The Way Back Home (Homecoming Novella)

by C. Lymari

Prescott paid me, and he was generous with the tip, which nowadays was welcome.

  “Emma,” he said as he started to walk backwards. “You might want to invest in some blinds for the front windows.” He winked at me, then put his sunglasses back on.

  Doing what any sane person would, I buried my head in my hands in shame as he left laughing.

  Dex was inside my vagina.

  My vagina had let Dex in.

  Dex and I had sex.

  I was still wrapping my head around it. The tenderness between my legs did not lie. Neither did the small beard burn that I was sporting under my make up today.

  The morning was going pretty fast since people were stopping by just to pick up coffee or a treat before they got ready for the game. I hoped that, with fall now here, business would pick up. I doubted it, but it was good to hold on to something.

  “Hello to the loveliest, most awesome boss ever,” Freya singsonged as she made her way behind the counter.

  I froze while I made the drink. Did she know that Dex and I did the nasty?

  "I'm not your boss," I snapped.

  I was mad at myself, but taking it out on her seemed like the legit thing to do. I was just going to roll with it.

  “So, on a scale of ‘I won’t fire you’ to ‘I never want to see you set foot in my shop again,’ how much do you hate me?”

  Ignoring Freya seemed like the best thing to do while I gathered my thoughts, and before I blamed her for doing the nasty with Dex on my baking table. The cherry on top of it all was the little show we probably gave Prescott. Yeah, I better not say anything to Freya right now.

  Ten minutes later, I couldn’t do it anymore and spoke to her.

  “That was shitty. You left me there with him.” And I had sex with him—amazing sex—in my workplace. "After I punched him."

  I was not telling her about the orgasm I got in the back. No way, Jose. Freya would take this information and run wild. I would have said no to a date with Dex, or maybe yes, but at least I wouldn't have been caught off-guard. I told her other random stuff to lead her away from the fact that my vagina was still feeling the effects of the pounding I took.

  “Wow, who is that?” I said as I watched an out-of-town hottie make his way to my store. Let me just say, he had nothing on my Dex.

  Crap. When did he become my Dex? Just because we bumped uglies, it didn’t mean we were exclusive. Did it?

  I turned my head when I heard one of my mugs hit the floor and shatter. Oh, no. I couldn’t afford to replace it. I was about to ask Freya what the heck when she snapped at the new hottie.

  “What are you doing here, Ashton?”

  Oh, boy. That was her ex-boyfriend. I should have seen it coming. He was handsome, looked like class. Guess Freya had a type. Looking back and forth between them, all I needed was a bucket of popcorn for them to know I was enjoying this too much.

  After he left, I turned to ask Freya why she would leave that guy. I mean, hello! Hot! He came here asking for another shot. He’d dropped everything to come for her, and she looked pissed.

  When she explained, I was surprised that he was still alive. I think Freya agreed with me because she laughed. It was surprising that she’d agreed on a date with him.

  Since it was pretty dead, I decided to close down early. No point in wasting light, right?

  “I think that was karma,” I said before locking my store down.

  Freya glared at me. “Excuse me?”

  “For forcing me on a date with Dex. Now karma is forcing you on a date with your ex.” I ran towards my car before she could hit me.

  “You are so mean to me, and all I do is love you,” she giggled.

  “While I’m feeling evil, do you want to go key Max’s car?”

  The quote he wrote today was a total dig at her. I know because he deleted my quote. Everything happens for a reason. Max had no business erasing my words for his unless he wanted Freya to see them. Be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten. When Freya saw them, her face fell.

  “Don’t tempt me. Hey, I forgot to tell you. Well, I didn’t forget; I just didn’t know how to bring it up…”

  Oh no, she was leaving. My lip wobbled, and I realized I wanted to cry. “You’re leaving.”

  “Yeah,” she sighed.

  I nodded. I wished she could stay. I loved having her here, but Max was going to get married now. This town wasn’t big enough for all three of them.

  “Just for two weeks or so.”

