There had been enough food to feed twice as many attendees, and Autumn hadn’t been able to resist popping into the kitchen on the morning of her wedding to bake just one thing: a special triple chocolate mousse pie for she and Cody to share on their wedding night.
Like Evie and Luke before them, they’d chosen not to stray too far for their honeymoon. She hadn’t wanted to be far from her mother and remaining close to a doctor had been advised, just in case. They’d spent three nights at the honeymooners’ cabin near the hot springs, but Autumn had yearned to go back to the cabin that was now their home.
Together.
And now their little family had gained a new member.
She stared at the baby, taking in the dark, wispy hair. The rosy cheeks. The Cupid’s bow mouth. Pressing a kiss to the newborn’s head, she turned her gaze to Cody. “She looks so peaceful.”
After six generations of boys being born into the Whittaker family, the curse had finally been broken four days previously when Autumn had, to the complete surprise of everyone, given birth to a girl. She and Cody had been so sure the baby was a boy that their little girl still didn’t have a name.
“She knows she’s loved.”
Autumn smiled at her husband and met him halfway in a soft kiss, before tucking the pink blanket her mother had hastily knitted around the baby a little tighter. “We should probably pick a name for her.”
He smiled at her, and her heart fluttered. “Yep, we should. Can’t call her ‘baby girl’ for the rest of her life.” Bestowing a kiss of his own on his daughter’s cheek, he looked at his wife. “Any ideas?”
She rested her head on his shoulder and felt the kiss he pressed to the crown. “There are lots of names for girls I like. I’m having trouble narrowing it down.”
“Why don’t you throw some out and we can see which ones we both like?”
She ran a finger over her baby’s head. “Hmm, what about—”
A sudden movement and flash of white in her peripheral vision caught her attention, and she looked up. What she saw froze her in place. “Aurora.”
“What?” Cody’s gaze followed hers, and when he stiffened next to her Autumn knew he could also see the being standing across the way, staring straight at them.
If it wasn’t for the fact they could see right through her, and she happened to be wearing a long, white gown that went out of fashion over a century ago, and the white gown was covered in what looked like blood spatter, she could have been mistaken for any teenager out for a nightly stroll.
She had never seen the ghost of Aurora Whittaker before, but somehow she didn’t feel any fear. There was nothing threatening about the specter of the young woman whose life had been taken because she had fallen in love with the wrong man.
Something Autumn knew a little about.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she truly understood how tragic Aurora’s death had been. “Thank you for our daughter.” She made her voice loud enough to be heard, and both she and Cody gasped when the ghost suddenly broke into a beaming smile, blew them a kiss, and then vanished like smoke before their eyes.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she stared into the dark void. She had a feeling they would be the last people to ever see the ghost of Aurora Whittaker. Perhaps she’d just been waiting all these years for a baby girl to join the family once more.
Then suddenly, she knew the perfect name for their child.
“Aurora.” She looked at Cody and stroked his cheek softly. “Aurora Hope Whittaker.”
He smiled at her, then glanced down at their daughter, who had snoozed peacefully throughout the entire encounter. “Aurora Hope Whittaker,” he repeated. “I like it.”
All of a sudden, a pair of little eyes snapped open, and the baby stared up at her daddy. Autumn kissed the top of her head. “What do you think, sweet girl?”
The newborn made a noise, which her parents decided was a seal of approval. “Hi, Aurora.” Cody shifted the baby up onto his shoulder so Autumn could see her properly. She kissed Aurora’s cheek repeatedly.
The life she’d only ever dreamed about was now the one she was actually living. She was married to the man of her dreams, and they had a beautiful, healthy daughter.
She had family who loved her, besides her mother. The Whittakers had embraced her as one of their own. Aurora had two older cousins who were entranced with her. Luke and Evie were expecting their third child, another son they planned to name Charlie, after Evie’s beloved grandfather.
And she had Cody, her forever. In him, Autumn Whittaker had found home.
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Thank you for reading FINDING HOME. Missed Luke and Evie’s book, COMING HOME? Buy it now.
Acknowledgments
While Cody and Autumn’s book is first and forever a romance, there is a much darker sub-plot to their story. Domestic violence isn’t always physical; emotional and mental abuse can be just as damaging. As a survivor of domestic violence myself, I understand just how hard it is to escape. If you are or have ever been in a similar situation to Autumn’s, my heart goes out to you. Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to me or an organization in your town if you need support or assistance. You don’t have to go through this alone.
I adored stepping back into Aurora Springs to continue the story of the Whittaker twins, both of whom have captured my heart. I hope you loved reading their stories as much as I loved writing them.
While writing a story is a very solitary task, getting it to publication is not. Please indulge me while I thank the following people, without whom this book wouldn’t exist.
Melissa Daily: Thank you for being my best friend. What would I do without you? You always knew I could do this, even before I did.
Karen Hrdlicka: Thank you for editing this book for me. Without you, it would be overrun with the word ‘that’ and Aussieisms aplenty!
Lauren Dawes: Once again, you created an absolutely gorgeous cover for this book and I remain in awe of your talent. Thank you for bringing Cody and Autumn to life so beautifully. I could stare at this cover for days.
Tracey Wilson-Vuolo and Kari Wolff: my wonderful beta readers. You both make my books so much better with your insightful and amusing comments. Thank you for always being willing to read my rough drafts and being so supportive and encouraging.
Anna del Mar: Thank you so much for reading over my manuscript and making sure I had gotten the details about the beautiful state of Colorado correct. I appreciate you taking the time to help me and I’m so glad we’re friends!
Diana and Bill Sanderson: Thank you for your support, and for allowing the Whittaker parents to borrow your names.
Mary Collins: Thank you for suggesting Autumn’s name when I had no idea what her name was. Autumn suits her perfectly.
ARC angels: Thank you so much for all of your support and enthusiasm. This author is so very lucky to have you.
A very big thank you to all of my author and reader friends who are always there for a chat, and offer support and encouragement – it means more than I can say.
Most of all, thank you so much to you. Thank you for reading this book. I really hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please consider leaving a review on any or all of the sites available. It helps more than you know.
Also By Lissanne Jones
THE WORTH IT ALL SERIES
Worth the Risk (Worth It All #1) – Rory and Jess (best friends to lovers)
Worth the Wait (Worth It All #2) – Rory and Jess (best friends to lovers, married)
Worth the Chance (Worth It All #3) – Drew and Gemma (former military older man/younger woman)
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THE BEING HOME SERIES
Coming Home (Being Home #1) – Luke and Evie (small town/second chance/cowboy)
Finding Home (Being Home #2) – Cody and Autumn (small town/enemies to lovers/deputy sheriff)
Where to find me
Connect with me on social media! I always love hearing from reader friends. Make sure you join my
reader group where you’ll see covers and teasers, get to participate in helping me plan future books, and join in fabulous giveaways.
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Website
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Author page
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About the Author
Lissanne Jones currently lives in her hometown of Sydney, Australia, but also spent several years living in London and hasn’t ruled out going back one day. She’s been writing since she was a teenager, and her first story was a horror piece about an investigative reporter who became the latest victim in the story she was researching. After that, she dabbled in fanfic for many years, including writing dozens of stories set in a particularly well-known fandom, before moving on to original pieces.
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It was inevitable that it would be romance books she’d write, since she loves reading a great romance story more than anything else. She enjoys reading and writing steamy romance books of all different sub-genres and tropes.
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Her favourite animal is the flamingo and she’s a crazy cat lady. She loves to hoard stationery (especially A5 dot grid notebooks) and travel. She’s always dreaming up new stories and wishing there were more hours in the day to write them all.
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