Come Back Home Again (Hope Valley Book 2)

by Jessica Prince

  I tried and failed miserably to hide my smirk. “At least tell me you didn’t drive yourself here. Linc’ll lose his goddamn mind.”

  She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Of course I didn’t drive myself. That bullet to the thigh you mentioned kinda put a damper on my driving skills. Lincoln had to go into the office for a few hours and dragged me along with him. I made my escape with Rox’s help and walked down here.”

  My brows raised toward my hairline. “Walked?”

  “Fine,” she grumbled. “I hobbled.”

  “Shit, Eden. What were you thinking?”

  “It was only a couple blocks!” she defended insolently. “And I needed a break from Lincoln and his constant hovering. I love him, I swear, but I’m this close to stealing his dog and making a run to the mountains just for a bit of solitude. Now, you can either tattle on me to your bestie or join me for lunch. It’s up to you.”

  The corner of my mouth kicked up in a smirk as I stepped out of her way so she could precede me. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you some grub. Maybe it’ll brighten your disposition.”

  “Careful,” she warned as we made our way back to my booth. “Cop or no cop, I’m not above pummeling you too.”

  I let out a laugh and helped her into the bench across from mine, then resumed my seat. “So, how are you feelin’?”

  The frustration from a second ago fled her expression and she gave me a gentle smile. “I’m a lot better. Thanks for asking.”

  I studied Eden closely, trying to see if I could read anything on her face that would contradict what she’d just said. She’d been through one hell of a trauma, and something like that could stay with a person. “You sure, honey? ’Cause there’s nothin’ wrong with not bein’ okay. What you went through was intense. What you went through can mess with a person’s head. You ever need to talk that shit out and don’t feel like you can with Linc, you have my number.”

  Her face grew even warmer, giving way to that beauty that had Lincoln so enamored. “You’re a good guy, Detective Hayes Walker.”

  I returned her smile with one of my own. “Thanks, darlin’.”

  The sound of a throat clearing cut into our conversation, and our attention shot to the end of the table where Temperance stood, her pale eyes pointed directly at Eden, an emotion I couldn’t place making them cloudy and dull as her cheeks grew pink.

  Eden, oblivious to the weird tension radiating from Temperance, beamed up at her. “Oh, hi. I’m Eden.”

  “Uh….” Temperance’s gaze bounced between mine and Eden’s before she hesitantly reached out and took the woman’s hand. “Temperance.”

  “Temperance. That’s a pretty name. It’s really nice to meet you.”

  The uncertainty slowly melted from her expression and a tiny smile took its place in the face of Eden’s undeniable charm, but there was still a shadow in her eyes that made my gut twist uncomfortably. “Yeah, you too.”

  “You know, I just have to say, you have the prettiest eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blue quite like that before.”

  Temperance’s cheeks flushed pinker, and that smile stretched a bit more before she said, “Well, thanks. I appreciate that.” Then she got back down to business. “Would you like a menu to look over?”

  “No need. I’ll take the country fried steak sandwich and—” Eden leaned to the side of the booth to yell, “Hey, Ralph! What do you have for today’s sides?”

  “Creamed corn and my special seasoned fries, sugar!”

  Eden looked back to Tempie. “The sandwich and fries. And just a water, please.”

  “Got it,” Temperance said in return. “Is that to go or…?” Her peculiar gaze darted back to me as she trailed off, and my brow wrinkled in confusion.

  “No, for here, thanks.”

  The droop of her shoulders was so minuscule that anyone else would have missed it, but I didn’t, and that tightening in my gut grew more acute in response to it.

  “I’ll get right on that.” Then she turned and disappeared into the kitchen once again, leaving me wondering what the hell that was all about.

  Temperance

  Shit, that hurt.

  It shouldn’t have. It had been twenty-one years, and we’d only been a couple throughout high school, for Christ’s sake.

  It shouldn’t have hurt, seeing him with another woman like that, happy and sweet, shooting her those gorgeous smiles that used to light up my entire world….