  “You’re not leaving forever?”

  “What!” she shouted, her voice echoing in the street. “You ain’t getting rid of me that easy. Come on, take me home. I’ve got to start to mentally prepare for a date with king asshole.”

  I did as she asked. I took her home, and when I got to my own place, exhausted from my recent activities, I realized Dex hadn’t stopped by once.

  I gave in to him, and he ditched me.

  Closing my eyes, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.

  Two days later, I was alone in the shop. No one was here today, which was rare on a cold morning. Freya had been gone for a day, and I already missed her. There was no one teasing me or making laugh so hard I cried. And her absence made Dex’s absence that much stronger.

  Grabbing some hot chocolate, because I’d had already had two cups of coffee, I put on my black cardigan and walked over to the kiosk. It wasn’t a long walk, and I was close enough to my store if I needed to get back in. The trees surrounding the kiosk looked golden and crisp. It was funny how fall seemed to get here in the blink of an eye. Once I got to the first step, I took a seat, looking around my beloved little town. Pretty soon I wouldn’t be able to do this—walk to the kiosk to take a break. It seemed best for me to start resigning myself to the fact that I was going to lose my shop. Resting my head on the rails, I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t cry. Far away, I heard a door closing and rushed steps.

  "Sunshine, are you okay?" Dex's frantic voice was right there.

  I closed my eyes tighter, hoping it would make him disappear. His heavy breathing was a clear indication that he was not going away. Augh. I could picture him looking at me with those chocolate eyes of his, full of faux concern. We had sex. Eeeek. What if he thought I was sucky and that was why he didn't call or come for his daily drink? I was still going over absurd scenarios when he cut through my inner freak out.

  “Whose ass do I have to kick?” He demanded.

  Opening my eyes, I realized he was all up in my business. Jeez. Personal space, dude. Did I really want to talk about personal space when he was all up my cervix?

  “What?”

  “I come back from a shift from hell, been in and out of town. Can’t even make it to see my girl and when I finally come home, now I see her sad as fuck. Whose. Ass. Am. I. Kicking?”

  My belly dipped with his words, and I had the urge to throw my arms around him and hug him. Screw it. I blamed everything else but me, because I did precisely that. Letting go of the rails, I threw my arms around his neck. His arms wound around my waist, holding me tighter to him. Closer than I’ve ever been to anyone else. His smell, his touch, it all brought comfort; it made me feel like I could get things done. He gave me strength, because he didn’t have to tell me he believed in me; he didn’t have to encourage me. Being in his arms, him silently being there for me, was enough. Burrowing my head in his neck, I cried. My body shook with my sobs, and I just clutched to him tighter.

  “Sunshine, you’re scaring me,” Dex said as he ran his hand through my curls.

  Pulling my hands back from his neck, I tried to untangle myself from him, except he wasn’t letting me go.

  “I’m okay,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes.

  He was still crouching down at eye level, and brought one of his hands to my cheek.

  “Sunshine,” he breathed. “I don’t like seeing you cry. Please, Ems, tell me what’s wrong.”

  ‘It’s nothing. Really.”

  “I
s this because I haven’t stopped by?”

  Something in my face must have given me away. It was part of the reason but not all.

  “Fuck, sunshine. I swear I wasn’t avoiding you. Shit went down a county over and they needed some help, so Clark and I have been over there. Ems, what happened the other night…that meant the world to me. I would never take anything you give me for granted.”

  There was such sincerity in his voice, I knew what he said was true. Another wall came down. God, he was almost too perfect. There were bags under his eyes and his beard was a little longer, yet he made his way to my shop—to me. It was an accumulation of all those little things that had me trusting him.

  “I’m going to…I’m going to lose my—my shop.” I couldn’t even get the words out without losing it. Saying it out loud it made it real.

  He brought me back into his arms. The position he was in couldn’t be comfortable, but he held me to him while he rubbed my back and told me it was all going to be okay.

  “I have some money. It’s not much, but it’s yours.”

