Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  “Did you know he’s being sued over one of his business deals?”

  “So what? That happens in business,” she said.

  “I asked around town and the man’s known for his womanizing. You think there’s a future with this guy? I highly doubt it. He’s never going to settle down with a girl like you.”

  “A girl like me?”

  “An unmarried mother. We all know what you did to get in this predicament. You think he has any respect for you?”

  “He doesn’t care about that. Plus, he loves Dakota.”

  “You two aren’t fit to raise a cat. We want Dakota to live with us. We can give him the stability he needs.”

  She gasped, then swallowed the massive lump in her throat. If she could punch something she would. Instead she tried to breathe like her years of yoga had taught her. “He’s stable with us. I’m a good mother.”

  “You’re sleeping with your boss. How is that stable?”

  “We…we’re together. Like a family.”

  “He is not your family. He’s some loser who got a girl pregnant and now wants you to raise his baby, so he can go back to what he does best. Womanizing and dirty business deals.”

  Kyle appeared in the doorway. “I want you out of my house.” Red-faced, he strode over to her father and shoved him against the counter. “If you come so much as five feet from Violet or Dakota, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

  “Who do you think you are? Get your hands off me. She’s my daughter. Dakota’s my grandson.” Her father shoved his hands into Kyle’s chest, but he was no match for his young and muscular adversary.

  Kyle kept hold of her father’s collar and with gritted teeth spoke right in his face. “She’s my fiancée.”

  Violet’s mouth dropped open. My fiancée?

  “Furthermore, Dakota’s going to be my son when the adoption paperwork is completed. You will never see either one of them again if I have anything to do with it.”

  Her mother came running into the kitchen. Had she been standing outside the door listening the entire time? “Fiancée? Is this true, Violet?”

  “You bet it’s true,” Kyle said. “We weren’t ready to share it with anyone yet. Our best friends are getting married in three weeks and we didn’t want to take the focus away from them.”

  Violet stared at him, amazed. How had he come up with that so quickly?

  “Where’s the ring?” her mother asked.

  Kyle crossed over to Violet and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I haven’t gotten her a ring yet. We’ve been busy with the babies.”

  “You’ve been the guy’s nanny and now suddenly you’re getting married to him? Do you really think your son deserves more turmoil when you two obviously mismatched people get divorced?” Her father’s face had turned a shade of purple Violet had never seen before. Of all the times she’d made him angry in her life, this was the most enraged she’d ever seen him.

  “Get out of my house,” Kyle said again.

  “You won’t see me again, Violet. Know that.”

  “Dad, I love you. I’ve tried my whole life to please you, but it’s impossible. I’m tired. I’m sorry I’ve been a disappointment, but I can’t do toxic relationships and be a good mother to my children. You make me feel terrible about myself. Kyle’s the first man who’s treated me like I deserve to be treated. I want you to leave.”

  Her mother was crying silently with her hand over her mouth. Violet knew she would not argue or plead. Once her father decided something, there was no convincing him otherwise.

  “I pity you,” her dad said. “When this charlatan leaves you and you want to come running back to us, we won’t be there for you. Not again.”

  “When have you ever been there for me?” Violet asked. “Not four years ago when Cole Lund seduced me and left me pregnant.”

  “What did you say?” Her mother’s tears vanished as her eyes widened with shock.

  She hadn’t meant to say it.

  “Cole Lund?” her mother asked. “He’s Dakota’s father?”

  “Why would you make up such a heinous lie?” Her father’s voice matched his enraged complexion.

  “She’s not lying,” Kyle said. “That married bastard took advantage of a lonely young woman who had never been loved properly by any man in her life, most especially you. When you’re adding up who’s at fault here, you can look in the mirror.”

  “How dare you.”

  “Get out of my house or I’ll physically remove you myself.” Kyle let go of Violet’s shoulders and stepped closer to the older man. “Now.”

