James stepped out of the truck.
Cara’s breath caught in her throat. It had been nearly three years since she’d seen him, yet her heart pounded out a fantastical rhythm and her knees felt weak. He hadn’t changed at all. He was still the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Cara’s hands shook so bad she didn’t trust herself to pull into the driveway, so she parked right behind his pickup. She turned off the headlights and the ignition and sat there, not entirely certain she could get out of the car.
But James was waiting for her.
Cara waited until her heart stopped its flutter. At last she opened the driver’s door and climbed out. She approached James with slow, cautious steps.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Cara,” James said, his breath frosting the air about his head. The familiar warmth of his voice brought tears to her eyes.
“Are you here to tell me, to tell me you’re marrying Jennifer?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
James took a step towards her. “I’m here to say I’m sorry, to tell you that I’ve been a fool. I don’t want to marry Jennifer. I don’t love Jennifer. I love you. I’ve always loved you and I always will. I’m here to beg you to take me back.” He extended his hand. “Will you take me back?”
Cara stood in silence for a moment, watching the snowflakes drift in the space between them. At last she took his hand, grasping it in both of hers. She raised his hand to her cheek and held it there, closing her eyes, savoring the feel of his rough palm against her skin.
She opened her eyes and looked into his, challenging him. “Maybe,” she said. She saw James raise an eyebrow. “I have a son. We’re a package deal.”
“I know,” said James. “Jeremy.”
“I’m not the same person I was three years ago, James.”
∗ ∗ ∗
“Neither am I.”
Cara laughed. The sound was sweet music to his ears. It had been far too long since he’d heard that musical laugh.
James stepped a foot closer to Cara. He raised his other hand to trace the delicate line of her jaw. He brushed his thumb over her lips. They felt soft and full, exactly as he remembered them.
“I want you,” he said at last. “I want to be a father to your son. I want to be in your life and I want you in mine. Every part of me wants you. Even my bones ache with wanting you.”
“Your bones ache, huh?” Cara laughed again. “Then why are you standing there? Come here and kiss me.”
James closed the distance in a heartbeat. One of his arms slid beneath Cara’s jacket to wrap around her waist, the other he twined in her curls as he gathered her close. His lips touched hers.
“Yes,” Cara murmured against his mouth. “Yes, James. Come back to me.”
–The End–
TO MY DEAR READERS:
Thank you so much for buying and reading Come Back To Me. The book has a long, interesting history. It’s come back to me twice now, once when my first publisher closed an imprint and a second time at my request. I longed for the opportunity to make Cara’s story a little more concise, which is not so easy when one is writing a story that spans ten years.
As you can probably tell, Cara is very dear to me. She and I have a great deal in common. I remember one reviewer asking this question—How can so many bad things happen to one person? Well, here’s the short answer, they did. To be frank, Cara’s life was even worse than portrayed in the book. In any case, I changed the details to protect both the innocent and the guilty alike, but the bones of the story are true. If you’ve read my earlier work, Anytime Darlin’, you know I touched on some of these issues.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J. R. Barrett has lived many lives, but the one central theme of each is her writing. She’s written prose and poetry since she was a child. Her grandmother was a playwright, an uncle a noted journalist, another uncle wrote college textbooks, and her father acted as an advisor to the Iowa Supreme Court. She’s had articles published in various medical and nursing magazines and poetry published in various literary journals.
Julia and her family live on the West Coast with an entire food chain of animals.
She can be reached via her website: Julia Barrett’s World. Follow Julia on Twitter: @JuliaRBarrett
OTHER WORKS BY J. R. BARRETT:
Beauty and the Feast
My Everything
Winner of the 2011 Lorie’s Best Published
Single Title Mainstream Romantic Suspense
“You Might Just Get It”
(short story)
“The Artist”
(short story)
“Is It Spicy”
(short story)
“Liz and Me”
(short story)
Poems of Love and Hate
(poetry)
Book I: The Soul Series Incorporeal
Book II: The Soul Series In the Flesh
Book III: The Soul Series Stay
The Soul Series: Special Edition
Exile: Daughters of Persephone: Book I
Return: Daughters of Persephone: Book II
Reborn: Daughters of Persephone: Book III
The Red Demon: Daughters of Persephone: Book IV
The Daughters of Persephone (Complete Collection)
WRITING AS JULIA RACHEL BARRETT
Captured
Winner of the 2011 Bookseller’s
Best First Book Award
Anytime Darlin’
Pushing Her Boundaries
One Four All (a ménage)
Come Back To Me Page 27