The Way Back Home (Homecoming Novella)

by C. Lymari

  It tugged at my heart to know how lonely my girl had been. At that moment I vowed that, no matter what happened tonight, I would never let her feel so alone again.

  “She’ll be fine,” I soothed her, rubbing her back.

  Emma’s hands ran through my hair. “If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I’d be here with you.”

  At that, I gave her a small smile. “Ems, it was only a matter of time before I made you mine.”

  Before she could reply, the doctor came back, and Emma jumped off my lap. Everyone let out a collective breath when they told us Freya was fine, and she just needed to rest now.

  “I’ll stay with her. You guys rest,” Max said.

  “Don’t you have a wedding to get to?” my dad snapped at Max.

  I turned to give him a “what the fuck” look.

  “No, the only woman I will ever marry is here.”

  “I can’t allow that,” my dad sputtered like he had a right to say shit like that.

  I got that we were Newtons, and Abigail was family, but we didn’t even like them.

  Max looked pissed. Hell, I was too.

  “I don’t give a shit what you want,” Max snapped.

  "She's my daughter. I will not allow you to stay with her when you were about to marry someone else," my father said.

  I felt my whole world come crashing down. My skin felt cold at that moment. Surely I heard him wrong. Right?

  Looking at my father's face, I knew his words rang true. Not being able to handle my father, my fucking hero, shatter the image I had of him in my head, I ran out. When I got outside, I punched the wall. Some fucking detective I was, not being able to piece this together. For fuck's sake, Freya looked like my Aunt Helen.

  “Dex!” Emma yelled when she saw my hand. She ran to me and grabbed it like that would stop the bleeding.

  "Go back inside, Emma," I said through gritted teeth.

  My father was going to come out at any second, and she didn’t need to witness this. Especially not right now.

  “No.” My little sunshine stood firm, defiantly staring at me.

  Over her shoulder, I saw my father walking out. He was searching, and when he found me, he made his way over.

  “Emma,” I warned.

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You aren’t even sure if you want to fucking date me. Just leave.”

  When she flinched, I felt like a dick, but she did as I asked.

  “Son.”

  "Don't fucking call me that right now,” I growled.

  My father staggered back with the tone I took with him.

  I was a good son to my parents. They raised me right. They’d taught me right from wrong. My dad was one of my best friends.

  "How long have you known you had a daughter?" I bit out.

  My father didn’t say anything at first. “Dex, it’s not like that. You have to understand, I was young.”

  “Did you know she was bullied? She grew up with no one and nothing, and we had yearly family vacations. You knew you were her father and you didn’t say shit?”

  “Dex, son, it’s not like that. I was young.”

  I shook my head.

  "How am I supposed to look at you now? Everything I grew up believing about you is a lie. Just leave me alone right now."

  My dad's face fell, but I couldn't speak to him. How do you just abandon your child with no remorse?

  When I walked into the hospital, Emma was nowhere in sight. I told myself it was for the best; she shouldn’t see me like this. Flashing my badge at the nurses got me what I wanted quicker.

  “Can you get a DNA testing kit?”

  The nurse nodded, and I told them to ask Freya Pratt once she was awake. But at the same time, I didn’t need the test, because a part of me knew she was my sister.

  When I got out of the hospital, I drove past Emma’s house and felt relieved when I saw a small light on in her window. My dad kept calling, and I kept ignoring his calls. Once I was in my house, I threw the remains of Emma and I’s date in the garbage. With a duffle in hand, I texted Clark to cover my shifts and then sent another to the chief to let him know I was taking a little short leave. I needed to get my head straight and being here in town…it was too close to my dad.

  I knew I was going to miss Emma, but I couldn’t tell her I loved her if my head wasn’t straight. I couldn’t be the man she wanted if I didn’t even know who that man was anymore.