  Her mother was back to weeping as her husband dragged her from the kitchen. Violet remained standing at the sink. Kyle followed them out. Seconds later, she heard the front door bang shut. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. Instead of grief, a numb calmness settled over her. It was done. This was the last time. There would be no more hoping or wishing things were different, no more trying to please them. Her life was with Kyle now. Kyle and the children were her family. Their friends were her extended family.

  Kyle strode into the kitchen and rushed to her. He knelt next to her on the floor and held her hand. “I’m sorry, Lettie.”

  “I’m okay.” She buried her face in his neck. “It’s over.”

  “What did you tell me last night? When one of us feels weak the other is strong?”

  “How did you come up with the pretend engagement so quickly?”

  “It’s not pretend. I want to marry you and not for the reasons he said. Not to care for Mollie, but rather to care for me. We’re the perfect combination. I’m going to give you that white picket fence and the whole yard that goes with it.”

  She looked up at him. His blue eyes smiled at her. “But it’s so fast.”

  “Do you love me?”

  “Yes. So much.”

  “Do you want to be my wife and Mollie’s mom?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good because I want to be your husband and Dakota’s dad.”

  “Is this really happening?”

  “I’ll get you a ring as soon as I can. A big fat one.”

  “No, not a diamond. The mines are ruining the environment. And don’t even get me started on the corruption and exploitation of people.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m getting you a diamond, so get over it.”

  “A vintage one, maybe? They’re already made so we can’t do any damage with one already made, right?”

  “Yes. I’ll find a vintage ring for you. God, you’re a pain.”

  She smiled up at him. “Or a different kind of stone? Maybe blue topaz to match your eyes?”

  “Well now you’re just trying to distract me with flattery.”

  “Kiss me,” she said.

  His demanding mouth on hers made her forget all about diamonds or topaz or even how cold the marble floor felt against her backside.

  “I love you,” he whispered against her mouth. “Don’t ever forget it.”

  Chapter 17

  Kyle

  * * *

  KYLE FOUND BOTH Stone and Autumn in the living room. “How much of that did you hear?”

  “Enough to know that guy’s an asshole,” Stone said.

  During their walk, they’d talked of surface things, catching up on the past twelve years, filling one another in on Kyle’s business decisions, Stone’s tours, and Autumn’s decision to become a pharmacist. The harder discussion had not yet come. Kyle figured it was about to start.

  “Where’s Violet now?” Autumn asked.

  “She went upstairs to bed,” he said. “This was a long day for her.”

  “With her dad, no kidding,” Stone said.

  “She’s strong, but that man is awful. I don’t know how she turned out so well,” Autumn said.

  You and me both.

  “You guys want anything to drink?” Kyle asked.

  “No, I’m fine,” Autumn said.

  Stone asked for a beer. Kyle grabbed tw
o from the refrigerator in the kitchen. When he returned to the living room, Stone was by the fire, warming his hands.

  Autumn sat on the couch, her cane next to her legs. “Is it true? Are you and Violet getting married?”

  “Yeah. I need to do it right first. She needs a down on my knee proposal and I plan to give her one. But I couldn’t listen to that idiot berate her like that.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Stone said. “But you guys seem crazy in love, which is cool. Very cool.”

  “Yeah, we are. What about you? You have a girl?” Kyle asked.

  “Nah,” Stone said. “I’m not the settling down type.”

  “How about you?” Kyle asked Autumn.

  “I was with someone for a few years,” Autumn said. “But it didn’t work out.”

  “The guy was a first-class shit,” Stone said.

  “Stone, stop. That’s unkind.” Autumn shot him the disapproving sister look Kyle remembered so well. Autumn was the heart of their family. The trio: Heart, Body, Brain.

  “Who gives a crap?” Stone said. “We don’t have to be kind when it comes to him. In fact, I’d love to beat the crap out of him. I will if I ever run into him. Tell him what he said to you.”

