You Were Always Home (Homecoming #3)

by C. Lymari

  With my head held high, I strutted in, pretending that I had no care in the world. I was really good at pretending lately. While I was at the store, I thought I might as well buy a bag of candy or two. I didn’t have much to splurge on, but five bucks wouldn’t break me. When I made it to the candy aisle, I bit back a curse. Jake was there. Great—just freaking great. He wanted the ice princess? Well, he was going to get her. Ignoring him, I went to the opposite shelf to where the candy was. The aisle wasn’t wide enough, and the smell of pine hit me head-on. It smelled familiar, reminding me of simpler times.

  My hands went to a bag of Swedish Fish and a pack of Sour Punch Straws. Sweet and sour—perfect combination. Once I stopped myself from grabbing tangerine rings, I turned around the same time Jake did.

  He stared at me, his eyes wide before they came down to what I was holding. I did the same, noticing the big box of condoms in his hands, and that made my stomach sink. Which was stupid because I didn’t, nor did I ever, have a claim on him.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here.” He sounded surprised.

  Maybe it was the box of condoms in his hand, or the fact that I was shaken from earlier—hell, I was still pissed about him calling me an ice princess—that I snapped.

  “Like I said, I get it. You don’t like me. I’m a rich fucking bitch.” He flinched, but I kept going. “I said I’m sorry, okay? There’s not much more I can do. I live here now, so you’re going to have to deal with it. I’ll stay out of your way, and you can stay out of mine.”

  I started to walk away when his hand grabbed my arm, not letting me get far. I stopped because I saw a few people look at us. The cashier even craned her neck. Looking from his hand on my arm to his face, I arched an eyebrow at him.

  “I wasn’t trying to insult you just now. You just took me by surprise.”

  “Can I not go anywhere in this town? It’s my ho-home t-too.” The last part came out a little broken, and I loathed myself for it.

  Jake let go of me immediately.

  “I’m just not used to seeing you around.” He put one of his hands inside his jacket, and he looked a little embarrassed.

  Whatever. I wanted to leave.

  “Well, I am here to stay,” I replied.

  He didn’t say anything. I looked at the box of condoms in his other hand, noting it had XXL. Of course he was packing.

  Giving him a bitter smile, I said, “Have fun.”

  The cashier didn’t say a word to me, but she did put the quarters on the counter with more force than necessary. I waited in my car for a moment and was surprised when Jake walked out without buying anything. Some of the tension left my body, and as I drove home, I forgot why I was so shaken up in the first place.

  Once I was in my apartment, I threw all my clothes in my basic Target hamper. The laundry machines were located on the first floor down the hall from me. I never went because they were always busy, and I was basically a little girl learning her chores. I was useless. The lights were on in the room, and I almost turned back around but braved it out and walked in. Inside, two girls were sitting on top of the folding table. The teenager had a tan complexion, and the younger girl—looked like she was around four—was much lighter. Avoiding eye contact, I went to the first washer.

  “You’re going to fuck up your prissy clothes,” the older girl said.

  When I turned, I got a better look at her. Sunny Pines was a growing town, and it was safe to say there wasn’t much diversity yet, something my brother Prescott was trying to rectify. I dismissed thoughts of him.

  The girl had some Asian in her—Filipino maybe? Her dark eyes were covered in dark kohl eyeliner and her lips covered in dark lipstick, her clothes black and baggy. I took a step back. She rolled her eyes. My eyes went to the little girl and I noticed she had headphones and was engrossed watching the cell phone screen.

  “Don’t listen to me. It’s not my clothes that’ll get ruined.”

  I had hit a low. I was about to ask a teenager for advice.

  “What am I doing wrong?” I asked.

  The girl jumped off the table, coming to where I had my clothes. She started to take all of the clothes out of the laundry machine I had used and switched them to the last laundry machine.

  “This one is jammed, and it’s only fifty cents rather than one fifty. These are delicate, and you’re just going to fuck them up if you throw them with your jeans.”