  20

  Emma

  Everything was changing and I didn’t know how to stop it. I tossed and turned all night replaying yesterday’s events in my mind. My evening with Dex was perfect. Maybe even too perfect. There was no denying he was everything I’d always dreamed of, maybe even more. I told myself that what happened yesterday was about him and not about me. He didn’t mean what he said, right? I knew I had been hesitant, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have a reason. He’d hurt me, and everyone knew about it. But I let go of it. For crying out loud, my baking table was proof that I’d let go of my grudge.

  Taking a deep breath, I got out of my car and knocked on Dex’s door. His truck wasn’t in the driveway, but maybe he’d put it in the garage for once? My stomach felt queasy.

  I knocked again.

  Silence.

  “Dex,” I whispered. My voice was too shaky for it to come out strong.

  I knocked louder this time.

  “Dex, it’s me,” I almost shouted and I waited two minutes, my hand still on the door.

  “It’s me, Emma.” I still said it because I wanted to believe he would rush to open the door if he knew it was me who was knocking.

  I stood there for a while, not wanting to believe Dex had left again. Taking one last look at his house, I left.

  Maybe it was true what they said. Maybe you really couldn’t have it all. Dex left in the middle of the night. Again. After he’d promised me that he’d be the best thing that ever happened to me.

  Two days later, after pretending that everything was fine and dandy, I went over to check on Freya. She was still in the hospital and it was driving her insane. If there was one thing my friend didn’t know how to do, it was sit still.

  “Look who finally shows up?” Freya put down the magazine she was flipping through when I entered.

  The first thing I did was give her a hug. Then I gave her some of the goodies I’d brought.

  “I’m surprised you’re alone. I’d thought Max might be here?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

  Max was here the day of her accident. He wouldn’t leave her alone. Hell, that was all the town could talk about. Amongst other things.

  “Nothing is going on there,” Freya was quick to reply. “So, Dex left, huh?”

  Great, she had to bring him up. It wasn’t like I hadn’t gone over him leaving over and over in my head, trying to figure out why. It wasn’t like I hadn’t cried myself to sleep again.

  Not answering, I shrugged. It wasn’t like it was the first time he’d left me after promising me more.

  Freya gave me a look, and I smiled at her to mask my hurt. She was caught up on her own and no one around us had snitched. It was a surprise that she didn’t know about the “past” I had with Dex. Okay, fine. Saying we had a past was a bit of a stretch. We’d had one non-date and then his cousin had neglected to mention that he’d had to leave town, letting me wait for him at the restaurant for an hour instead.

  “Okay, no Dex talk,” she said. “The reason I wanted to talk to you is about the shop.”

  I took a seat. “Oh, yeah? About what?”

  A part of me felt uneasy. Oh, my God. What if she knew about me doing the nasty with Dex at work? Oh, crap.

  “I know you’re having financial troubles.”

  “What?” A part of me was relived, yet still mortified, that she knew about my money troubles.

  “I want to help.”

  “Absolutely not!” I snapped at her. The last thing I wanted was to take money from her.

  “Emma.” Freya re
ached out for my hand. Not waiting to leave her hanging, I gave it to her, and she smiled tenderly at me. “Coming back home, the only place that wasn’t filled with painful memories was at the café. I love it there, and I love you. You aren’t only my best friend. You’re like my sister. And because I know you, and how stubborn you can also be, I want to invest.”

  “Invest?” I whispered. I was touched by everything she had said I was trying not to break down again.

  “Let’s turn it into a diner.”

  My eyebrows raised at her blasé tone. “Just like that?”

  Freya shrugged. “I’ve got the money, and it’s a good investment.”

  I thought about it for a second. She wasn’t wrong. It would be a good investment. After a few minutes of going it over my head, I spoke.

  “Deal, but only if you agree to be my business partner.”

  -

  Freya didn’t waste time. Even as she healed and got discharged from the hospital, she arranged for us to start soon.

  Time kept moving on and there was no word from Dex. I couldn’t bring myself to text him. Not when he should have been the one to reach out to me. The first time he stood me up, he’d left me with a taste of what we could have been. But this time, he’d left with a piece of me.

