Finding Home

by Maddie James

  Ummm...no.

  Tsk tsk. Geraldine Wisemueller. Obviously on her way home from her daycare job as she had baby spit and some sort of green goo on her shoulder. Geraldine sidled up beside her. “Now, tomorrow evening you are to come over for dinner and we’ll have meatloaf and pie and lemonade. You’ll forget all about the terrible man who left you and that little...um, and your sister.”

  Best meatloaf in town. At least she thinks so. Suzie begged to differ.

  Sympathy run amok.

  She didn’t need any more sympathy run amok, thank you very much. Or any more hand patting. Or clucking after her ex-husband. Or tsk-tsking her sister. Or meatloaf.

  She didn’t need any of that.

  Or a man.

  No.

  Definitely didn’t need a man.

  She needed milk.

  Dammit. Just milk.

  And she wasn’t going to get it today, that was for certain.

  Besides, it had been over a year since her husband of fourteen years up and ran off with her baby sister, Chelly. She was over it. She was! When would they—meaning the entire town of Legend, Tennessee—give it up, too?

  Talk of the town. Yep. Little Suzie Schul.

  But she was tired of the whole sordid affair. Seemed like she and Cliff stirred up more gossip around these parts since, well… Since Pammy Gruber ran off to Nashville in ‘43 with the preacher from the Church of Christ.

  Times like these she wished she didn’t live in a small town. Everybody knows your business. Everybody wants in on your business.

  Arghh!

  There were days she just wanted to run away.

  But wait, she’d tried that once, right? And it hadn’t quite turned out so well.

  She shook off the shiver that accompanied the thought.

  Truth be known, she could never leave. Legendarians stayed put. It was sort of like a rule. Legend was her hometown. She was as homegrown and homespun as they came around these parts. Couldn’t imagine herself living anywhere else, especially in a big city. No, Legend was where she belonged and Legend was where she’d stay.

  And she’d fight to keep this small town the way it was, had always been, no matter what its quirks or characters.

  She picked up the dozen eggs and headed for the refrigerator, putting all that out of her mind. Hell’s bells. She’d have to endure the quirks and go out and get the darn milk. Shouldn’t take long. Another guest was due to arrive later this evening and she’d need the milk for morning breakfast. After all, she had her reputation to stand on, right? Well, Legend Landing’s Bed and Breakfast’s reputation at the very least. Hers might still be questionable.

  Because the other half of the “talk of the town” was that she must have done something to make poor Cliff go and do what he did. Cliff had always been such a good guy (albeit a tad boring). What in the world was it, many speculated, that little Suzie Schul had gone and done? And just why had she moved to Gatlinburg, anyway, for those months?

  Like she’d give them fuel for that discussion.

  No way.

  The groceries. Put away the groceries, Suzie.

  On the way to the refrigerator, she glanced at the red blinking light on her answering machine and punched at the button.

  A voice crackled. Bad connection. “Um...Suzette?”

  She froze. Only one person in the world called her Suzette. She smashed the stop button. Panic raced through her. He couldn’t have found her.

  Could he?

  Carefully, she pushed the button again then turned to put away the eggs. Like, if she didn’t pay too much attention to the message it wouldn’t have too much importance.

  Yeah, right.

  “Um...Suzette? It’s...Brad. I’m...” Crackle, crackle, crackle. “...in...for a... Here’s my number. I, uh...proposition...you.”

  And without further ado, Suzie missed the shelf of her refrigerator entirely and dropped the full dozen eggs, splat on her kitchen floor.

  Damn.

  Milk and eggs.

  Pammy Gruber had nothing on Suzie Schul. Especially if Brad Matthews was coming to town.

  Chapter Four

  Friday

  There was no way sex with Graham Winchester was as good as she remembered.

  Jane Smith stood alone in the crowded Legend VFW hall where her fifteenth-year high school reunion was in full swing around her. She held a plastic wineglass of California merlot which gave her something to do with her hands, smiled at Betty Jo, the clerk from the Piggly Wiggly who waved from across the dance floor, and thanked her lucky stars for the relative darkness on the periphery of the dance floor.

