Carry Me Home (The Home Series: Book Three)

by Megan Nugen Isbell

  Evan said he’d be over as soon as he woke up. It was nearly nine o’clock so I knew that would be any minute. My mom wasn’t downstairs when I walked into the kitchen, but I decided to start making breakfast anyway. I’d never been much of a cook, but I could manage breakfast. It was easy and even I wouldn’t mess it up. I started frying the sausage and then there was a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” I called. The door opened and I heard footsteps approaching. I turned and saw a smiling Evan walking towards me. He looked so different than last night and I didn’t know if that was because of the khaki shorts instead of the gray suit or if it was because he was not just my boyfriend anymore, but my fiancé. He had on his Royals hat and it always made me think of Jesse when he wore it. I still had the old cap he’d given me before he left for boot camp tucked away. I’d never been able to get rid of it and I sometimes wore it when helping my mom with yard work.

  “Hey,” Evan said, his smooth voice cutting through my thoughts.

  “Good morning,” I replied, smiling at him.

  “Smells good.” He walked towards me and slid his arms around my waist as he began kissing my neck. “Did you tell your mom yet?” he whispered.

  “Not yet. I haven’t seen her,” but then the clearing of my mother’s throat interrupted us and Evan quickly turned around, releasing me from his grasp.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said and then I glanced at Evan. He looked flustered, something I rarely saw from him.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Regas.”

  “Please call me Liz,” my mom said, grabbing a mug and placing it under the Keurig. “Breakfast smells delicious,” she said as I started cracking eggs into a bowl, mixing them together and pouring them into a hot pan as the sausage continued to fry. I put some bread in the toaster and soon everything was ready. Evan and my mom sat down at the table and I brought the food over.

  My foot bounced nervously under the table as we ate and I knew I needed to tell her, I just didn’t know how.

  “Did you guys have fun last night?” my mom asked as we ate.

  “We did.”

  “What’d you do? I didn’t even hear you get home.”

  “I took Riley to dinner and then to see Wicked up in Wichita.”

  “Wow,” my mom said, looking up with a smile. “I’m impressed.”

  “It was nice,” I said and we kept eating. Silence settled in the room and I knew I needed to stop avoiding the topic. “We did something else last night too.”

  “Oh yeah? What was that?” she asked as she scooped a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

  “Got engaged,” I said cheerfully and I heard the fork she’d been holding, drop onto the plate.

  “You. Got. Engaged?” The way she annunciated every word made me nervous. I didn’t say anything. Instead, I held my left hand up, flashing the diamond towards her. She stared at it and she was speechless, just as I’d been. Her eyes then drifted to Evan and he looked anxious. “Wow,” she finally said, but then was quiet again for a few moments. “I didn’t expect that this morning.” She breathed in deeply and I saw tears in her eyes.

  “Are you okay, Mom?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I’m just surprised is all.” She paused for a few seconds and I waited for her to say something else. “When? I mean…what about graduating and a job?”

  “We haven’t decided yet,” Evan said quickly, trying to defuse my mother’s concerns. “But, I think both of us want her to graduate first.” I looked at my mom and nodded, glad to know Evan and I seemed to be on the same page, even though we’d barely discussed it. She seemed to relax a little, but not completely. She got up though and started walking around the table towards me. I stood up and met her and she wrapped her arms around me.

  “Congratulations,” she said softly in my ear.

  “Thanks, Mom,” I said back and she squeezed me tighter. I heard Evan’s chair scrape against the floor and when I looked up, he was standing. My mom let me go and then looked at Evan. I wondered if she was upset Evan hadn’t spoken to her about proposing first. I knew she probably wasn’t. She and my dad had definitely not spoken to my grandparents before they got married.

  She walked over to Evan and then hugged him too.

  “I promise to make her happy, Liz,” I heard him say and I saw her pat his back.