  But god it did.

  I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before, seeing him with another woman. As some kind of self-imposed defense mechanism, I hadn’t allowed myself to think about him in a relationship. As ridiculous as it was, I just knew thoughts like those would have done me in.

  But here I was, back in this goddamn town with something I’d been avoiding more than half my life being shoved right down my throat. And to make matters worse, after just one meeting, a handful of seconds, I could already tell that Eden was probably one of the sweetest women I’d ever met, the kind of woman it was impossible to hate, no matter how much a person may want to.

  “Yo. Darlin’.” Ralph’s voice startled me back into the present, and I spun around to where he was standing at the huge industrial griddle, flipping burger patties with a skill born from years at that stove.

  “Sorry, what?”

  His brows furrowed in concern. “You okay, sweetheart? Been tryin’ to get your attention for two minutes straight, and you’ve been staring at that wall like it’s the most fascinatin’ thing since that Brad Pitt tossed aside that homewrecker with those big duck lips.”

  I let out a giggle and shook my head. “I see those trashy gossip magazines are still your guilty pleasure.”

  “A man’s guilty pleasures keep him mysterious, and Sal likes my particular brand of mystery.”

  That earned him a full-blown laugh. “No, Sally likes your particular brand of crazy,” I corrected. “It keeps her entertained.”

  His lips quirked up in a pleased grin beneath his bushy beard. “My woman,” he started, his voice holding an air of appreciation at the thought of his wife. “She lives to be entertained.”

  “And you live to give her that,” I confirmed.

  Ralph nodded. “You know it, darlin’.”

  I really freaking loved that. For both him and Sally. And although my chest grew warm with the knowledge that two deserving people such as them had it so damn good, I couldn’t stop that pang of envy from shooting into my heart and embedding its thorns in deep.

  Did Hayes have that with Eden? I could totally see a woman like that, kind and open, giving him reason to wear the same lovestruck expression Ralph was wearing right then.

  “So…,” I hedged nervously. I knew I shouldn’t, but my curiosity was just too strong to ignore. “I just met a woman named Eden. She seems really nice.”

  Ralph chuckled and went back to flipping beef patties. “That’s an understatement. Girl’s sweet as pie, and wily as all get-out. It’s a damn cryin’ shame she had to go through all that hubbub ’cause of that brother of hers.”

  “Wait.” I shook my head, my eyebrows dipping into a deep V. “That was her? The girl who was kidnapped and—”

  “It was,” he cut in, his face going hard at the memory of what happened to the girl out front. I could understand that look after having only just met her. No person should ever have to go through something like that, but someone so sweet? Well that was downright despicable, and I hoped those men suffered before they died. “We all worried she wouldn’t come back from what happened to her, but she’s got a solid head on her shoulders. Tough as nails, that one. Thankful for that, and proud as hell of her.”

  Hearing Ralph speak in such high esteem of Eden only solidified what I already knew. She was a good woman. And knowing Ralph held such respect for her meant she was nothing but deserving of it.

  “That was a dark day. Been seein’ quite a few of those lately, and something nasty in my gut tells me we got a few mor
e to come.”

  “Because of….” I couldn’t finish my sentence. Bile slithered up my throat, leaving an acidic burn in its wake. Those pictures I’d seen in Hayes’s file were burned into my brain and on the backs of my eyelids. I thought I’d shaken off the initial shock of seeing them, but I’d been wrong. My hand began to tremble again, and a cold, clammy sweat broke out along my skin. “Have they…?” I had to swallow to dislodge the lump that had suddenly taken up residence in my throat. “Have they caught who killed Martin?”

  Reading the tremor in my voice and seeing the pallor of my skin, Ralph was quick to answer, “Don’t you worry yourself over that, girl. Hayes is on it, and that boy won’t stop diggin’ ’til that asshole is behind bars for the rest of his miserable life.”

