You Were Always Home (Homecoming #3)

by C. Lymari

  I loved both my brothers, but Prescott had been a freaking rock, not only to me, but to my girls too. He always bought treats for Rosie and had gotten Jess a bunch of journals. He said she needed to express her feelings. He wasn’t wrong, but Jess wasn’t ready to talk to anyone yet… not even me.

  As for Rosie, I hoped she’d forget, or by the time she was old enough to understand what happened between her parents, it just became part of her past.

  I was prepared to do whatever for my girls, and thanks to Prescott’s news, I knew I could. I should have known all along that Nana would save me. It wasn’t because I was her favorite, but she knew that, as men, my brothers had an advantage I didn’t. My Nana left me everything.

  Prescott also gave me back my stolen jewelry. It turned out Dad and Chad wanted to scare me so I would go back home. They never counted on me having made a home of my own.

  “Juliet, let’s go!” Rosie shouted.

  “Yes. Let’s get ready and go.” I smiled at her and got up.

  Spring was almost here, but it was still chilly. Jess and I both dressed in all-black leggings, cardigans, and our shoes, while Rosie was insistent on wearing a dress. We made sure she didn’t get cold by putting leggings under her pretty dress. The drive to town was a little mortifying for both Jess and me. It was Thursday morning, so the diner shouldn’t be packed. Neither she nor I were ready to come on a weekend.

  “Yay, pancakes! Let’s go.” Rosie was ready to jump out of the car.

  I reached for Jess’s hand and squeezed it. “I am here for you, no matter what. You want to leave, I will get you home. You have me. You can lean on me.”

  She held my hand tight like it was a lifeline. “Who do you have, Jules?”

  I knew she was talking about Jake. It brought me an ache to think of him, but I couldn’t be with him when I was recovering. Not when Chad’s bruises were on my body. Not when I had a new cast, another reminder of what he did to me.

  I wanted to go into a new relationship whole, and it wasn’t fair to ask Jake to wait. I’d done many selfish things my whole life, but telling him to let me go was not one of them.

  “That’s the beauty of being an adult. You learn to stand on your own two feet.”

  “I think you should call him.”

  I shook my head with a sad smile. Jake stopped texting me a month ago. I guessed he’d gotten tired of unanswered messages and being told by Prescott to leave every time he came to see me. Who could blame him? I didn’t need to reach out. After all, I’d told him to move on.

  “Are we eating?” Rosie mused from the back seat.

  “Yes, we are.”

  My Caddy was long gone. Thanks to Prescott and his ruthlessness, I was able to keep the money from my divorce. I refused all of it and only took my Caddy. The first thing I did was sell it, buy a small SUV, and use the rest to buy the girls new clothes and items they would need. They didn’t need anything from their old life. I didn’t want anything to trigger them. Every penny I got from my divorce, I used on them.

  “It’s empty,” Jess murmured, relieved.

  The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the quote of the day. It was placed closer to the window now that the arch to go into the diner was placed.

  Isn’t it funny how, day by day, nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different? -C.S. Lewis.

  That was true. Every day, my girls and I struggled with our demons, just getting by for one more day, but every day, we got stronger.

  Freya and Emma were behind the counter. They both stopped what they were doing and stared at us. I smiled tensely at both of them. It wouldn’t happen overnight, but eventually, we would get to a place in our lives where we were okay.

  “We want pancakes!” Rosie broke the tension by shouting.

  Freya came around to touch Rosie’s head and gave a hesitant Jess a side hug. “Whatever my girls want, they get.”

  We sat on the other side of the shop on the new diner side and took a seat in the last booth on the far wall. I sat facing most of the room, and the girls on the other side in case if someone did come they would stare at me and not my girls. Emma took our order and they had our food ready in no time.

  “This isn’t so bad, right?” I said.

  “It sucks,” Jess said.

  “It’s awesome, and I miss going out,” Rosie added.

  I knew both Jess and I felt guilty over her statement. I knew many people wouldn’t notice, but Jess was more withdrawn. She hadn’t cried, according to Jana. Not even at her mom’s funeral.

  I took a deep breath, preparing myself to share with them the news my brother gave me the other day.

  “Do you guys like living with me?”

  Jess looked up from where she was playing with her food.

  “I like it. I miss Mommy, but you said I’d see her again one day,” Rosie replied cheerily.

  My heart ached so much for my little girl, but another part of me was glad she was happy with me.

  “How would you guys feel…”

  Gah, I couldn’t even get the words out. Jess’s stare was penetrating.

  “How would you feel if I adopted you?”

  Jess’s fork clanked on the dish.

  “I mean, I would never try to replace your mother…”

  “What does adopted mean?” Rosie asked as she licked whipped cream off her fork.

  Jess spoke, her voice a breathy whisper. “It means she will take care of us.”

  “Julie is already taking care of us.”

  “It means I would take care of you forever,” I added.