  “I know you will,” she said and then let go and we all stood there for a few moments before we sat back down at the table and started piecing at our food. It was quiet, but Evan was looking over at me with a cute grin and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  ****

  “I’m not sure how to take your mom’s reaction,” Evan said after the breakfast dishes had been cleared and we were walking around the property. It was a warm day, but not overly so. The sky was clear, except for a few clouds. He held my hand as we walked and we eventually made it down to the creek where I’d talked with Jesse that day he’d come by. We hopped over it, using some rocks as a bridge, and eventually made it to the railroad tracks about a quarter mile from the house.

  “She’s just shocked. She’s okay with it though. She just needs to get used to the idea.”

  “She seemed hesitant though.”

  “Like I said, she’s just in shock.” It was quiet for a bit as we continued to walk down the tracks. “I mean…I’m still in shock.” I laughed as I said it because it was so true. Even though I stood here with Evan, the ring hanging off my finger as proof, I still didn’t believe it.

  “I hope it’s a good shock.”

  I sighed and stopped and when I looked at Evan, he seemed uneasy.

  “I’m just trying to digest all of this. This came out of nowhere, Evan. We never even talked about marriage and then you surprise me with a visit and you ask me to marry you. Forgive me if I’m little stunned.”

  “I know we never talked about marriage,” he said, taking my hands. “But, we did discuss a future and I realized I want that future to be with us as a family with a life and kids someday. Being apart from you made me see that.” He leaned in slowly, stroking my cheek with his hand before kissing me. “I love you, Riley.”

  “I love you too, Evan.”

  “Then we need to start planning and we need to tell my family. I want you to be there when they find out,” he said and I felt my nerves building. I was as much a stranger to Evan’s family as he was to mine. I knew I needed to get to know them though if I was going to marry their son.

  “Okay,” I said. “When did you want to tell them?”

  “Next weekend?” he asked hopefully.

  “I can’t go away next weekend,” I laughed. “I need some notice.”

  “C’mon. You know your boss will give you a day off once she’s knows the situation. You’ve always said she’s more like a mother than a boss anyway.”

  I knew Evan was right. Jill wouldn’t have an issue with me taking Saturday off and the shop was closed on Sunday, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I relented. “We still have to tell my dad too, but I doubt we can make a quick trip to Boston,” I said with a light laugh. “Maybe we could Skype him.”

  “Now, that is something I’m nervous about,” he chuckled. “Your dad’s not some kind of old fashioned traditionalist, is he?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Good. Because I don’t want him to kick my ass for not asking his permission,” he said and we both laughed.

  “He’s too busy chasing after my brother to have time to kick your ass, so rest easy.”

  I linked my fingers with Evan’s as we continued to walk. The summer had just begun and it was turning out to be something completely unexpected. When I pulled away from Manhattan and came home to Carver, I never would’ve imagined in such a short span of time, I’d be engaged and looking towards my future while at the same time reconciling my past. I held onto Evan’s hand and decided to focus ahead. If I’d learned anything in my life, it was that sometimes the most unexpecte
d things could turn out to be the best.

  Chapter Seventeen

  My grandma was resting peacefully back in her room at the nursing home. She’d been released from the hospital and I’d stopped by after work to check on her. My mom was there and reassured me my grandma was fine. I wondered if I should tell her about Evan and me, but decided against it. She wouldn’t remember anyway and I didn’t want to try and explain if she got confused.

  I still couldn’t believe I was engaged. I was twenty-one, but for some reason, I felt too young to be getting married. But, when I would glance down at the ring, I knew I was definitely not too young and would one day be Mrs. Evan Bryant.

  I hadn’t told my friends yet and I knew Mandy would be livid when she realized I hadn’t called her the moment it happened, but I doubted Holly and Laura would care that I hadn’t told them right away. I knew Brandon wouldn’t be upset, but I wondered what Jesse would say about it.

