This Place Called Home: Includes Bonus Story! (Forget-Me-Not Ranch)

by Sara Richardson

  Agatha held her hand. “But you’re not fighting alone anymore. You have us to fight with you. To fight for you. Me and Nash and Mack.” She paused, a smile brimming on her lips. “And Kyler. Oh, my dear, that man loves you.”

  “He can’t love me.” Even as she said the words, she knew they weren’t true. That was the fear talking again.

  “He can and he does,” Agatha corrected. “You are worthy of love, Emery.” Her voice grew stern. “Not only that, you deserve to be loved. If you let yourself be loved, it will change your whole life. Love will make you braver and stronger. It will carry you through.”

  If she could let it carry her through. Was she that strong? Could she be brave? She’d never know unless she tried. “Can you take me into town?” Anxiety spiked in her chest, but she breathed deep and fought it back. “I need to talk to that investigator.”

  “Of course.” Agatha started the engine and pulled back onto the highway. “We’ll talk to him together.”

  The closer they got to River Haven, the more Emery’s stomach hurt, the more her heart palpitated. Once she took this step, she wouldn’t be able to go back.

  “Focus on the freedom,” Agatha said as though she could sense her distress. “You’re not alone.”

  Kyler had said the same thing to her. The memory raised her up, giving her a promise to stand on. They wouldn’t abandon her like everyone else had.

  Agatha swung the SUV into a parking spot in front of the coffee shop and right when she stepped out of the car, Emery saw Kyler and Bri walking down the sidewalk. The tears started again, but they were happy this time, coming with a smile.

  “Emery.” The man stopped a few feet away like he was afraid she would run again.

  “There you are!” Bri said excitedly. “I told Uncle Kyler you’d come back.”

  “I came back.” She wouldn’t run away again. This time, she ran to him and wrapped him in a hug. “What’re you doing in town?” Her voice was muffled against his broad chest.

  Something that sounded like a relieved sigh hummed against her neck. “I’m here to tell the investigator to leave you alone.” Kyler tipped his head back to look down at her. “What’re you doing here?”

  Emery peeked back at Agatha. “I want to tell him my story.” She was terrified and humiliated and unsure, but… “I need you.” She squeezed his hand in hers and then reached for Bri’s. “And I need you. And I need Agatha and Mack and Nash.”

  “And Cookie!” the girl added.

  Emery laughed. “And Cookie.” She brought her hand to Kyler’s stubbled jaw, bringing his face closer to hers. “The truth is, I need you all.”

  “And we need you,” the man said, right before he kissed her.

  Spring was coming.

  Emery stepped outside onto Agatha’s porch and inhaled deeply.

  Snow still crusted parts of the meadow, but the swaying grasses and the baby stems of wildflowers were starting to push through.

  With it being only April, she knew they’d get a few more snowstorms, but these glimpses of spring helped to remind her what was coming—rebirth, new life, warms days and star-lit nights.

  Those were things she loved, the things she hoped for, the things that had gotten her through the last six months.

  Across the way, Nash and Mack’s front door opened and Kyler slipped out into the early morning. They’d discovered this was their time—these moments as dawn took hold of the world, waking everything up.

  It was really the only time they had alone since Bri had settled into sleeping until at least seven thirty every morning.

  Each day, Emery looked forward to waking up early, to greeting the day alongside Kyler.

  She walked down the porch steps to meet him on the driveway the same way she did every morning. Cupid trotted along behind her, still yawning. Her dog hadn’t adjusted to early morning wakeup calls every day, but when he saw Kyler coming, he always perked up.

  “Good morning.” The man took her hand in his, warming not just her skin, but the whole inside of her.

  These last six months, he’d walked with her. He’d been by her side when she’d talked to the investigator, when she’d met with Nick’s other three accusers.

  He’d been by her side as she’d traveled for every deposition, every interview, every meeting, and though the case against her abuser was still working its way through the justice system, things were looking promising.