  “I know, it’s just….” I couldn’t finish that thought, not that I needed to. Ralph understood. Hell, all of Hope Valley would probably understand. Before my parents, there hadn’t been a murder in the small mountain town in more than fifty years. Sure, there was crime, but most of it of was of the petty variety caused by bored teenagers or drunken assholes. What happened to my mom and dad had rocked everybody.

  “Get it outta your head, sweetheart,” Ralph ordered. “No point in going down that road. It’ll only cause you pain.”

  He was right, I was a reasonable enough person to admit that. But easier said than done. However, I’d gotten really good at one thing in particular over the years.

  Faking a happiness I hadn’t felt for more than half my life.

  Pasting a smile on my face, I looked back to Ralph and declared, “You’re right. Consider it out of my head.”

  His pearly white teeth showed through his beard as he grinned at me, and I knew he bought my act. “Good deal, darlin’. Now, table seven’s order is up, so get back out there and charm some customers.”

  Table seven. Hayes and Eden’s table.

  God, this is gonna sting.

  Chapter Three

  Temperance

  The sun beat through the window over the large porcelain farm sink in Aunt Reenie’s kitchen.

  My coffee mug was held aloft, my arm frozen in place as I stared through the glass to the view beyond. It was a view that had been a huge part of my childhood, but it still managed to take my breath away every time I looked at it.

  Acres and acres of cleared land that led to the foothills and mountains beyond. Every time I saw it, I was reminded of just how small I was and how much unbelievable beauty this world could hold.

  My great-grandparents had received this parcel of land on the outskirts of town as a wedding present years and years ago and had built a beautiful two-story farmhouse and big barn on it. When they passed away, the house had gone to my grandparents. My grandfather eventually added a detached garage with a covered walkway so my grandmother didn’t have to walk through the elements to get to her car. A couple outbuildings came after that for the tractor and other equipment needed to maintain the land and animals my family raised over the years. Then, years later, it passed to my aunt.

  She hadn’t had the heart to part with it when she moved me to Chicago, choosing to rent it out to a sweet young family of four until she returned ten years ago instead. It had fallen into a bit of disrepair as Reenie grew sicker, but I’d done what I could while tending to her. Now… Well, now she was gone, and the house was officially mine.

  And I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with it.

  When I was growing up, I used to dream of living in this house, of starting a family and raising my kids right here. I lost count of the number of times I’d sit in my cramped apartment in Chicago and imagine I was back in that big rambling house as I looked out the window to the concrete and steel that surrounded me for miles. But now that I had that dream, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to keep it. However, the thought of parting with it caused an ache deep down inside of me that refused to go away.

  I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do. My life was in Chicago, but the thought of never having this house to come back to ripped me apart. Even during all the years I spent away from this place, there was still a small piece of me inside that was content in the knowledge that the farmhouse remained, waiting patiently for the day I finally felt ready to return

  “I wish you were here, Reenie,” I murmured into the quiet kitchen. “I wish Mom and Dad were here.” Pulling in a stuttered breath, I stood still as one lone tear broke free and trailed down my cheek. “I wish I wasn’t so alone.” The silence weighed me down, and I eventually pleaded, “Tell me what to do, Reenie. Please. Give me a sign of what I should do.”

  I lost track of time as I stood there sipping my coffee and looking out at the swaying evergreens while I waited for something, anything that would point me in the right direction.

  It never came, so I eventually finished my coffee, deposited my mug in the sink, and moved out of the kitchen to the mudroom. Slipping my feet in the Wellingtons I kept by the back door, I left the confines of my gorgeous farmhouse and headed out to the barn.

  Back in the day, all four stalls held horses that I grew up on the backs of. Now only Reenie’s American Paint remained.

  “Hey, beautiful girl,” I murmured, reaching up to pat Stargazer’s head when she lifted it over the stall door. She made a gentle chuffing sound and butted at my hand with her snout, silently communicating what she wanted. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You wanna run, don’t you, girl?”