  The truth was, I felt like if I had lost my shop and still had him here, it would all have been okay. Now, I had this constant ache that wouldn’t go away.

  I smiled through his absence and laughed through the pain, but the truth was, I wasn't quite whole. He did say he wasn't a small-town type of guy. Maybe this was the push he needed to get out again. Nothing said leaving like having a lying dad. There was nowhere to avoid him. Not in a small town.

  “Mamas, we need to do something about this face.” Quincy stood next to me, his finger tapping my nose.

  “What about my face?” I asked.

  “You look sad. Two things I can always count on is you never being sad, and Jess always being moody. Now, tell me what I can do to make you feel better.”

  I gave Quincy a sad smile, because there was nothing he could do. Nothing anyone could do. I had asked for this, hadn’t I? You aren’t even sure if you want to fucking date me. Just leave. This was my fault, right? I wondered if telling him I had fallen in love with him would have made a difference. But at the same time, at least I never said the words. That would have made it real. Right now, I could pretend like I hadn’t fallen for him.

  When the door chimed, both Quincy and I looked up, Max came in, and for the first time, he was smiling. Really smiling. The type of smile that shone in your eyes and fed your soul.

  "Good morning," he said.

  Then he went for a chalk, erased my quote of the day, and put his own.

  Quincy looked at me. “Your quotes are too depressing. When you are happy, you enjoy the music. When you're sad, you understand the lyrics. What kind of bullshit is that?”

  A sad song when you were happy was just another ballad, but when you were sad and your heart was breaking, the melody filled your cracks and made the ache much more profound.

  A sky full of stars and he was staring at her. -Atticus.

  Seriously, Max erased my quote for that? All he needed to do was put a big fat sign that said, “Freya, look, it’s for you.” They weren’t fooling anyone. Look at me. I sounded bitter, and I wasn’t that type of person. I was getting on my own nerves.

  “See you later.” Max winked at us, left us a hefty tip, and left.

  "He has some side pussy, doesn't he? I mean Abbi's hot, but that bitch is cold, might freeze your dick—"

  “Shut up!”

  Quincy shook his head, grabbed a cleaning rag, and he made his way to clean the tabletops. “Mamas, you be nice to me. In a few years, you’re going to see me on TV and be like, ‘I should have been nice to that boy.’ See if I remember your asses when I’m living large.”

  I pointed to the table he was wiping. “You missed a spot.”

  The next few weeks seemed to go by in a blur. I got up, worked, and went home. Things I did with love and devotion almost seemed like a chore. Freya was coming back to work soon, so I wouldn’t be alone, and the back table wouldn’t mock me as much. As for now, I was alone in the shop. I looked at the table in the back and regretted that it was the only time I was with Dex. It was true what they said: you always regretted the missed opportunities. Because even now, with him gone and me thinking it was a mistake, I would do it all over again.

  When I saw Freya walk in hand-in-hand with Max, a part of me shouted at me that I could have had something like that of my own if I hadn’t been too scared to fight for it.

  When Freya said that Dex came back on Sunday, I was excited and scared, but mostly angry. He comes back, and now what? Was I supposed to act like he never left? Like he hadn’t cut me out of his life again? I acted like talking about Dex didn’t affect me and ignored Freya when she mentioned she would go visit him. When she left for the night with Max, I let out a sigh of relief. I was going to tell her why it could never work out with me and her…her brother, but today was not that day.

  “Jesus, look at you. Get a grip, Goldie. You are pathetic,” Prescott said, making me jump since I didn’t hear anyone come in.

  “You are the last person who can judge me.”

  He gave me a nod. “Touché.”

  "How much of a shoe-in are you to win the election?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

  Prescott gave me a smirk, like he couldn’t believe I’d just asked that. Now, thinking about it was stupid. People might not have loved him like they did Max, but they respected him and trusted he had Sunny Pines’ best interests at heart.

