by Meg Harding
Finding Home
Meg Harding
Oceanside Press
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
About the Author
Also by Meg Harding
Copyright © 2017 by Meg Harding
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Oceanside Press
Created with Vellum
Acknowledgments
To all those who helped make this possible.
Chapter 1
Serenity, Florida was a small town located in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. Or possibly nonexistent. Jaden Matthews couldn't locate it, so its presence on anything other than the address texted to him by his mom was in question. He’d started to think she sent him out here just so he wouldn’t be moping around her house anymore. That, or she was hoping he would get eaten by a gator. Jaden had heard it was a real problem in Florida.
He pulled over, waiting till his car was fully stopped before dropping his head to the steering wheel and releasing a low sound born of pure frustration. Four hours. That was how long he’d been driving today. His foot had fallen asleep. His ass was numb. The headache behind his eyes was throbbing like a jackhammer.
Google Maps had kindly lost signal, depositing him on a lonely stretch of road containing nothing more than a seemingly endless amount of trees. He had to piss, but he was pretty sure if he got out of his car, he might get attacked by a bear. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility. He’d read articles about Florida. It was always making the news for something terrifying and bizarre.
How did he end up here again?
Oh, right. As if he could forget.
This was how:
Two months ago his husband of nine years left him after Jaden lost his job at a big accounting firm. Jaden had been expecting a promotion—as in a “Hey, you’re the boss now” promotion. Needless to say, the job loss had come as a shock, but cutbacks happened and people moved on. He thought he’d find a job elsewhere, it wasn’t like there wasn't a need for accountants, especially ones with Jaden’s credentials. Drew hadn’t wanted to wait for Jaden to get back on his feet, though. It might have had something to do with the college student he’d been seeing on the side. A med student. One with “bright potential and a big future ahead of him.” It didn’t take a genius for Jaden to get the message. He was old and boring at thirty-five. Thanks.
Drew had the house till they reached a settlement, and Jaden got to keep his car and Magneto, their Great Dane. It was his second lesson learned from the whole mess. Prenups were a good idea. He should have got one.
He moved in with his mom.
And then his grandma died.
He had vague memories of her from when he was a child—flashes of the dresses she liked to wear and the food she used to bake. He thought she had a dog, but he wasn't sure. Maybe it was a cat…. Anyway, she was his father’s mom. His dad was never around, so he had no memories of the man. His grandmother, however, had been around briefly when he was younger. They used to visit her, but after he turned five, his mom settled in New York and contact dwindled from there. His grandma sent cards and money on his birthday. They sent cards and school pictures at Christmas.
Apparently, she’d left her house and her business (he was unclear as to what exactly it was) to her son’s sons. Yep. Plural. Apparently his good ol’ dad went around sowing his wild oats for many a year.
Jaden didn’t know where the man was now, and he didn’t much care—well, he was pretending to not care, it was a coping mechanism.
He wasn’t even going to come out to Serenity, not wanting anything to do with the side of his family connected to his dad, but his mom had pushed and pushed. She thought it was a fantastic idea for him to meet his half-brothers and get a taste of small town living. “You kept saying you wanted a change,” she’d said.
He regretted ever telling her that.
If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be sitting on the side of the road hopelessly lost and paranoid about attacks from wild animals. He came from the city land of New York. The scariest thing he was used to facing was a hungry squirrel, or occasionally, a slightly bloated rat. Magneto was asleep on his backseat, snoring away and drooling on the leather, completely oblivious to any threat to his well being. He’d snoozed throughout most of the drive down, and today had been no exception. If a bear attacked, he’d be of no help.
Jaden didn’t know how people could live like this. He liked knowing everything he could want was within walking distance, if not a fifteen-minute car or subway ride. How could people live so far removed from civilization? There weren’t even signs out here. He literally had no idea where he was.
As he stared ahead, contemplating other people’s life choices, he watched three deer emerge from the woods and slowly cross the road.
He’d never seen a deer in person before.
“Okay, maybe that’s a little cool,” he said.
Magneto snoozed on. He snored like a chainsaw, and sometimes when he sighed, his jowls flared out and fluttered a little. Jaden wasn't going to lie, he loved Magneto more than he ever loved Drew. Magneto literally bit Drew on the ass on his way out.
Smiling fondly at the memory, he pulled back onto what accounted for a road out here and drove.
And drove.
Still driving.
He had less than a quarter tank of gas left.
He watched the arrow get lower, edging down… and there it was. The car steadily slowed, and then they were sitting on the shoulder of the road in the middle of nowhere with no gas and the nearest person probably five hundred thousand miles away.
“Well this sucks.”
Magneto, who stirred during Jaden’s begging of the car to keep magically going, licked the side of his face and proceeded to pant hotly in his ear and over his neck. It was pretty gross.
“Gee, thanks.” He reached into his dash, plucking the packet of wipes he kept there for just such occasions from its depths. He scrubbed away Magneto’s slobber.