  He’d arrived. Heat surged through Jane’s body. Graham Winchester—senior class president, debate team captain, yearbook staff member, valedictorian and Mr. Most Likely to Succeed—had finally come home to Legend.

  For fifteen years, she fantasized about Graham. For fifteen years, she remembered that one night alone with him in the back seat of his family Chevy. Sure, it had been cliché. Graduation night. One thing leading to another. Each going their separate ways the next day.

  She’d put him behind her and gotten on with her life. College first and then back to Legend to teach high school English. When her mom was diagnosed with cancer, she cared for her. After years as a volunteer at the county dog pound, she founded Legend’s non-kill Pet Rescue. Last year, she’d quit teaching and opened a book store.

  Yet she’d never forgotten Graham.

  Cold, hard truth washed over Jane as she watched from the shadows. For all she had accomplished, she was still stuck in high school. Her love life sucked. It’d been on hold for much too long.

  She must exorcise the demon Graham had become and put him out of her mind and heart for the last time.

  ****

  You can never go home again.

  The cliché rang in Graham’s ears along with the sounds of Michael Jackson’s Thriller pulsating from a DVD player set up on a folding table. What in the blazes was he doing here? He didn’t belong in Legend any more.

  The dimly lit VFW Hall was very different from the trendy, super chic Times Square dance clubs he usually frequented. Decked out with feathery table decorations, sprinkles of glitter and mirror balls throwing colored lights on the dance floor, the rented hall looked outdated and shabby like his memories of middle school sock hops.

  “Graham Winchester?”

  He hardly recognized Legend High’s former All-State defensive back. Clint Roberts had put on a few pounds. When Dawn Smith dumped him to go out with Clint, he shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, football was a big thing in Tennessee.

  Those had been the days. Clint and their friend Jim Hood, both destined for football glory one way or another. Jim had gone further, though. Pro ball. And now, well, just look at Clint. Graham glanced about, wondering where Jim, now the high school football coach, was. Then he remembered he had graduated a year before them. His reunion would be next year.

  Bracing for a rush of old resentment, Graham extended his hand. “Clint, how are you?”

  “Fine. Hey, what a game, huh? The Dragons are headed to another state championship, looks like.” Always a big guy, Clint towered over him. He transferred the bottle of beer he carried to his left hand and grasped Graham’s. “Man, you don’t look a day older. Can you believe it’s been this long? That big city life must agree with you.”

  The bitterness Graham expected to feel failed to materialize. “Thanks, but I feel older.”

  “Know what you mean.” Clint nodded. “So how’s it goin’?”

  “Can’t complain.”

  “Yeah, same here. Hey, I heard you wrote a book. Claudia was telling me.”

  “Claudia?”

  “Yeah, you remember, Claudia Ridgeway, now Claudia Jones.”

  Oh, his senior class secretary. A real one-person pep squad. How quickly he’d forgotten.

  “You’re the biggest thing that’s happened to Legend since the Dragons won the National Finals last fall,”
Clint said. “You and Dawn comin’ home, the two of you voted most likely to succeed. It’s the talk of the town.”

  Most likely to succeed? What a joke. His law career was at a standstill. Sure, he’d written one novel, but as his agent pointed out more than once, he was deep in the throes of writer’s block with the deadline looming.

  Graham shifted his stance. He was a fake, but he’d be damned if he’d let his classmates in on the horrible truth.

  “What are you doing now?” Graham asked politely.

  “Sellin’ cars.”

  “Cars?”

  “Yep, own the Ford dealership in town.”

  “That’s impressive.”

  “Make a damn good living too. Certainly can’t complain.”

  “I see.” Graham shifted again and glanced around the darkened hall. “Are you married?”

  “Hell, no. What about you?”

  “No.

  “Smart man,” Clint shot back.

  Graham didn’t know how smart he was, but he nodded in response.

  “So why haven’t you gotten married?”

  Clint’s question caught Graham off guard. He took a deep breath, considering his answer. “Guess I never found the right woman,” he said.

