and the skipper, who had stayed in the boat the whole time, turned and handed Colin a little black box and asked if it was his.”

  Grace started laughing first, then they all caught the giggles.

  “It was in the boat the whole time?” Jennifer asked.

  “Yup. So then I made Colin get back out of the boat so we could take a picture, with the ring, on Lovers’ Beach. And that is why we looked like something the cat dragged in.”

  “You both look incredibly happy,” Erin said.

  Jennifer looked at the picture that Parker had printed out. “You guys look like the sea swallowed you, then puked you back up.”

  “It was crazy. I’ll never forget it.”

  “I bet my brother had a heart attack. That ring wasn’t cheap,” Grace said.

  Parker looked at her hand. “You know what the ring cost?”

  Grace looked at her like she was missing a screw. “I was with him when he bought it.”

  Parker’s jaw dropped. “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “No way.”

  Erin rolled her eyes. “Your family is all about oversharing.”

  Grace turned to her with an inquisitive eye. “What makes you say that?”

  Erin kept silent a beat too long, and Parker chimed in. “Erin’s miffed because Matt told Colin that he kissed her.”

  “What?” Grace nearly screamed her question.

  “Oh, please. Are you suggesting this is news to you?” Erin asked.

  Jennifer waved her hand in the air. “I’m sorry. Is this a thing? Matt is your other brother, right? The firefighter?”

  Parker, Grace, and Erin all nodded, helping Jennifer catch up.

  “It is news.” Grace turned to Parker. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She waved her new ring in the air. “Little distracted.”

  “When did this kiss happen?”

  Oh, no. Erin felt the spotlight turn on her. Time to put the wine down and replace it with water, she chided herself. “Friday.”

  Parker leaned forward, rested her elbows in her lap. “You told me I’d get the details later. Well, it’s later, missy. Spill.”

  She needed to defuse this, stat. “It really wasn’t a big deal.”

  Grace practically threw herself back on the couch with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Oh, please. Matt has been crushin’ on you since Christmas. Don’t tell us it wasn’t a big deal.”

  “Since Christmas? I only saw him once before then.”

  “So?”

  The news that Matt had been instantly attracted to her did all kinds of fun things to her belly.

  Jennifer kicked her feet under her and dug a hand in a bag of chips. “Oh, this is good stuff.”

  The three of them looked at her. Parker and Grace laughed.

  Jennifer glanced at Erin. “I’ve been married forever. This crush, first kiss, and engagement stuff is better than a smutty novel.”

  Erin unfolded from the couch to make good on replacing her wine with water. “It wasn’t a . . . it was just a kiss.”

  Parker jumped up and headed her off when Erin reached for a water bottle. “Oh, no. I’ve been waiting to hear about this kiss since Cabo so just keep drinking the truth serum and sing, little canary.”

  Erin let Parker push her back to the couch and accepted the wine Grace thrust into her hand.

  “Okay, okay . . .” She took a sip of courage and continued. “The day Matt took you to the airport, he came back to return my sunglasses.”

  “The ones you left at his house after you brought him brownies?” Grace asked.

  “You guys really do know everything about each other,” Erin said.

  Grace shrugged. “He said if you kissed as good as you baked, he was in trouble.”

  Erin felt her face warming with all the attention.

  “Baking for a man is like foreplay,” Jennifer added.

  Parker giggled. Grace joined her.

  The wine was having quite the effect on this crowd.

  Grace waved her hand in the air. “Anyway, you made him a chocolate aphrodisiac, and he made up an excuse to come see you knowing no one was at the house.”

  “Austin was here. We weren’t alone.”

  Grace frowned. “Bummer.”

  “Doesn’t matter. He didn’t kiss me that night. It was the next day.”

  Parker squinted her eyes. “I thought he was working.”

  Erin knew this slightly drunk group of women was going to have fun with what she said next. So instead of pulling the bandage off slowly, she did it fast.

  “There was a fire, and I was worried. So I baked. And when I ran out of sugar and flour, I took everything over to the fire station thinking he’d get it when they got back. Only there were other women there. Two of the wives of the guys he works with. I was just going to drop the stuff and leave, but then Matt and his crew showed up. He saw me. I think he was surprised. He marched up to me as if he’d done so in the past and just kissed me. And that’s all there is to it.” Her entire disjointed monologue was said to her wineglass.

  “What did you do?” Jennifer asked.

  Somehow it was easier to look at Jennifer. Probably because Erin didn’t know the woman that well. “I stood there.” Then she closed her eyes. “And kissed him back.”

  Parker screamed first, followed by Grace.

  “It was only one kiss and in front of a bunch of strangers.”

  “It’s the start of something good,” Parker told her.

  Erin tilted her head. “I’m not ready to start anything. Good or otherwise.”

  Grace stopped laughing and asked one simple question. “Why?”

  Erin glanced up at Parker, who had also stopped laughing and kept her lips shut.

  Keep it simple and as close to the truth without giving anything away. She put the wine down, determined to not take one more sip. “I’m coming off a bad relationship and I’m not ready to date.”

  Her excuse didn’t pass with Grace. “The best part about getting out of a bad one is finding a good one. I’m biased, but Matt’s one of the good ones,” Grace told her.

  “I’m sure he is. This is about me. I’m not ready.”

  Grace lowered her chin and stared at her. “But you kissed him back.”

  Parker laughed. “She didn’t say her libido wasn’t ready, she said
she wasn’t ready. I totally get it. Sometimes these things take time. If I had met Colin right after my parents died, I don’t know if I would have been all that receptive.”

  Erin wanted to hug her.

  “I get it. But I’m not giving up hope. Maybe your libido will tell your brain what to do.”

  “I’m not a guy. I try not to think with that part of my anatomy.”

  Erin’s comment had them all laughing again.

  And thankfully, Parker changed the subject to wedding dresses.

  Without a doubt, Erin knew she’d dodged a bullet with the entire conversation.

  And she owed Parker a batch of brownies.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Erin opened her laptop and clicked into her client’s manuscript she’d promised to have the first round of edits on within a week. Her calendar was booked through the month, which worked really well for her bank account, but didn’t leave a whole lot of room to mess around. She scheduled herself so tight on purpose. Being super busy with work was supposed to keep her focused on books and not what her soon-to-be ex-husband was doing.

  Yet there she sat early in the morning after talking with the women the night before and drinking enough to leave her mouth pasty in the morning, thinking about him. Well, her thoughts were focused on Renee and what she was doing. What the judge was saying.

  And there was nothing Erin could do or say to keep the restraining order in place.

  She read the first page of the manuscript five times and still couldn’t tell you what was going on in the story. Giving up, she shut the laptop down and walked into her small kitchen. The compulsive need to move was crawling up the back of her neck. She opened several cupboards and realized that she hadn’t replaced most of her provisions after her last baking frenzy that resulted in baking a storefront number of goodies she left with Matt.

  Cleaning.

  Yeah, cleaning would burn some energy and kill some time while she waited for Renee’s call.

  Erin opened the cupboard under the sink to grab a few supplies. But seeing the mess that had started to accumulate in the small space, she decided to pull everything out and scrub that surface first.

  She turned on a satellite radio station in hopes of distraction. Once everything was relocated on the kitchen floor, Erin filled the sink with hot water and proceeded to scrub the inside of the cabinet while concentrating on the words to the song playing on the radio. So when her phone rang, she jumped up, catching the back of her head on the bottom of the sink. For a second she saw stars, followed by a wave of nausea. She’d hit her scar, the one hidden by her hair but had yet to flatten out and not catch on her brush every day.