  I jerked until I was out of his arms. Jumping up, I took another step on the stairs so I could be at eye level with him.

  “No!” I shook my head furiously. “I will not take your money. Th-that’s not why I told you.”

  “Sunshine, I’m not going to stand back and watch you lose your dream.”

  Damn, that was sweet.

  “I don’t need your money.”

  “Em, I need to do something. I can’t just stand back with my dick in my hands.”

  A smile crept over my face before I could stop it. I shook my head. Leave it to him to make me smile in a moment like this.

  “There’s my sunshine.” He smiled softly at me, and there was now a swarm of butterflies in my stomach. “Seriously, Ems, I need to do something.”

  “Then can you not disappear on me again?”

  “Sunshine, I plan on being the best thing that ever happened to you.” He gave me his hand so I could step down.

  Taking a deep breath, I reached out and took it, knowing I was jumping headfirst with him.

  As soon as I was down, Dex wrapped a hand around me, walking us back to the shop. “Freya holding down the fort for you?”

  I shook my head. “She left.”

  What I didn’t add was that she sounded miserable when she called me or how I could tell she had been crying or the fact that Max looked ready to unravel, and it had nothing to do with wedding jitters.

  “I’m sorry, Ems. Do you need any help now that she’s gone?”

  Aww, that was so sweet.

  “I’m sure you have lots on your plate,” I said.

  “I was going to ask my mom.”

  That made me falter my step, causing him to stop too. We looked at each other for two seconds when his eyes darkened, and he started to bring his mouth close to mine.

  "Can you two make out later?" Clark's annoyed voice made me jump back. "I'm starving, but nothing is open yet. I need some cupcakes or one of those breakfast sandwiches you always make for Jake so I can go home and crash."

  My hand in Dex’s, I made my way to my shop, and the thought of losing it didn’t scare me as much as it did earlier.

  16

  Emma

  Walking into the bank a few days later was a little embarrassing. Everyone here knew I was late on payments. Co-workers talked, and it was a small town. On the plus side, word hadn’t gotten out—yet. At first, it was only a few days late on my payment. Then, it was a few weeks. When it turned into being a whole month behind, it started to feel like I kept treading water trying to stay afloat. Now, it had been two months, going on the third, and I was lucky I could even breathe.

  “Hey, Emma,” Mr. Oswald greeted me.

  Smiling at him, I also thanked my lucky stars that Harold was busy, because it was a little embarrassing facing him. I knew I’d failed miserably at this business gig.

  “Mr. Oswald.” I gave him a smile that I hoped didn’t come out cringey. “Here’s a payment.”

  Because Lord knew I didn’t have all of it, and saying, “Here’s last month’s payment” when it was already the end of the month just sounded a bit pathetic.

  He gave me a sad smile. “Have a good day, Emma.”

  It looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t, and I was thankful.

  Waving goodbye at him, I made my way out as hastily as I could. As soon as I opened the door, I bumped into someone. Arms steadied me, and when I looked up, I cringed, causing the smirk on the guy’s face to turn a bit sinister. Gary Newton was not someone I saw often. He was in and out of Sunny Pines, preferring to conduct business down south, where most of the Newtons’ extended family lived. He was handsome, like a Ken Doll, but fake to the bone. His sister was standing next to him, and I regretted choosing to come so early to the bank.

  “Emma, I’m surprised to see you here.” Abigail smirked at me.

  I didn’t engage her. I could barely handle one Newton, let alone two.

  “Excuse me, I have to go,” I choked out.

  Abigail rolled her eyes, but neither she or Gary made a move to let me through. Assholes. Taking a step aside them, I made my way out.

  “Emma,” Abigail called.

  As I turned around, I knew that was a mistake. Abigail smiled at me, and I hated her for being so beautiful yet evil on the inside.

  “When Max and I buy your little café, we’ll let you have a job. You can even be the manager.”

  Then she threw her buttery blonde hair over her shoulders and walked away. I hoped she tripped, or the heel of her tight high boots broke. Then I felt bad, because that could seriously injure her. One could only hope, the Freya on my shoulder chimed. She might have left again, but she sure left an impression.