  Clint nodded. “I found the right woman, but she up and left town fifteen years ago.”

  “For another man?”

  “Nope. Hollywood.”

  “You mean you wanted to marry Dawn?”

  “We talked about it,” Clint admitted, “but one day she took off to California and I went on to play ball for Tennessee.”

  “You must be bitter.” The thought came out of his mouth before he realized it.

  Clint shrugged. “Hell, no. Dawn had a lot of ambition. Look at what she’s done.”

  Graham knew all about what small-town girl, Dawn Smith, had done with her ambition. He followed her career off and on, and in the last few weeks he looked up her name on the Internet. Dawn’s official web site said she worked in a soap opera for five years and then graduated to sitcoms. She was nominated for an Emmy, and had recently starred in her first motion picture. The girl from Legend, Tennessee, had become a movie star.

  “You’re a good man,” Graham said, looking at Clint in a new way. “Did Dawn come tonight?”

  “Sure thing. Haven’t you noticed the crowd over by the bar?”

  The group near the bar parted, and Graham caught a glimpse of his one-time steady. “I can’t tell much about her from here.”

  “She’s prettier than ever,” Clint said with a touch of pride. Then in a confidential tone, he offered, “Divorced, too.”

  Graham arched an eyebrow. “Love ‘em and leave ‘em?”

  “Yep.” Clint cleared his throat and lifted the bottle to his lips.

  Because the ex-football player was strangely talkative, Graham pumped him again, “Whatever happened to her twin sister Jane?”

  Clint tilted his head. “You didn’t keep up with her?”

  “No, we never had any contact after Dawn and I…well…you know.”

  That was a small evasion of truth. The fact was he had a whole lot of contact with Jane on graduation night after the ceremony. In the back seat of his dad’s Chevy. It was their first time together. Their first and last.

  Graham’s pulse revved up at the surprisingly vivid memory. After that night, schoolwork and college frat life absorbed him. He moved to New York and joined a law firm, putting Dawn, Jane and the folks in Legend behind him.

  “She’s here,” Clint said. “See her standing over there?”

  Graham sought Jane out in the dim light, remembering how she’d reluctantly shared the job of yearbook editor with him. They fought like two boxers over every caption and picture. Graham smiled at the memory. It’d been amusing to bait her. She’d taken everything so seriously. Not like her twin sister. No, Jane wasn’t anything like Dawn.

  Jane stood beside a man, but her posture was stiff and aloof, as if she didn’t want to be with him. She wore a simple, but elegant blue dress with a high collar and short sleeves. Typical Jane. The smart twin. The one with as much natural reserve as beauty. There was something charming about the way she wore her blond hair in short, flirty curls.

  “Who’s she talking to?” Graham asked.

  “Claudia’s brother, Steven. See how he’s putting the moves on her? Ever since his divorce, he’s trying to get her to marry him.”

  So Jane wasn’t married either.

  “Hey, watch out. Here comes Claudia!” Following his warning, the big jock turned on his heels and departed.

  Graham had time for one quick breath before Claudia Ridgeway, now Jones, descended on him like an avenging angel.

  ****

  Jane caught her breath. Claudia slowly propelled Graham around the room. They were talking to Steven, who she’d successfully shaken for the time being, but soon Claudia would bring Graham to her.

  The thought of seeing Graham again made her stomach cramp. She dreaded this moment for fifteen years, anticipated it, played it over in her mind, thought it’d never take place, and longed for it.

  “Jane, here you are!” Her friend pulled Graham to a halt right in front of her. “Graham’s asked about you.”

  “Hello, Jane.”

  Graham’s deep voice engulfed her. Jane clasped his outstretched hand with her icy fingers, finding his grasp warm and strong, and much more masculine than she remembered. He smiled, and pleasure jolted through her.

  Suddenly tongue-tied, like a worshiping adolescent, Jane stared into his dusky eyes, completely blown away by his stature and confident presence. He was dazzling. His brown hair was a bit too long and his eyelashes, sinful. She’d forgotten how long and luscious they were. Too long to waste on a man.