  I didn’t say anything as she separated my clothes. It was true—my cashmere sweater was delicate. What I needed was to take it to a dry cleaner, but I couldn’t afford to take it to my old cleaners anymore.

  “These are too light to get mixed with dark clothes. The pigment will make them look dull,” she continued.

  I shook my head as I got schooled by a teenager.

  “Once you put it to dry, put one to two extra quarters into the dryer while you wait for the other load to finish. That way you don’t have to add the two dollars again.”

  “Thank you.” I offered her a smile while I mentally did the calculations of the few bucks she’d saved me.

  “Jessa, can we go home now?” The little girl finally looked up and smiled at Jessa.

  She was a cutie, with bright blue eyes, and I wondered if Jessa was her babysitter. The laundry room was an odd place to be babysitting.

  “Please. It’s boring here,” she said.

  Jessa gave a forced smile. “Sure.”

  The little girl’s grin got more prominent, and that’s when she looked at me.

  “Hi.” I smiled at her.

  She looked at Jessa and then at me with caution.

  “I’m Jess, and this is my sister, Rosie. Come on, Rosie, let’s go.” Jess-not-Jessa helped her sister off, and they walked ahead of me.

  I walked out behind them, realizing we were going the same way. Things made a little more sense when Jess stopped in front of the apartment next to mine like she didn’t want to go in. She took a deep breath, ready to open the door.

  I didn’t think, just blurted, “Would you like to come to my place?”

  In my experience, there wasn’t anything more humiliating than others hearing about your struggles. God, I was lucky my house was enormous; the secrets those walls kept weren’t worth repeating. I felt for the girls—the walls were thin, and they knew people heard what went on in their apartment. Well, Jess was aware. She looked at me knowingly but didn’t let herself feel embarrassed. I smiled at them, pretending like I didn’t hear a man yell loud enough to make the walls tremble.

  “I have Swedish Fish and Sour Punch Straws?” Yes, I was aware of how ironic it was that I was trying to lure these two girls into my apartment with candy.

  “Jess, please.” Rosie turned to Jess pleadingly.

  It pierced my heart the way the older sister gave in to her little sister’s pleas. She would do anything for her, even coming to a strange woman’s house for candy as long as it meant that her sister got her happy and didn’t have to listen to the bastard on the other side of the wall call her a worthless bitch. Comments like that got my blood boiling, making me wish I had superpowers to use and protect women who were in bad situations.

  Why couldn’t my brothers be like that? Do whatever for me to make me happy?

  “I’m Juliet,” I said when they were standing in front of my threshold. “Rosie is a pretty name for a pretty girl.”

  The little girl smiled at me, and it made me feel warm inside. “It’s Rosamie.”

  “Hi. Rosamie is beautiful. Why don’t you and Jessa come in?”

  Rosamie smiled right back, but Jess was another story.

  “It’s just Jess,” she replied.

  “Jess.”

  Rosie grinned at her. Jess shook her head and smiled at her sister. Both girls came in, Jess closing the door and looking a little relieved at the same time.

  “Where’s your stuff? Did someone rob you? Our big TV got robbed.” The little girl went straight to my couch and sat down, not seeing the terrified look on my
face.

  Jess, on the other hand, didn’t bother to look.

  “We didn’t get robbed. My mother had to pawn our TV since my father couldn’t be bothered to get his ass to work.” Jess sat down on my couch, crossed her arms, and looked at the television with bored fascination.

  I didn’t know what to say in situations like this. I had been privileged. My close friends were also wealthy, and when I got to college, the girls in my sorority were also like me. Spoiled, bratty little bitches. I don’t know how much money our dads had to donate the school to cover up all our fuckups.

  And these two girls were just trying to get by, and they didn’t even have a working television. A dad who didn’t respect women, and frankly scared the life out of me, and I had yet to meet him.

  “I have Netflix,” I said as I handed over the controller to my Amazon Firestick. Thank God for hot spot. I was too broke to get Wi-Fi, and the hot spot saved my life.