Magneto barked.
“How do you feel about walking?” he asked Magneto seriously. Magneto laid down on the backseat and covered his eyes with his paws. “Yeah. That’s what I figured.” The weather app on his phone had called for a balmy temperature of ninety-nine degrees today. Proving that Florida truly was hell on Earth. It was May. Had it not heard of spring?
He was forced to open the doors to allow in humid air. It was akin to being in a steam room at the gym. Except there were no naked guys and air conditioning wasn't a room away. And he couldn't forget the risk of bears.
Time to call for help and explain to the 911 operator he was an idiot.
It wasn’t till they asked for his location that he realized just how fucked he was. Because he had no idea. He didn't even know the name of the road. Highway 28? 47? 79? How was he supposed to know? “Can’t you track my phone?” he asked. He got out of the car, looking all around for any road signs. There were none. “I’m not from around here.” He didn't think operators were supposed to sigh at people in distress. So sorry to put you out. He rolled his blue eyes. Not just at her, but at the situation in
general.
He had a one-way ticket to Trainwreck Ville, and he was barreling along at a jaunty pace.
The sound of an approaching vehicle reached him, and he turned to see a car coming closer at a steady clip. He interrupted the operator to say, “There’s a car coming. I’m going to see if they'll stop. Can you stay on the line in case this goes south?” If he wound up brutally murdered on the side of the highway, he’d like to make it easier for the cops to find his killer.
The operator sighed again in his ear. “You watch a lot of TV?” she asked.
Jaden waved his free hand, trying to get the attention of the oncoming car. “I do,” he answered, wondering if it was a good idea to step closer to the road. What were the odds the car would accidentally hit him?
“A CSI fan?”
Jaden opted to stay beside his car and hope his hand waving was enough of a signal for help. “More of an NCIS fan,” he told her. “And Criminal Minds. That’s a good one.”
She muttered something, and he didn’t catch it, but he was willing to bet it was unflattering.
“I watch the news too,” he said defensively. “And that’s not fictional.” He had a healthy dose of fear for the world and the people in it. Especially the people. People were highly unpredictable. They weren’t like numbers, easy to understand with nothing more than logic and common sense.
The car slowed and rolled to a stop by his rear bumper. Jaden squinted to try and see the driver through the windshield tint. “They’ve stopped. They’re driving a silver Toyota Corolla. An old one. It’s seen better days.” There were dings on the hood and dirt splashed over the sides. Not to mention the dead bugs plastered to the front bumper.
The operator was silent.
“Are you writing this down?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said.
He didn't believe her.
The door opened, Jaden’s stomach clenched with worry, and then the sound of his horn blaring had him almost pissing his pants. He whirled around, heart thundering, to see Magneto with one paw on the horn and a “who me” look on his too cute black and white face.
“You choose now to quit napping?” he demanded of the dog, his free hand clasped to his chest like that’d slow his heart.
“Is everything all right?” asked a warm, very male voice from behind him. It sent a shiver racing down Jaden’s spine. Huh. That was weird.
He turned.
Standing on the shoulder of the road was a Calvin Klein model. He was taller than Jaden, probably some insanely genetically gifted six foot something, and his legs…. Jaden’s mouth might have watered a little. They were really long and very shapely. His jeans were molded to his thighs. His big, muscular thighs. Jaden swallowed heavily. His plain white shirt clung to an equally wonderful chest, outlining defined pecs and hinting at the type of abdomen Jaden watched porn to see normally. He was tan, with a chiseled jaw and high cheekbones, big, luscious pink lips. His eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, Ray-Bans, and his hair was a silky ear length fall of chestnut.
Jaden had to wonder if he’d passed out in his car from the heat and this was all a fantastic hallucination. If the guy took his shirt off, that’d answer the question.
Maybe he should cut back on the porn….
“You okay?”
He blinked. The guy’s shirt was still on. So this god was actually here to be his knight in shining armor. Wow. Too bad he was about to make himself look like a giant dumbass. “My car is out of gas,” he said. “And I don’t know where I am.”
The man smiled. He had dimples. Two of them. One in each cheek.
Jaden’s knees felt weak. Man, the heat was really getting to him. He leaned against his car for stability. Sweat was trickling down his neck, under his collar, and over his spine. When he licked his lips, Jaden tasted salt. So he was lost and grossly sweaty on the side of the road. Definitely the picture one wanted to present to the hottest man he’d ever seen in person.
“You’re on State Road 22, about ten miles outside of Serenity.”
Jaden’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me, right? Ten miles? All this car needed to make it was ten more miles?” If he had a junk car like Mr. Hottie, he’d kick it in frustration, but he drove an Audi, so he settled for stomping his foot. Unreal. He was so close to his destination.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you’re headed to Serenity, then?” asked the man, and he may have been beyond sexy, but the smirk on his face was starting to irritate Jaden. Jaden’s frustration wasn't amusing, damnit.