  “He was drunk one night and said he could never marry a cripple,” Autumn said. “I kicked him out the next day.”

  Bile rose to the back of Kyle’s throat.

  Could never marry a cripple. I did that to her.

  “It did occur to me to ask him how it was possible to have sex with a cripple for two years since I was apparently so disgusting to him.” Autumn smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “He didn’t have an answer for me.”

  “The guy was a loser,” Stone said. “He wasn’t good enough for you and he knew it.”

  “I’m sorry you had to hear that from someone you loved,” Kyle said.

  Autumn looked over at him. “Stop it. Don’t go there. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “It was the Miller boys. You know that,” Stone said. “They were chasing you. Autumn and I were always exactly clear on what went down. You did what you had to do to protect Autumn.”

  “But I didn’t. I hurt her instead.”

  Stone sat in a chair and leaned forward with his hands on his knees. He looked directly at Kyle. “We’re going to talk through all this. Now. Nothing left unsaid.”

  Kyle couldn’t help but smile. Stone was never one to mess around. Right to the point without any worry over social conventions. “All right.”

  “My understanding is that you left us because you felt a ton of guilt over what happened with Autumn. Is that right?”

  “In a nutshell, yes.” A thousand tiny pricks of regret stung his eyes.

  “I can understand that,” Stone said.

  “You can?” Kyle asked.

  “I couldn’t. Not for a long time. But some stuff went down overseas that made me realize why you did what you did.”

  When he didn’t elaborate, Autumn explained. “Stone’s best friend was killed in Afghanistan.”

  “Our truck got hit one day. I lived. He didn’t. I torment myself. What if I’d done this differently or that differently. You know, the kind of bullshit you think about in the middle of the night?”

  “Yeah, I know,” Kyle said.

  “I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. When you disappeared, it devastated us. We were a team and you bailed. For years I didn’t want anything to do with you. Autumn kept trying to find you and I was like, why? He left us just like Mom did.”

  Kyle’s chest was so tight he could barely breathe. He sank into a chair.

  Stone continued. “But then I lost my buddy and I went a little crazy—a self-destructive kind of thing. I won’t go into all that. They have me seeing the shrink. I have to say, I’ve learned a lot about myself. Enough to understand that you felt guilty and your response was to flee. You’re either punishing yourself or running from the past because it’s too painful to face—or a combination of both.”

  “It felt like the only thing I could do and keep breathing,” Kyle said.

  “Honestly, bro, I get it. I mean, you were dead wrong, but I get it. That doesn’t mean I’m not still pissed at you.”

  “But you can forgive him, right?” Autumn asked.

  “I don’t really know what that means,” Stone said. “All I know is that I’d like to figure out a way to let go of all the bullshit and move forward. I’m not saying I know how. But I’d like to try.”

  “Is it possible?” Autumn asked. “Daniel, do you even want to be part of our lives? Can you be in the same room with me without hurting?”

  Kyle ran his hand through his hair before looking over at his sister. She had her hands clasped in her lap. For a second, she looked like the little girl she once was, all eyes and heart. “I didn’t think you’d want to be in my life.”

  “You were wrong,” she said.

  “I’m working on forgiving myself,” Kyle said. “Knowing that you don’t blame me helps.”

  “I never blamed you,” she said.

  “I’ve hated myself for a long time,” Kyle said. “Walking away from you two was a mistake. Cowardly and weak. I’m not trying to make excuses, but growing up in that town messed me up.” His voice cracked. He drew in a shaky breath. “The bullying took its toll—made me cold and calculating and self-preserving. It’s taken a long time to stop thinking of myself as Pig. The name change, running from you guys, it was all my attempt to wash away the bad smell.”

  Autumn’s cheeks shone with tears. “We know.”

  Stone nodded. “No one knows like we do.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. I’m sorry I left you guys. I never stopped loving you. Ever. Not one day went by that I didn’t think about you. I kept track of you both over the years and I’ve been so proud of your accomplishments.”