  “Can we watch Spirit? Stelle has it in her tablet, and when Jess takes me over, we watch.”

  “It’s not our TV, Rosie,” Jess said. That girl only had kindness for her sister, and that broke my heart.

  “Tell you what. Why don’t we all pick a movie you want to watch, and I’ll get the candy and make us some milkshakes. Sound good?” I asked.

  “Yessss, shakes. Are they as good as Jessa’s boss’s shakes?” Rosie asked.

  “Uhhhh…”

  “I can make them,” Jess offered, and I took her up on it.

  Rosie was having a ball trying to pick what movie to watch, so I followed Jess into my kitchen.

  “Thanks. I’m used to my parents fighting, but Rosie shouldn’t have to hear that,” she muttered low.

  I gripped the candy bags to my chest and stared at the gothic Asian girl in my home, and I felt sorry for her. She was used to her parents fighting. She believed it didn’t faze her, but she cared enough for her little sister.

  “I work from home, and I don’t have many friends, so… if you and Rosie want to stop by, I would like the company.”

  Jess snorted and gave me a once-over. “You don’t have any friends? I find that hard to believe. I find it hard to believe you live here at all. You might not have much, but what you do have screams wealth. You don’t have to worry about my sister and me. Worry more about yourself.”

  “The things I have were given to me by loved ones; the rest I have bought with my hard-earned money. I know what people say about me. Juliet Dunnett has it made riding off her daddy’s coattails. I live here because I am making it on my own. I offered you a place because—”

  I stopped myself before I shared more than I should. I needed to apologize to the girl or I was going to scare her. Jess was done making Rosie’s smoothie, but she had a small grin.

  “You’re Juliet—as in Max’s sister?”

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t return the small grin. “Yeah.”

  I grabbed a Swedish Fish and offered them the bag. I was Max’s bratty sister. My brother was a saint, and everyone loved him. When he came back from college, he had a bandwagon of people cheering for him even though he was a hot mess. Everyone blamed Freya for his attitude, for his DUI, for his man-whoring ways. My brother was a big boy. There was no need to lay the blame at Freya’s feet.

  Like Nana said, a woman should never be held responsible for a man’s mistakes.

  If I were to act the way he did over my breakup, I would be called a whore and even sent to a shrink or jail.

  My brothers, both of them, had it easy. They didn’t know the fear that came when someone raised their voice at you. The way your heart started to race, and your stomach would drop, and your hands got cold and clammy, as you sat there waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Because it always did—the other shoe always dropped, and when it did, it was never the man’s fault. I understood Jess and Rosie’s situation better than they did.

  Rosie picked Moana, and the three of us watched it, and the next movie she picked and the one after that, until Jess was sure her dad had fallen asleep and her mom was at work.

  6

  Jake

  I was running late since I’d stopped at Emma’s for some coffee. Lucky for me, my brother Blake had already opened the store. Blake and I were the ones who kept the place running. Since my brother was still in high school, he could only help out after school and on weekends. My other brother, Clark, was a cop, and he’d made it clear since a young age that the family business wasn’t his calling. To be honest, it wasn’t mine either, but as the oldest, it was my responsibility to do right by my family. I went to college, got engaged, had it fall apart, returned home, and just kept moving on.

  “Need help?” I asked Blake.

  “Yeah, help me pull out salt bags, shovels, and brushes from the back. No one was expecting snow today. Roads are going to get worse.”

  I nodded in agreement and got to work. Fifteen minutes later, Blake gave a slow whistle and nodded toward the front door.

  “Damn, is that Juliet Dunnett?”

  My head automatically turned her way. Her bright red hair was pulled to the top of her head in a messy bun, accentuating her cheeks, making them seem sharper. Those damn bright almond eyes gave her a sultry look most women tried to replicate with layers of makeup.