“I am,” he said.
This got him a thorough head-to-toe evaluation from his potential rescuer. He straightened, trying to make his shoulders look broader. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to fix the sweat dampened mess. He felt like he had to be coming up wanting in this man’s judgment. In his ear, the operator asked, “Can I let you go now, or would you like me to keep wasting my time?”
He hung up on her. If he ended up dead, his ghost would haunt her.
“I can give you, and your small horse there, a lift to the gas station and back,” he offered, holding out his hand to Magneto, who cautiously walked toward him, black and white ears slicked to his skull and nose twitching. He’d never been a fan of strangers. It’d taken him weeks to get used to Drew, simply because Jaden had been the one to pick him up as a puppy from the shelter. Originally, Magneto was an intended birthday gift for Drew. Jaden’s plan backfired, but he couldn't say he was sorry about it. As Jaden watched, Magneto tentatively sniffed the proffered hand, and then his large tongue flicked out and left slobber in its wake. The man smiled and laughed, crouching to put himself face to face with Magneto. The next kiss landed on his cheek.
Jaden guessed that answered the question of if he could trust this guy. Obviously his dog did, and that probably meant something. “I’d appreciate it. Thank you,” he said. He shifted awkwardly. Should he offer to pay him for the assistance? Maybe once they were at the station. Caution urged him to wait to reveal his wallet.
Just on the off chance Magneto was displaying poor judgment.
“You’re welcome.” He directed his blinding smile at Jaden, scratching behind Magneto’s big, floppy ears all the while. “I’m Chase Michaels. What’s this guy’s name?”
“Magneto.” Chase Michaels…. Why did the name sound vaguely familiar? Jaden couldn't place it. He shook his head. It was probably nothing. “Like the X-Man.” He tacked the line on automatically now, to beat the other person to the inevitable question. Magneto trotted over at his name, abandoning Chase’s attention for Jaden. He rewarded him with an under the chin scratch. “And I’m Jaden. Matthews.”
Chase wiped his slobber coated hands down his jeans as he stood. Jaden winced. “Nice to meet you. Want to get going or do you need to get anything from the car first?”
“Let me grab his leash.” While he picked the leash up, he slipped his wallet into his pocket. He remembered at the last second to take his keys. Locking himself out would be the cherry on top of his day. He didn't like cherries.
The first thing Magneto did when he jumped in the backseat of Chase’s car was drool all over the far window. Jaden stared at the smears in dismay. “I’m sorry,” he said, trying to head off any unpleasant attitude. “I’ll pay for you to get your car cleaned.” Drew had refused to allow Magneto in his car, and he’d always thrown hissy fits when Magneto smudged all the house windows trying to watch the squirrels outside play.
Jaden was a master window cleaner now. Maybe if he couldn't get another accounting job, he’d switch to that. He could run his own company and do the books for it.
But Chase laughed, not looking at all disgusted by the mess it had taken Magneto all of two seconds to create. “It’s fine,” he said. “I’ll roll them down for him.”
His car smelled like apples, and a discreet glance around found the culprit to be a smoothie sitting in the middle cup holder. It was a not so appetizing oatmeal color. He expected country music to come over the speakers, so he wa
s pleasantly surprised to hear something else. Indie rock maybe? He’d never heard this song before, but the beat was good and the singer had a clear voice.
Should he make small talk and ask who this was?
“What brings you to Serenity?”
Jaden picked at his cuticles. Chase was looking ahead at the road and from this angle Jaden could see he had long, dark lashes, but he still couldn't see the color of his eyes. “My grandmother passed away,” he said. “Apparently I’m a partial owner of her business now.”
Chase’s glasses slid down his nose as he whipped his head around to look at Jaden, revealing stunning moss green irises. “You’re one of Lily-Anne’s grandkids?” He returned them to their proper place with a shove of a finger. Jaden got the feeling he was being yet again evaluated by Chase.
And then what Chase said hit him. “One of.” Did everyone know he had brothers except for him?
“How many other grandkids are there exactly?” he asked. The will hadn’t been specific, simply stating that the business would be shared between “all” living grandchildren.
Chase’s brows flew up. “Three. They live in Serenity. Have for years now.”
Had someone sucker punched Jaden? Because that was what it felt like. He had three half-brothers, and they all apparently grew up together. Were they raised in Serenity? Did that mean his father lived here too? Was he going to finally meet the man who donated his sperm?
Chase’s hand was huge and hot on his leg. It startled Jaden out of his thoughts, and he stared at the foreign appendage touching him. His personal space bubble had been popped. It was such a casual move. Chase didn't look like he thought anything of it. Jaden should ask him to remove his hand, but the words wouldn’t come. “Um.”
“You all right?”
“Yes.”
Chase looked skeptical, but he took his hand back.
Jaden released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He needed to say something before Chase could ask him questions he didn't want to answer. “You knew her, then?”