  “We knew you still loved us or you wouldn’t have continued to send money,” Autumn said.

  “But we couldn’t get how you could do that but not want to see us,” Stone said.

  “I was wrong,” Kyle said.

  They all sat there for a moment.

  “What do we do now?” Kyle asked.

  “Make up for lost time?” Stone asked.

  “Can you two stick around for a while?” Kyle asked.

  “I have to get back to work on Monday,” Autumn said. “But we could come back for Christmas.”

  “And for the wedding,” Stone said. “Whenever that is.”

  They talked for a few minutes about logistics, making plans for another visit. Stone admitted he wasn’t sure where he would end up next now that he was out of the Marines. “I got my contractor license, so now I just have to bite the bullet and start my business.”

  “You could stay. Build my house,” Kyle said.

  “You serious?” Stone asked.

  “I have the land and the house plans. I just need it built. As soon as possible.”

  “You’d trust me?”

  “Who better than my own brother?”

  “It’s not like I have anything in Denver, other than Autumn. But to tell you the truth, I think she’s sick of me. I’ve been living with her for six months.”

  “I’m not sick of you, but this would be a great opportunity for you,” Autumn said.

  “Move to California? I don’t know.” Stone ran his hand over the top of his closely cut hair. “Maybe I should grow my hair out like yours,” he said to Kyle. “Go all metrosexual like my big brother.”

  “Metrosexual?” Kyle rolled his eyes. “No way.”

  “What do you call this?” He gestured toward Kyle’s outfit of black designer jeans, cashmere sweater, and Italian loafers.

  Kyle shook his head and laughed. “You could use a date with my personal shopper.”

  “Nah. Chicks dig my look.”

  “I don’t think that’s a look,” Kyle said. “More like something you pulled out of the bottom of a laundry basket.”

  “Personal shopper? California’
s ruined you, man.” Stone smiled and raised his beer bottle. “You did good, brother. Successful. Rich. All bulked up. I’m proud of you.”

  “I did it for you guys,” Kyle said. “To make sure you had a chance.”

  “We made it out,” Autumn said. “Just like we said we would.”

  “Turns out you guys didn’t need me anyway,” Kyle said.

  “We didn’t need your money,” Stone said. “But we needed you. Still do.”

  “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. Not again,” Kyle said.

  “There’s something we wanted to ask you,” Autumn said. “Something about the Miller boys.”

  He swallowed the bile that rose to his throat at the mention of their name. “What about them?”

  “A few months after you left, they died in a house fire. It was determined the fire was caused by arson, but they never found the killer,” Autumn said.

  “I heard about it when it happened,” Kyle said. “I always figured Karma’s a bitch.”

  “We wondered if you had anything to do with it,” Autumn said.

  Kyle laughed, a bitter cackle that sounded like a branch breaking in a dark forest. “As much as I wished them dead, I wouldn’t have risked getting caught. My focus was on providing for you two long term, not revenge.”

  “I told you,” Stone said.

  “You thought I did it?” Kyle asked. “Autumn, I’m not a killer.”

  “You were so angry,” Autumn said. “I thought you might have gone temporarily insane due to rage.”

  Kyle shook his head. “No. Wasn’t me.”

  “Who else would’ve wanted them dead?” Autumn asked. “Besides us?”

  “There was a long list of people who hated them,” Stone said. “Maybe it was one of them.”

  “The local police didn’t look too hard for the killer,” Autumn said. “After what happened to me, I don’t think there was anyone in town who didn’t think they deserved it.”

  “But still, I wonder,” Stone said. “I guess we’ll never know.”

  “Maybe Dad did it,” Kyle said.

  “I don’t think he had it in him.” Autumn tightened her sweater around her chest. “He was a docile drunk.”

  “True,” Stone said.

  “Did he suffer at the end?” Kyle asked.