  Part of me felt like a dick for what I’d said at Rusty’s auto shop and the way I’d acted at the store, but another part of me was convinced she had not changed much at all and it was all an act. Still, I couldn’t get her reaction out of my mind. Sunny Pines was her home, and I needed to deal with it. The sooner, the better, because Stacy wasn’t happy I had canceled on her again. I thought about meeting her, but I couldn’t find it in me to say yes. Something felt off.

  “Who knew she had an ass like that?” Blake remarked.

  I slapped my brother’s head before turning to give Juliet another look. Blake was not wrong. Juliet was wearing a pair of black leggings that were fucking tight; you just knew she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

  Fuck, I got that she wasn’t with her dipshit husband, but she didn’t need to be outside parading around like that either.

  She also had on a gray thermal sweater and some sneakers. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her in anything other than heels or sandals. I’d never seen Juliet dressed down like this before. She seemed more attainable than the town’s prissy princess. The cast was still on her wrist, and although I didn’t want to know her business, there was no point in lying to myself—I wondered how she hurt herself. Without thinking, I grabbed my coffee and made my way to her.

  “Four times in a year. At this rate, we will break a record,” I said.

  We’d spent all the years after high school with minimum interaction.

  “I forgot paintbrushes, tape, rollers, and that tray thingamajigger… basically everything.”

  My lips twitched with amusement.

  “I didn’t think you’d be here.” Her soft admission tugged at my chest and made me feel like a dick. It was better just to keep moving forward. “I can come back later.”

  “I was a dick,” I said, and she stopped walking away.

  “Guess we’re even now.” She grimaced.

  Guess we are.

  “Dunnett, have you ever painted before?”

  She used her casted hand to put a stray hair behind her ear. “No, but I’ve been watching YouTube tutorials. It doesn’t seem that hard.”

  “Blake watched tutorials on how to build his own pool—that doesn’t mean he learned shit from it.”

  Juliet turned to look at my brother, who was trying hard to eavesdrop. When Juliet caught Blake looking at her, she flashed him a smile. My little brother started to blush.

  “Come on, I’ll help you find what you need.” I started to walk her away from Blake. With Juliet so close to me, her sweet fragrance in the air made me reminisce about stupid things.

  “Here.” I handed her my cup of coffee while I gathered the supplies she needed.

  “Oh, my God,
this smells divine,” she moaned as she put the cup closer to her face so she could keep inhaling it.

  “It’s just coffee,” I managed to say after hearing her moan in delight.

  My brain took a wrong turn and started to imagine her moaning while I made her come.

  Shit.

  “Folgers, milk, and sugar—that’s just coffee. This is something else.”

  It took me a second to remember we were talking about coffee. I got back to gathering her supplies. The faster I was done, the faster Juliet would leave. I turned to look at her, and she kept smelling the cup of coffee, her eyes closed in bliss.

  “I’m not sure what it’s called. Emma always gives me something different. Usually, you tell her your mood and she’ll fix you right up,” I said just in case she wanted to buy one.

  Juliet offered me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m not sure I’m welcome there. I wasn’t exactly Miss Polite in high school.”

  I didn’t say anything because she was right, and I knew firsthand how right she was. While I gathered her supplies, she kept smelling the damn coffee. I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Keep it,” I said when I had everything ready.

  “Pardon?”

  “The coffee.”

  “I can’t do that. This is yours.” She shook her head.

  “Juliet, it’s just coffee—keep it,” I said with more force than necessary, causing her to jump back a bit. I didn’t need to see the way her tits bounced.

  “Okay,” she replied softly.

  I started walking back to the counter to check her out when I heard, “Oh my God!”

  I whipped around, scared something had happened.

  “This is so good.” She smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  Blake was still by the counter when I came back with Juliet.

  “Oh, I need one of those thingies. I always lose it after winter.” She went over to Blake, who was arranging the snow brushes.

  “You’re going to be able to carry everything?” I asked when it became clear she was going to struggle.

  “Yeah. Let me take this and I’ll come back for the rollers.”