  “Tim mentioned Hendrix is coming back,” Prescott stated casually.

  I glared at him, and he grinned.

  I huffed. “And what am I supposed to do? Pretend like he didn’t leave? Like it’s all fine and dandy?”

  Prescott looked at me while I got to work on his drink.

  “Talk to him,” he said when I handed it to him.

  I shook my head. “He ditched me one too many times.”

  “I know it stings, but there’s always two sides to every story. Believe me, if I could go back in time, I would make her listen to me. Too often, we regret the things we didn’t say. Don’t be like me: full of regrets.”

  I looked at him, and a part of me knew he was right. I needed answers.

  “Piece of advice, Emma,” Prescott went on. “There’s no room for pride when you are in love. Go ahead, write that shit on the wall.”

  Then he turned around and left, making those words stick with me for the rest of the day. I realized he was right. I was going to talk to Dex. Not for him, but for me. I deserved that much.

  21

  Dex

  The coffee in my cabin was shit, and that just made me think of Emma. My sweet Emma. My head was so fucked up, it was best that I didn’t talk to her until I knew what I was going to do. I knew it might seem silly. I was a grown man, yet I felt like the foundation of who I was got pulled out from under me. All I had was a big fat, “Who the fuck am I if the man who raised me turned out to be a fraud?”

  Look at me. I was at our family cabin, the one we had in the Dells. We’d always been well off and we had enough spare cash to have a fucking cabin. We only came out on summer trips or when my parents wanted to get away on a romantic weekend. When we didn’t use it, we rented it. While we did all these family activities, what did my sister do? Who did she have? Not her father.

  The image I had of my father had shattered. How could he do something so selfish? I had a sister. A sister who grew up with just her grandfather. Just thinking about all she must have gone through when she left town made me sick. She must have felt so alone and scared. The father who was a hero to me was nothing to her, and that made my stomach churn. The same man meant totally different things for both of us.

  I stayed two weeks in the cabin thinking about everything about my childhood. Finally, I realized that, ev
en though my father wasn't who I thought he was, he was still my father. He raised me to do the right thing, and forgiving him wouldn't be easy, but it was going to happen.

  That didn't mean I was ready to come back to town, though. Instead, I asked Tim if I could finish helping the precinct a county over. I had told them I couldn't be much help since I wanted to be with Emma and help her find a solution to save her shop. Helping out in the other precinct kept me busy, but that didn't mean I didn't think of everything that had unraveled.

  I had a sister.

  It was a weird feeling as someone who grew up alone. But at the same time, I was excited to get to know her. Also, while I was away, I came to terms with the fact that I almost died, and that it was my fault. My accident wasn't an accident, but me being a fool. I was lucky I was able to move past that stupid move, and that my chief believed in me. The second chance life had handed me was almost poetic, and I realized I shouldn’t take it for granted.

  Then there was my colossal fuck-up with Emma. Fuck, that look she gave me caused sleepless nights. I was not in the right state of mind. I regretted talking to her in the tone I did.

  When my phone started ringing, I was going to ignore it, thinking it was Freya. My sister—damn, that was weird to say—had been blowing up my phone. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to her, but I didn’t want our first conversation to be over the phone. I wanted to be prepared and gather my thoughts. But then I looked at the caller ID.

  “Did you dial the wrong number?” I said as I answered Prescott.

  He chuckled. “You know, if you don’t come back soon, she’s going to move on.”

  The line went dead before I could say more.

  Asshole.

  Looking around the precinct that didn’t feel like home, I made a call.

  “Did you finally get your head out of your ass, boy?” Leave it to Tim to make me feel like a little boy.

  “I’m coming back.”

  I arrived back to town late at night, and the drive and exhaustion from the past weeks finally caught up to me. I needed to do a lot of things, but the first thing was talk to Emma. She as my priority, then my—my sister. My dad? Well, he could wait.