  “You look beautiful.” Kyler told her that every morning, but she never got tired of hearing it.

  “I can’t wait until I can wake up and see your face first thing.” He stopped and pulled her to him, making Cupid whine like he didn’t want to be left out.

  “I can’t wait for that either.” They’d agreed to take things slow—for all of their sakes—as they waded through grief and counseling and dealing with the things of the past so they would be ready for a new future.

  She couldn’t say she’d ever be fully healed, but love was doing its work, making its way through her, restoring the depth of her joy and understanding and hope.

  “I thought we’d walk down by the pond this morning,” Kyler said, moving his hands up underneath her coat, stirring every nerve ending into a visceral awareness.

  The force of her desire for him seemed to grow stronger and stronger every time he touched her. “That sounds perfect.”

  They walked side-by-side again, fingers weaved together with Cupid trying to wedge himself between them.

  “I can feel the air changing already,” Kyler commented, directing his gaze to the eastern horizon where the sun had started to breathe life into the sky.

  “Me too.” In so many ways, the coldness of winter felt far behind them, like they were walking away from it, walking toward something new.

  Kyler squeezed her hand tighter and led her along the water’s edge as they stepped over rocks and sticks.

  Steam rose from the surface of the small lake, catching the early sun’s glow. She almost didn’t want to speak, to disturb the peace, to say anything that would intrude on the perfection all around them.

  Together, they wandered onto the dock, with Cupid pawing at the water, but unwilling to go for a swim in the chilly snowmelt.

  At the very end of the warped pier, Kyler turned her to face him. How the man’s eyes could tell her so much, she would never know, but she could read them, she could feel an anticipation radiating off of him.

  “What’s going on?”

  He shot her the grin that had changed her life and lowered himself to one knee in front of her. “Emery Quinn…Kelly Pryor…I am madly in love with you.”

  Seeming concerned about the man, Cupid hurried over and gave his face a good licking. Kyler closed his eyes and clamped his mouth shut waiting out the bath while Emery laughed and cried.

  “I am madly in love with you too.” Hopelessly. Desperately. She had never in her life longed for something the way she longed for Kyler.

  A ripple in the water seemed to draw Cupid’s attention away from Kyler. The dog ran to the other end of the dock to investigate.

  “I love your laugh and I love your strength and I love how you take care of Bri and Cookie and Cupid and me.” He looked up at her, admiration spilling from his eyes.

  “I love that you ride motorcycles and that you wear boots and that you put everyone else above yourself. You are remarkable. A true treasure in this world. And I would be forever grateful if you would be my wife.”

  He reached onto the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a ring. No box, no grandeur, no pretenses. Just a small solitaire round diamond set in a silver band that was the most perfect thing she’d ever seen.

  “Bri helped me pick it out,” he told her. “She’s thrilled. Can’t wait for the wedding. No pressure.”

  Emery laughed again, her tears spilling off her cheeks, soaking into the collar of her sweatshirt. “I love Bri with all my heart, and my God, Kyler…you are the perfect man for me. The man who makes me laugh. The man who stands by my
side. The man who takes the fish off my hook for me.”

  He was the man who would carry her through no matter what they had to face in life.

  She pulled him up so she could look into his eyes when she gave him her answer. “Yes. I will marry you. And I will love you for the rest of my life.”

  First Kiss With a Cowboy Sample

  Silverado Lake Book 1

  Chapter One

  Jane Harding paused in front of the fine dining restaurant with a name she couldn’t even pronounce.

  The sleek dark windows, old-world brick façade, and the line of Mercedes and Teslas lined up in front of the valet stand only proved this restaurant was far above her pay grade as an adjunct professor at Cal Poly. Her agent had summoned her here for dinner, which meant she was about to get either really great news—like her editor loved the new book she’d turned in, or extremely terrible news—like her editor had hated it and Jane’s agent wanted to soften the blow with good wine.