  He was nothing like she remembered. He was much better. The feelings she’d thought dead resurrected in that moment.

  “Hey, Graham. Long time no see.” Her words sounded childish.

  “It has been a long time. You look wonderful.”

  His gaze ran up and down her body as if her dress were made of plastic wrap. Her face grew hot, and she blessed the dimness surrounding the dance floor.

  “You don’t look bad yourself,” she said as he released her hand.

  It was hard to see what he wore, but she could tell by the cut of the expensive cloth it was a designer suit. His power tie was knotted just right and his crisp white shirt, perfect. He smelled good too, wearing a manly scent of sandalwood and leather.

  “Claudia tells me you own a bookstore now,” Graham said.

  “Yes.” His voice was pure silk while hers sounded like backwoods East Tennessee. “I carry your bestseller.”

  He avoided her eyes. “I’m still not accustomed to hearing people say that.”

  “It’s a terrific novel. You’re a talented writer. A book on the New York Times list is quite an accomplishment.”

  “Thanks.”

  Are you married? Do you have a lover? Have you missed Legend? Or me? Jane wanted to ask so many questions. Instead she shifted her weight to another foot and inquired as casually as possible, “So, how’s life treating you?”

  “Fine.” His gaze wandered across her face, touching her with a pulse-pounding intimacy. “And you?”

  “Oh, I’ve been fine.” Jane captured his gaze briefly and then hastily lowered her eyes.

  She was an emotional coward. Always had been where Graham was concerned. Why had she not summoned the courage to confront him about their time together? About her suspicions she’d been a poor substitute for Dawn. She should’ve done it sooner. Phoned him. Sent an e-mail. Instead she allowed days to creep into years, always wondering, never receiving closure.

  “You’re not married?”

  She shook her head. “No. How about you?”

  “Plenty of girlfriends, but no wives.”

  Jane found herself holding her breath.

  Graham smiled again and then lifted his gaze over her shoulder. “Here comes Claudia.”
>
  And Dawn. Jane knew it instinctively. Claudia would escort the queen to her king.

  She turned slowly. Tonight her movie star sister appeared sexy in a black silk dress, stiletto pumps, adding four inches to her height, and an updo that had taken poor Mary Maloney at Mane Locks three hours to create. But Jane refused to be awestruck by Dawn. Her identical twin was a part of her life, a sometimes irritating, sometimes lovable part.

  Older by four minutes, Dawn was the first born and all their lives her sister had taken the lead. Jane willingly let her. With the same wavy blond hair, blue eyes and dimpled smiles, they’d been adorable Shirley Temple-like children, properly spoiled by their doting parents.

  Yet for all their physical similarities, they were different. Dawn was given all the out-going genes, the popularity ones, genes that counted for something in a small town. Whereas, she was naturally shy, and endowed with a stubborn streak that made her want to prove just how different she was from Dawn.

  Maybe that’s why she became the brainy twin. The responsible one. The one who stayed in town after their dad died of a heart attack and nursed their mother through her long illness.

  “Graham, darling!”

  Graham turned. “Hello, Dawn.”

  Dawn embraced Graham. The drama played out before the watching classmates—the beautiful Hollywood actress and the bestselling author.

  Jane retreated to a table and sank into a chair. She gulped big breaths as if she’d run a marathon. Dawn looked happy to see Graham again. And her sister was now free. No, she couldn’t have designs on Graham, could she?

  The Time of My Life from the movie Dirty Dancing came over the loud speakers. She loved that movie when she was a preteen, identifying with the character of Baby, the shy heroine who had the courage to go after the hunky dance instructor. Why couldn’t she be like Baby?

  Graham ushered Dawn to the dance floor and swung her sister into the swaying mambo steps they learned at ballroom dancing lessons in the eighth grade—steps right from the script of her favorite movie.

  Jane curled her fingers into a fist. No, she wasn’t a mealy-mouthed teenager any longer. She was an adult and tired of dreaming about Graham Winchester and what might have been.