  That was when Jess stopped looking at me and dropped her gaze. I knew my girl, and I knew she didn’t want to cry, so I let her have her moment.

  “Adoption is expensive, and we’re already a burden—” she started to say.

  I cut her off. “I’m rich.”

  The statement would have made me happy a long time ago, but now I had things far more precious than money could ever buy. Jess looked up, and Rosie kept on eating.

  “Turns out my Nana left me an inheritance. I never knew about it because my father hid it from me.” I explained to them what my brother explained to me. “My father isn’t a good man. He has always loved for all of us to depend on him. Daddy dearest tried to find a loophole for the money, for it to go into the family assets, the one he controls. The thing about trust funds is, the person who makes them has full control over them. Nana Celeste detested my father. My nana left me all her money. I am set to inherit it on my twenty-seventh birthday.” I stopped and took a drink of my water. “That’s next week.”

  “Shit.” Jess leaned back.

  “Oooh, that’s a bad word,” Rosie scolded her.

  “I know, honey,” I chuckled. “Remember, a lady must never repeat those things. So what do you say?”

  Jess looked down at her sister, and my heart was pounding a thousand miles per minute.

  “Does this mean I can call you Mommy?” Rosie asked me as she took another spoonful of whipped cream.

  My lips wobbled. This was more than I ever expected to find when I moved back to town, broken and alone.

  “If… if you want.”

  My little girl smiled at me, shrugging it off. Then I looked at Jess, who gave me a small nod.

  “I’ll be right back,” I whispered as I left the booth. I needed air and for the girls to not see me cry.

  I ran to the bathroom on the verge of tears. I almost had the door closed when someone stopped me. I looked up, wiping a tear from my eye, and there he was.

  God, he looked handsome.

  His face was clean-shaven. He looked good. Something about him had changed. He wore dark jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Those blue eyes were staring intensely into me, and I couldn’t look away.

  “Jake.” I heard the longing in my voice. I was sure he did too. “What are you doing here?”

  “Prescott called and asked if I could help the girls move some boxes… They had no i
dea what I was talking about when I got here.”

  “Oh,” was all I managed to say.

  Why would Prescott do this to me?

  “I miss you.” Jake took a step closer, closing the door behind me.

  “Jake, we can’t.”

  “Give me a good fucking reason why not.”

  I opened my mouth to come up with one and couldn’t.

  Jake pushed me against the wall, his hands coming to either side of my head. “Tell me you don’t love me, Juliet. Tell me you didn’t look at that cast every time I wasn’t near, and you didn’t think of me.”

  Again, I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

  “Why did you hold on to the canvases I made for you? All these years and you never let them go. That was your present to me, right? That’s what you had to go home and get?”

  His face was inches from mine, his minty smell in my face, and he smelled like home. My home.

  “Why, Juliet?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why?” he demanded.

  “Because it’s always been you! You were always the one I thought of when everything in my life was falling apart.”

  Jake crashed his lips into mine, and I couldn’t fight it. His taste was like feeling the fresh winter air on my face.

  “You love me?” He was breathing erratically, his icy blue eyes burning into me.

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Juliet,” he warned. “Do you love me?”

  “Do you love me?” I whispered. I was scared his answer had changed these past few months.

  “With all that I fucking am. I knew I could fall for you in high school. I knew going on a date with you could ruin me. That day you spent with me at the store, that’s when I knew it was happening. When you let go and you laughed, I knew you were the forever kind of girl. And even though it terrified me, I still stayed.”

  I closed my eyes, resting my head on his shoulders.

  “It’s not just me anymore, Jake.”

  Jake’s fingers came to my chin, and he lifted it so I was looking at him. “You think I don’t know that? I know you’re adopting those girls, and I love you more for it. I want to be with you, Jules, and I love those girls as much as I love my brothers. I love that you are taking care of them. I want to be with you every step of the way.”

  He pulled back, looking a little sheepish.

  “Your brother offered me a spot on the City Council, and I took it. I always thought I wanted something more, but that was a lie. I needed to do more. That empty room in the store? I turned it into an art room for kids whose parents have to work late. I know you suck at painting, but I want you there. I want to come home and see you smile at me the way only you do that makes my day ten times fucking better. Everything is finally lining up for me. The only thing I need is you and the girls, and I’ll be complete.”

  My chest was rising and falling, and I couldn’t believe it was real.

  Jake came back, cupping my face. “You love me, Dunnett?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “Did you finally realize how fucking strong you are?”

  “I think so.”

  “No, baby, you are. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind about that.” I heard the truth in his voice. “Will you finally put me out of my misery and be with me?”

  “Will you put me out of mine?”

  “Thank fuck,” he murmured before he gave me a slow kiss. Then he spoke against my lips. “Perfection.”

  “You were always home,” I told him.

  Jake’s eyes went soft as he kissed the top of my head and led me outside. “Let’s go tell our girls.”