  Jane’s heart made a sudden leap for her throat. Admittedly, she’d struggled to put two sentences together in her second attempt at a novel. The first novel? No problem. But there had also been no pressure—she hadn’t had an agent or editor yet. She’d simply written for herself, and then had sent the manuscript off never expecting it would get published, let alone become a bestseller. After the success, her publisher had been so excited and asked that another manuscript be delivered within six months so they could keep the momentum going.

  The problem was, Jane seemed to have lost her momentum and, in its place, lived a lingering fear that she was simply a one-hit wonder.

  Glancing down, she straightened her blue silk blouse and smoothed the black slacks she’d spent a small fortune on so she could dress the part of the successful writer. Whatever her agent said tonight, Jane had to make this writing career work. Her contract teaching literature at the university was up as of last week, and after her trip home to Colorado for her friend’s wedding in a few weeks, she had no job to come back to.

  “Confidence,” she murmured, as though saying it would somehow help her build it. All she had to do was march in there and act like a real writer, like she knew exactly what she was doing, like she belonged in this world of fancy restaurants and Teslas and Mercedes.

  Whirling, Jane made a move for the doors, but one of the parking attendants bumped into her and knocked her purse off her shoulder. It fell to the ground with a thud, everything spilling out onto the sidewalk—her wallet, wadded Kleenexes and receipts, tampons, and part of an old apple she’d eaten between classes yesterday and had forgotten to throw away.

  “Oh no!”

  The attendant hurried off without so much as a sorry while Jane squatted to collect her things. What was that? Oh geez. Her face flamed as she picked up the tattered condom wrapper that one of her students must’ve slipped in her purse as a joke because it definitely wasn’t hers. So much for looking sophisticated. All around her, people hustled into the restaurant averting their eyes as though they couldn’t see her predicament.

  Ducking her head, she managed to shove everything back into her purse and scrambled to her feet again before practically diving into the restaurant to escape the stares and whispers from the valet line.

  The restaurant’s interior put out a dim calming vibe, but her heart continued to race, and her cheeks pulsed with embarrassment. Hopefully no one in here had seen the spectacle through those dark windows. She rushed to the hostess station doing her best to look detached and annoyed rather than humiliated.

  “I’m here to meet Caroline Benning,” she said as briskly as her very successful agent would have.

  “Of course.” The young woman picked up two menus. “Ms. Benning called and said she was running a few minutes late, but she would like you to be seated.” She nodded Jane past a gigantic fish tank with all varieties of tropical fish swimming around and into the intimate dining room.

  At seven o’clock it seemed nearly every table was full—a few couples who looked like they were celebrating something, a few tables of what looked to be businesspeople continuing their workday over appetizers and wine. She could really use a glass of wine right now…

  “This will be your table.” The young hostess gestured to a table for two in the corner. “Ms. Benning has already ordered a bottle for wine you,” she said, pulling out Jane’s chair. “It will be here momentarily.”

  “Oh. Great.” Jane sat. A whole bottle of wine for just her? Yeah, this definitely wasn’t going to be good news.

  “Your waiter will be right with you.” The hostess handed her a leather-bound menu and then regally walked in the opposite direction. Jane took a second to look it over, but still found it difficult to focus. Between the nerves and the lingering embarrassment from the scene on the sidewalk, she couldn’t quite decide what she wanted to eat. She set down the menu in front of her and let her eyes wander.

  An older couple sat nearby, and they appeared to be fighting. The man had a scowl on his face while the woman leaned halfway over the table and said something, her jaw rigid and her eyes narrowed.

  Hmmm. Maybe he’d had an affair. Or it was possible his wife had made the reservations here and he’d forgotten it was their anniversary.

  The woman caught her staring, so she moved her gaze to table of nicely dressed businessmen she walked past earlier, and one of them was staring directly at her.

  She quickly looked down. She must be mistaken. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had stared at her like that. Well, there was Alex from the Math department, but he didn’t count. Jane peeked up again, and yes, the man was definitely still staring. He smiled a little when their eyes met, and Jane’s cheeks filled with an entirely different type of heat.

