Someplace Familiar (Laurel Cove Romance Book 1)

by Teresa Tysinger

  God love the old woman’s spunk.

  “You’re crazy. Both of you.” Sam pushed past Aunt Bea and Livy and bolted for the stairs, taking two at a time.

  “Well, that shut him up. Good riddance.” Aunt Bea brushed her hands together, as if getting rid of pesky crumbs. “Being nosy finally paid off. When I saw you two out front, something told me to pay attention. I didn’t much like the way he moved in on you, and apparently neither did you from the way you marched your pretty little self up here.”

  Livy lunged into the old woman’s embrace and whispered, “Thank you, Aunt Bea—so much.”

  “Oh, honey. We mountain folk look out for our own.”

  Livy’s eyes swelled with tears of gratitude. Laurel Cove was more than a familiar place of her childhood summers. It was home. It was, indeed, where she belonged. And she wasn’t going to let her past—or Jack’s, for that matter—keep her from fighting for the man she truly loved.

  Several minutes later, Livy was sitting with Aunt Bea on the antique loveseat in the lobby’s center, when Sam descended the stairs with fervor. Still fuming, he awkwardly struggled to keep his suitcase and duffle bag from banging in to each other. Livy just shook her head. The difference between the New Yorker who arrived the day before and the New Yorker leaving today. Then again, she had changed a lot too since arriving in town. Things were becoming clearer. With Sam on his way out, things would be okay. God was revealing his path for her. It wasn’t without hills to climb, and there was still debris to clear away. But she belonged here. She was sure of it.

  Talking things over with Jack would be difficult. But as Gram used to say, “Seldom do the most worthwhile things in life come easy.” They’d get there. They had to.

  ***

  Jack sipped the coffee Jasper had brought him, compliments of Meredith.

  “She would’ve come herself to check on you, but couldn’t get away for a while. Livy’s ex showed up, huh? She said it looked pretty tense. And apparently Livy left the guy high and dry to go after you. You okay?”

  Maybe he had overreacted. A deep pang twisted in his gut, a gnawing concoction of remorse, confusion, and grief. “I will be. But I wasn’t fair to Livy. I didn’t even let her tell me everything.” As soon as she’d left, Jack was just as alarmed by his jealousy as Livy had been. No matter what had happened with Claire, he had no right to jump to any conclusions without hearing Livy out. In fact, he knew nothing about why or how Livy’s ex was here. He didn’t give her the chance to say.

  "You know, she’s not Claire.” Jasper stood in the doorway of Jack’s office.

  Jack couldn’t stifle a laugh. “I’ve been trying to tell myself that all morning.” With that, Jasper nodded and headed for the front of the store.

  A few minutes later, the familiar click-clack of Rex’s nails against the hardwood sounded from the stock room but stopped before continuing into Jack’s office. Jack looked up from the spreadsheet he’d pulled out and twisted in his chair. Rex stood in the office doorway, tail wagging furiously. A slender hand patted the dog’s head. Livy. Jack hadn’t heard the back door open. She stepped forward, illuminated by the soft light streaming from his office window, and Jack straightened.

  “Hi.” Her eyes were puffy, the tip of her nose pink—likely from crying. But she offered a timid smile.

  “Hi.”

  “I’d like to talk, if you’re ready.” She stopped in front of his desk. Just a couple of hours earlier they’d enjoyed a tender embrace and kiss. Now, the room was thick with tension.

  “I’d like that. Have a seat.” Jack stood and cleared a stack of inventory papers from a spare chair. She deserved to be listened to before he showered her with a deluge of apologies. He owed her that, so he’d take her lead.

  Settled in the chair opposite him, Livy looked at him and cocked her head to one side. He leaned forward, elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his folded hands.

  “Jack, I’m really sorry.”

  He didn’t expect an apology. “What? No, you don’t have to …”

  Her hand went up. “Please hear me out. I should have tried harder to tell you about Sam showing up. I didn’t mean to catch you so off guard. I do wish you’d given me the chance to explain earlier, but I can understand how it may have triggered the trauma of past experiences.” She leaned up to the edge of the desk so that their faces were only about a foot apart. “But, Jack, please hear me. Nothing happened between Sam and I. He showed up yesterday out of the blue. Yes, we went to dinner. It seemed innocent enough, especially since I hadn’t heard from you all day. But I was naïve to think he was a changed man. He made that very clear this morning. As a matter of a fact, he’s just left town—thanks to your spunky aunt—and I don’t intend on seeing him ever again.”

  Jack closed his eyes as her hands rested over his. He didn’t deserve such graciousness—such forgiveness—after his behavior. “Livy, I’m the one who owes you an apology.” He stood and made his way around the desk, kneeling in front of her, taking her hands in his. Her vibrant green eyes darted across his face, from his eyes to his lips, to his hair as she reached up to brush her fingers through it. “I’m so sorry.” He leaned into her hand, her palm warm against his cheek. “You’ve never given me any reason not to trust you. I had no idea how much I’m still struggling to overcome—the insecurity, the need to forgive. But I promise you now, I will never again talk to you the way I did earlier. You deserve better. I want to be better…for you.”

  “I forgive you.” Her soft lips gently pressed against his, her words refreshing whispers to his soul.

  Relationships were such funny things. Some broke your heart and some healed it. The past few days made it painfully clear that his relationship with Claire left parts of his heart still broken. But it was time to believe in the new relationship with Livy. Time to let the healing really begin.

  CHAPTER

  Twenty-Three

  Y ou sure you’re not just making him up?”