  Everything in my life had led me back to this moment, and in the end, it was all worth it.

  Want to know what’s going on in Sunny Pines?

  Click the link for Homecoming Bonus where you get a look at what your favorite couples are doing and a sneak peek at HOCO #4

  Caution if you haven’t read the first two books it will be filled with spoilers.

  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/noh345cuee

  Coming Soon

  For Three Seconds

  ADD TBR

  I fell in love with Gavin Dunn when I was 12, all it took was one game of spin the bottle, and I was ruined. One kiss, and three seconds and no matter how many boys I kissed, they didn’t make me feel like he did.

  The problem, he belonged to my best friend.

  I kissed him first.

  She kissed him last.

  He once chose me, and I chose her.

  When everything in my life goes wrong somehow, he’s there to make it right. As my best friend pulls away, he finds ways to get closer.

  I know that we are just waiting for three seconds before everything changes again.

  Expected Release Feb. 2020

  Read Max and Freya’s story

  It’s Not Home Without You

  Max

  Time is supposed to heal all wounds. I thought it had healed mine when I found myself ready to say "I Do". It all came crashing down the moment I saw Freya Pratt again. After all these years she still affected me like no other. I couldn’t deny that she made me feel something I haven’t felt since the day she left. She made me feel alive. Now I’m questioning everything about our past and my future.

  Freya

  Breaking Max's heart seemed like a good idea at eighteen. I needed him to forget me and let me go. All these years I'd pretended like what we had was never real. I told myself I wanted what was best for him. I told myself that wasn't me. After seeing him again, I'm not so sure. As his wedding day nears, I wonder if I should tell him the real reason why I left. Would it even make a difference?

  Read Dex and Emma’s Story

  The Way Back Home

  Dex

  Everything worth having takes time. In my case, it was taking forever. I met Emma outside her soon-to-be café covered in paint. The minute I saw her, I knew I had to have her. She was all that was good in the world. Always helping others, bright personality, beautiful even if she couldn’t see it herself. She gave me a chance, and I took it for granted. I never intended to stay in town for long, and by the time I realized what was important to me, she wanted nothing to do with me. Now I won’t stop until I convince her we are worth fighting for.

  Emma

  The first time I met Dex, I thought he was hitting on me in front of his girlfriend; turns out I was wrong. I wanted to hate him a little, but I couldn’t. He was sweet, attentive, handsome, and he made me smile. Except, I had a business to run, and I didn’t have time for a man in my life, especially when this was just a pit stop for him. He left town and life went on. Now my business is in trouble, and Dex is back asking for another chance, convinced he could make it all better. Can I trust him not to leave again?

  About the Author

  Claudia lives in the Chicagoland suburbs, and when she’s not busy chasing after her adorable little spawn, she’s fighting with the characters inside her head. Claudia writes both sweet and dark romances that will give you all the feels. Her other talents include binge-watching shows on Netflix and eating all kinds of chips.

  Want to know more about me

  Join my reader Group: Claudia’s Coffee Shop

  Instagram account: @C.Lymari

  Don’t forget to join my NL for a Rusty & Jana’s exclusive novella coming this Christmas.

  Website: Clymaribooks.com

  Acknowledgments

  I want to start off by thanking YOU for the reader who has read my books. Thank you so much. It’s because of you that I get to give these characters a home.

  To my bestie Alejandra, who even though abandoned me so she could go live with her fiancé, thank you. Thanks for continuing to answer all my medical questions.

  To my baby spawn for being in her horrible two’s and making me be on #teamnosleep wait, why am I thanking her again? Lol. Mommy loves you. My parents, my brother, and my sister for still being supportive of me and listening to me talk a
bout my books, book world stuff, and the friends I made through this journey. Thank you for believing in me. To all my cousins who don’t read but still buy my books because they want to support me, you better buy this one too. lol

  Special shout out to my Chaddettes: Amanda, Becca, Carmen, Gabrielle Jacinta, Katey, Nichole, Laura, Rebekah, and Stefanie. You guys are my TRIBE. The reason I don’t go insane when writing. I LOVE you.

  Brenda H, Deb K, and Katherine, you guys are a joy. You are kind and make me laugh all the time. I am sooo glad this journey led me to your friendship.

  To my ARC team. (EEEKKKK, say what?) You guys are the best! Thank you for continuing to read my words. You guys rock!

  Sandra, you did a fabulous job editing this book. Your mind is brilliant, and a lot of the times, I found myself thinking well duh, me so dumb lol.

  Carmen, who did a copy line edit because Jake and Juliet still needed a little more work before they could be perfect thank you sooo much. Love you.

  And last but certainly not least to Jeannette, who makes not only makes my covers but my graphics. You are the BOMB. She has so much talent that I hate recommending her because I just want to keep her hidden. Lol Thanks girl for nailing my vision.