  Smile back. She thought she did, but was it too big? Not big enough? She didn’t know, but the man said something to his friends and stood up. Oh wow. He was walking over to her. This is exactly the kind of meet-cute she’d write about in her romance novels! A man spots a woman from across the room—okay, from a few tables over—and then, overtaken by this instant chemistry between them, he makes his way over. Except that had never happened to her.

  “Hi there.”

  He was so handsome. Tall with chestnut-colored hair and a squarish jaw. Jane peered up into eyes the same color as the ocean outside. Speak! she reminded herself. “Hi.” Geez. Why’d she have to be so shy? Why couldn’t she come up with something witty to say? If she were sitting behind her computer she could, that was for sure.

  “I’m not sure how to say this…” The man leaned in closer. He even smelled good.

  It’s okay, Jane silently coaxed. Just say it. Maybe he wanted to tell her he felt this strange connection to her when he’d looked at her. Maybe he was going to ask her out. Lord knew it had been awhile since she’d been on a date…

  “You have a huge rip in the back of your pants.”

  Jane blinked up at him. “Excuse me?”

  “Your pants,” he murmured discreetly. “There’s a huge rip in the seam. I figured you didn’t know. I probably wouldn’t have noticed but your underwear is…pretty colorful.”

  Oh, sweet Jesus. She’d worn her bright red underwear with the silver polka dots! Her lucky underwear—the pair she’d been wearing the day she’d signed the contract with her publisher. Obviously, her luck was running out. Her scalp suddenly burned. It must’ve happened when she’d crouched down outside. How the heck did a two-hundred-dollar pair of pants rip right up the seam?

  “I figured you should know,” the man said awkwardly. “I mean, I would want to.”

  “Right. Yes.” Jane swallowed a fireball of humiliation. “Thank you for the information.”

  “You’re welcome.” He smiled at her. “I hope you have a good night.”

  “Uh huh. You too.” A good night? Seriously? She was not going to have a good night. In fact, things could only get worse from here. This is why she rarely went out. These kinds of things always seemed to happen to her. It was almost as
bad as that night—the one time she’d let her guard down and it was still the most embarrassing moment of her life. Jane started to gather her purse. She should leave before her agent got there. She could bolt out of the restaurant and never show her face here ag—

  “Sorry I’m so late.” Caroline appeared seemingly out of thin air. The blunt cut of her red hair seemed to fit her curt personality. The woman was always so efficient and direct. Even her wardrobe exuded a certain sharpness. Jane imagined she had a whole closet of black dresses at home and a second closet just for her scarves.

  “The wine isn’t even here yet?” Caroline barked. “Are you kidding me?” She slid into her chair across the table in a huff. “I suppose we won’t get our dinner for another two hours either.”

  Two hours? Jane glanced over at the man who’d informed her about the underwear situation. He seemed to have completely forgotten all about her and was chatting with a woman who’d come over to their table. Ugh. Of course. That woman probably didn’t understand needing lucky underwear at all. Jane refocused on Caroline. She needed this night to be over. “Actually. I’m not going to be able to stay for dinner. I’m…um…not feeling well.” It wasn’t a lie. Her stomach churned and a headache had started to pound in her temples. That’s what being the center of attention always did to her. It made her want to hide. She needed a nice hot bath and some ice cream for dinner.

  Caroline’s frown indicated she had no sympathy for Jane’s health concerns. “But we have important things to discuss, my dear. Timely, important things that simply can’t wait.” Her glossy red lips pursed together.

  And there it was. The bad news her intuition had told her to expect. She might as well get this over with, split pants or not. “They don’t like it, do they? They don’t like the book?” Of course her editor hadn’t liked it. Jane didn’t even like it.

  “They hate it,” Caroline clarified. “I hated it. What the hell happened, Jane?” Her agent’s resonant voice carried. “This book is light years behind your last one.”