  Stargazer made another chuff and began scuffing at the straw-lined floor as I unlatched the door.

  My girl wanted to run, and I needed the freedom that a ride would give me to clear my head. It was a win-win for both of us.

  My cheeks were pink and the tip of my nose had gone numb from the chilled wind that had been whipping around my face for the past hour and a half. We’d gone through the woods, following one of the many trails that had been well worn through time. It led to a valley between the tree line and the foothills surrounding the property. There, I was able to really let her go, holding onto the reins as she took off at a full gallop. It had been cathartic for both of us, being surrounded by nature as far as the eye could see.

  Over the past few months, I’d kept my girl close to the farmhouse, but today I went farther to explore. It was second nature, leading her to the places I’d visited so often in my childhood. Even after two decades, I knew the paths and trails like the back of my hand.

  Once our wandering was done for the day, I led Stargazer back to the barn and took care of her, unsaddling my girl and brushing her down before settling her back in the stall with some oats.

  I was heading back to the house when the phone in the back pocket of my jeans began ringing. Pulling it out, I looked to see an unknown number flashing across the screen.

  “Hello?” I answered, thinking it was a lawyer or someone having to do with my aunt’s estate.

  “Temperance, baby.”

  At the sound of the familiar and unwanted voice, my boots came to a jarring halt, sending up a plume of dirt from the hard, cold ground. The blood in my veins ran colder than the breeze blowing my hair all around.

  Perry Frasier had become the bane of my existence for six months before I packed up and came back to Hope Valley. He was a doctor at the hospital where I worked, and at first, things had been good enough. We chatted on occasion when we ran into each other, and even engaged in a bit of harmless flirting. I’d turned him down the first few times he asked me out, but eventually his charms wore me down and I agreed. We went on a couple of dates and, due to loneliness, I’d put out on the third date. Shortly after, word started spreading that Dr. Frasier was a skirt chaser and made a habit of trying to nail as many nurses as possible.

  Knowing I’d been just another notch on that asshole’s bedpost hadn’t sat well with me, so I’d ended things almost as quickly as they started. He hadn’t liked that one bit. Apparently, on top of being a playboy, he didn’t handle rejection well at all.

  I’d hoped the distance I’d put between
us the past months would have been enough to put him off, but apparently I’d been wrong.

  “How the hell did you get this number, Perry?” I asked in a tone as harsh and biting as the winter wind.

  “I wouldn’t have had to track it down if you hadn’t changed your number in the first place,” he snapped. “I’ve been going outta my goddamn mind trying to find you.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked on a bark of incredulous laughter. “You had no goddamn right tracking my new number down.” My voice rose. “You ignored me when I told you to leave me the hell alone. Then you ignored the hospital board when they told you to stop harassing me.”

  “I can’t believe you went to the fucking board. If you’d have just talked to me—”

  “I didn’t want to talk to you, Perry! I don’t want a single goddamn thing to do with you. How have you not gotten that by now?”

  His voice went low and gentle like it did every time I told him to leave me alone. It was a tone full of condescension, like I was being completely irrational. “Look, I know you’re going through a tough time right now. I heard about your aunt, baby. I’m so sorry for your loss. You say the word and I’ll get to you quick as I can.”

  “Do not come here,” I ordered instantly.

  “You shouldn’t be alone. I can—”

  I interrupted before he could finish speaking his terrible idea out loud. “I’m serious, Perry. Don’t come here.”

  “Baby, I want to be there for you.”

  In all my life, I’d never met someone as clueless and self-absorbed as Perry Frasier, and his complete disregard for everything I said was actually starting to worry me. “I don’t want you here,” I stressed. “And for the love of all that’s holy, stop calling me baby. I’m not your baby. I’m not your anything.”

  “Temperance—” he tried, but I’d had enough.

  “You come here, I swear to god, I’ll get a restraining order. I’m not kidding. Never call me again, Perry. This is done. Lose my number.”