  I had told my dad though. A couple of hours before Evan had left Carver, we’d Skyped with him, Robin and Stephen Jr. My dad had been even more shocked than my mom and hadn’t said anything for at least two minutes. It was Robin who offered the first congratulations and when my dad finally composed himself, he’d smiled and said congratulations too. It was just going to take some getting used to on all of our parts.

  When I got back from the nursing home, I tossed my purse onto the kitchen table and then flopped down on the couch in the living room, closing my eyes for a moment, exhausted from the craziness of the whole weekend. I hadn’t had much of a chance to decompress, and now that I was completely alone, I just wanted to take a moment to breathe.

  That moment only lasted a few minutes because my phone beeped. I grabbed it, sitting up when I saw it was a text from Jesse. Apparently he’d been going through his old bedroom and found a box of things I’d left scattered around his house during the course of our relationship and he was offering to bring it by. I didn’t hesitate when I texted him back saying I’d be home all night if he wanted to bring it over.

  I made myself a sandwich while I waited and as I ate it silently in the kitchen by myself, my mind raced on how I would tell him about Evan and me. I knew it shouldn’t matter. I told myself it was just like telling any of my friends I was engaged, but I knew it was nothing like telling Mandy, Laura, Holly or Brandon. This was Jesse and Jesse was very different.

  I still hadn’t decided on how I’d tell him when the doorbell rang and I told myself I’d handle it when I needed to. I put my plate in the sink and then went to the door, opening it to find him standing there, a small cardboard box in his hands.

  “Come in,” I told him and he brushed past me, walking into the living room and setting the box on the coffee table.

  “I can’t believe I left enough stuff at your house to fill a box,” I said, sitting down on the couch.

  “I’m not surprised. You did spend a lot of time there. I’m sure you’ve got some of my stuff around here too,” he said with a grin and I nodded, thinking of the little things I’d found of his over the years, especially after he first left.

  He came and sat down beside me and I reached for the box with both hands, before suddenly pulling back my left one, afraid he’d see the ring. Instead, I lifted the top off with my right one and stared down at the contents, a smile spreading across my face as I looked down. It was like looking into a time capsule of my life with Jesse: a CD he’d made me in one of his futile efforts to convert me to country music, a bag of make-up, complete with a shade of lip gloss I hadn’t worn in over three years, a half-empty package of cinnamon Tic Tacs that always reminded me of our picnic in the grain silo, a copy of Lord of the Flies I’d never returned to Mrs. Davenport during the last half of senior year, a small stack of magazines I’d read while lying around on the hammock as Jesse tinkered with his Jeep and then I literally laughed out loud when I saw the red, lacy bra balled up on the bottom. I held it up, dangling it off the tip of the pointer finger of my right hand.

  “You’re seriously returning a bra from almost four years ago?” I asked, looking over to him and he was grinning.

  “I just thought it should be returned to its proper owner. I’ve got no use for it. Maybe you don’t either. I mean, it has been almost four years. Your boobs probably aren’t even the same size,” he said and we both started laughing as my face turned as red as the bra and I smacked him on the arm.

  “Well, thank you. I’ll check if it still fits,” I said sarcastically, tossing the bra back in the box, as I stood up and started walking up the stairs to put the box away. I heard him following me and I walked inside my room, but Jesse stayed in the doorway. I placed the box on my dresser and then turned to see him resting against the doorframe, looking around the room.

  “You never repainted.”

  “No, I didn’t. I kinda grew attached to the color.”

  “We had fun painting your room,” he said, stepping inside.

  “Yes, we did.”

  “Except for when you thought I was trying to put the moves on you when all I was doing was trying to get the paint out of your hair,” he said, looking at me with a half-smile and I thought back to that moment. I could still feel the way his hand had brushed my cheek that day and the way he’d looked at me. Even if I hadn’t realized it at the time, I’d wanted him to kiss me.