  When I arrived at the shop, Jess was already waiting. She helped in the mornings more than Quincy did, since his football season wasn't over yet. On the rare occasion that there was no game or practice was canceled, he made his way over to work.

  “Jess, I’m hungry,” Rosie said from where she was hiding.

  I could see her tiny feet behind Jess. It wasn’t unusual for Jess to bring Rosie to work, but it also didn’t happen very often. I knew she hated it, not because she didn’t adore her little sister, but because she thought it was a strike against her professionalism. I adored Rosie, and even though Jess was a closed book, there were things about her home life that I was starting to get suspicious of.

  "Hey, Rosie. How are you today?" I said as I grabbed the keychain from my purse.

  Holding the little coffee cup that had my name stamped on it, I wondered how much longer it would be until the keychain because too painful or embarrassing to look at. People failed at things all the time. I just had to come to terms that it was not a failure if I had managed to soar on my dream for a bit. The rest was semantics.

  “Can I have cookies?” Rosie asked.

  “Rosie,” Jess hissed.

  Opening the door for both girls, I walked in after them. “You can have all the cookies, but I have bagels, and some eggs. I can make us a bagel sandwich. Doesn’t that sound yummy?”

  Rosie scrunched her nose at the thought of something other than sweets. In the end, she had her cookies with milk while Jess and I cleaned.

  I was mopping when the bell chimed, alerting me that someone had walked in. Looking up, I was surprised to see Layla strutting in. Much like Abigail, she had high heeled boots, but hers were much less expensive.

  “Can I help you?” I asked, wondering what she was doing here.

  After she quit, she made sure to let me know she never wanted to set foot in my “stupid little coffee shop” again. What a biatch.

  Layla looked at me up and down. "He's going to ditch you again. A guy like him is not meant for a town like this, especially not for a mousy girl like you."

  Okay…wow. I didn't know what to say. Last time Layla made fun of me, I cried in front of her, but today she just made me angry and I kind of fe
lt sorry for her.

  “Guy like that won’t go out with a whore like you,” Jess snapped.

  "Jess!" I turned around. God, did I love her for sticking up for me, but it wasn't necessary.

  "She's a bitch," Jess said, looking at me, then turned back at Layla. "Whoever did your boob job did a horrible job. You have a uni-boob."

  I couldn't help chuckling, because it was kind of true. Layla gave me a glare, her face turning a little red.

  “Please get out. I’d drag you out, but I don’t want your extensions falling all over the place.”

  “Jess, that’s enough,” I told her in a demanding voice before turning to Layla. “Can you please leave my shop? I won’t have you come here and disrespect me because you have nothing better to do with your time. It makes me feel sorry for you.”

  It was exhilarating telling her off. Not like Jess had, but in my own way. It made me feel like I was finally standing on my two feet. Layla huffed, then she turned around and left, and I wondered why I hadn’t done it sooner.

  “That wasn’t nice,” I scolded.

  Jess rolled her eyes as the bell chimed again, and I hoped Layla didn’t come back. “Someone had to tell her about her crappy boob job.”

  “You guys talking about Layla?” Quincy walked in with his sports gear and sweat still on his forehead. Gross.

  Seriously, did everyone know about her crappy boob job?

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Mamas, I had an intense workout. Why don’t you go make me one of those orgasmic breakfast sandwiches?” He demanded more than he asked.

  “Jess, what’s orgasmic?” Rosie, who had come to stand behind Jess at some point, asked.

  Both Jess and I glared at Quincy, who raised his hands with a shit-eating grin.

  “It’s something delicious.”

  “Quincy!” Jess hissed.

  -

  Later, much later, after Quincy left for the night, Dex came in. Part of me was relieved that he came when no one was around to witness him. Did it make me stupid to wish to keep things secret? I know I shouldn’t let what Layla said get to me, but all it did was make me think of how I felt when he stood me up.