  “Ya know,” I said, raising an eyebrow as I spoke. “I’m still not totally convinced of your innocence. I think you may have, in fact, been trying to put the moves on me.”

  “I plead the fifth,” he said with a sly grin as he continued to look around before he spoke again. “How was your visit with Evan?”

  “It was nice. He took me up to Wichita for dinner and a show.”

  “Swanky,” he said and then his eyes looked down, towards my hand. “Did he give you that ring too?”

  He looked up quickly and our eyes locked and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  “Um…yeah,” I said, twisting at the diamond.

  Jesse nodded, but was quiet for a few moments until he finally spoke.

  “He seems like a good guy. Congratulations.”

  “He is a good guy and thanks.”

  “When’s the wedding?”

  “We’re not sure. We haven’t discussed that yet. Probably not for a while…at least a year.”

  “What’s the hold up?”

  “Weddings take planning. Plus, I’d like to graduate and have a job for a while before getting married.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” he said and then an uneasy silence settled in until he spoke again. “I take it you’ll be moving to Kansas City then, after you graduate I mean?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “Is Evan willing to relocate for you then?”

  “I don’t know, Jesse,” I said impatiently. “We’ve only been engaged a few days.”

  “Sorry. Don’t mean to pry,” he said and was quiet again, before a hint of a smile curled up on his lips. “Riley Bryant,” he said a few moments later. “It has a nice ring to it.” I just looked over to him and stared. “What? Did I say something wrong?” he asked. “Are you going to hyphenate or something? Riley Regas-Bryant or are you keeping your own last name? You always were feisty and independent.” He was full-on grinning now and I just shook my head.

  “That may be, but I’m also a little old-fashioned. I’ll be taking his name.”

  “Nice,” he said, nodding his head and looking around.

  “So, how’s everything going with you?” I asked, brushing by him, and walking back downstairs.

  “Everything’s fine,” he said as we entered the kitchen.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” I offered, but he shook his head.

  “No. Thanks though. I really just came by to return your stuff,” he said and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was cutting his visit short because of what he’d learned about Evan and me. “And I wanted to tell you I’ll be in town for your mom’s wedding. My offer’s still good to
help.”

  “Thanks,” I said, relieved he’d be hanging around for a little while. “I could actually use some help making centerpieces and stuff and I’ve got this idea for a trellis I’m toying with.”

  “Whatever you need, just let me know. Brandon and Mandy too. We can all hang out at my place and work…if you want,” he added and I nodded.

  “You shouldn’t be so quick to help. Remember what a pain in the ass I was when you offered to help me paint my room? You ended up doing the bulk of the work.”

  “I know exactly what I’m getting myself into and I can handle you, Riley.” He was smirking now and I just smirked back, folding my arms in playful defense. “Anyway,” he continued. “I’m gonna head out. Let me know when you wanna get together.”

  “I will,” I said as he walked to the front door, his hand resting on the knob. I expected him to turn it, but he didn’t. Instead, he glanced at me, the playful smirk from before replaced with a soft smile.

  “I really am happy for you, Ry. Evan’s a lucky guy. I just hope he knows that.”

  I suddenly felt a lump in my throat and a burning in my eyes as we stared at each other. I couldn’t say anything though, instead I nodded and smiled and watched as he opened the door and walked out.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The weekend came quickly, almost too quickly for my liking. I left early on Saturday morning. As Evan had insisted, Jill didn’t have a problem with me taking the day off. She’d hugged me tightly when I told her about the engagement. Just as Matt had been there when everything went down that summer Jesse’s dad died, so had Jill. She’d watched from a distance as I struggled and I never really knew how much she knew about the situation or how much Matt told her, but she’d been nothing but supportive and I knew she was relieved to see I’d picked up the pieces and was taking the next step in my life. After I’d told her, she immediately started planning my bouquet and all the flower arrangements we could make and she couldn’t wait for me to tell Matt, picking up her cell phone, dialing his number and basically shoving it to my ear.