  Livy snickered. “Oh, come on, Mama. I told you before. He and the guys are in Johnson City for some fishing since they had to go up to meet with a few vendors.” Livy rose to her knees and wiped her brow with the cuff of her gardening glove. “Gosh, it’s got to be near 80 degrees today.”

  “Well, I guess it’s better than the storms they predicted earlier in the week. Though the farm could use the rain. Things are already looking pretty dry in the fields. But it sure is pretty here. Real green and lush.” Livy’s mom reached for another seedling.

  Contentment rushed over Livy like a welcomed breeze. Her mom bent over the flowerbed and placed the young plant in the shallow hole. With her gray hair pulled back in a loose braid, her mother resembled Gram, even though the two weren’t blood related. Memories of gardening together those summers long ago sharpened into focus. The run-down cottage took on more of its original charm right before Livy’s eyes, and yet it was simultaneously new and hers. The old and new formed a future Livy had never imagined.

  “There. That’s the last of it.” Livy’s mother patted the dark soil and straightened.

  A rainbow of pansies peppered the newly tilled bed in front of the kitchen window.

  Livy pulled off her gloves and rested her sweaty hands on her lap. “I wonder what they’ll have to say to me.”

  The rough fabric of her mother’s still-gloved hand rubbed against Livy’s. “Whatever you need to hear, dear.” They exchanged soulful smiles and stood to admire their handiwork.

  “I wish Gram was here. She was so gifted at gardening. I hope I can do her garden justice.”

  Livy stood, then helped her mom up so they were shoulder to shoulder. Her mother held on to her hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

  “She is, sweetie. Her hands have been in this same earth, turning it over to prepare a way for new things. Just like you’re doing.” Heat lightning illuminated distant storm clouds high above the mountain ridge. “And I don’t just mean the flowers.”

  She searched her mother’s e
yes. “How do you mean, Mama?”

  “God gives us all the same nutrients—the same gifts of grace and love to nurture us—just like this soil. Chances are, this dirt isn’t much different from the soil your grandmother worked with. You have everything you need right here to build the life you want—the life God wants for you. It’s up to you what you do with the opportunities you’re given, and I think you’re really on your way here. I’m proud of you.”

  Livy rested in her mother’s embrace. They spoke on the phone a lot and her mother often gave good advice, but it never lost its soothing effect on Livy’s tender heart. Thank you, God, for this woman. Thank you for using her to remind me so often of your goodness and faithful provisions.

  Thunder echoed along the peaks and valleys in the distance.

  “We should get going. The girls will be expecting us soon.”

  ***

  “I’m a cow.” Exaggerated moans bellowed from the end of the couch. Lane’s head rested against the back cushion, her feet propped on the ottoman. Her spoon clinked against the ice cream bowl sitting on top of her round belly.

  “You are so much cuter than I was at eight and a half months pregnant.” Jen positioned a standing fan so it pointed right at Lane’s face.

  Livy’s leg warmed under her mother’s touch from next to her on the loveseat. “This one was born in August. I really wasn’t sure I was going to make it, and neither was Livy’s father. Imagine going through the summer while pregnant and without air conditioning.”

  The room enlivened with gasps and uproars of laughter.

  “That sounds excruciating. I guess I shouldn’t complain, Mrs. Johnson. Hank is happy to run ours all day and night even though he had to fish out his long johns to sleep in.”

  “Oh, Lane, please call me Katherine. Same goes for the rest of you.”

  “Katherine, we’re just so tickled that you’re here. Livy has fit in perfectly with our little group.” Jen turned off the kitchen light, dimming the living room to a golden coziness, and took the seat on the couch between Meredith and Lane.

  “So, Katherine, has Livy told you about Jack’s crazy ex-wife?”

  “Lane!” Meredith flew forward, leaning past Jen to gawk at Lane.

  Lane’s candor was a bit surprising. But all heads turned toward Katherine’s amused giggle. How did she deserve such an easygoing, kind mother? Fact was, she didn’t.

  “Yes, she’s brought me up to speed about Jack and Claire.”

  “Well, we want you to know from someone other than Livy how wonderful Jack really is.” Jen’s voice was characteristically tender and genuine. “We’ve all grown up together. I am confident I can speak for us all when I say he’s the most genuine, caring, and thoughtful man out there.”

  “Except for our own husbands, of course.” Meredith snickered. “Just had to get that out there in case we’re being recorded.” Snickers sounded all around the room.

  Ice cream pooled in Livy’s bowl, her spoon swirling bits of chocolate around the bottom. She and her mother had spoken about Jack and Claire, but the conversations had, so far, been pretty brief. Would her mother share more about her opinion with her friends? What if Livy didn’t like what she had to say? Her mother’s approval of Jack and her relationship was so important.

  The room fell quiet again.

  “Listen, we all grow up wanting perfect, hoping for perfect, and unfortunately, expecting perfect. In life, and certainly in love, perfect simply does not exist.” Her mother’s hand, cold from holding her bowl, brushed a wisp of hair from Livy’s face. “So what if Jack has a past? We all have pasts that scar us. And I, for one, don’t want to be judged for my past mistakes, misjudgments, and failed relationships. But we can hope for better. Better than we had, better than we think we deserve. If we find that, it’s as pretty close to perfect as we can get this side of heaven.”

  “Thank you, Mama.” Livy’s head found the gentle curve of her mother’s shoulder.

  “That’s very well said. I might just have to quote you to Owen and make sure that ends up in a sermon.” Jen winked at Livy.

  The chirping of her cell phone righted Livy on the couch. She stood and dug in her back pocket for the buzzing device.

  “Oh, I know that look. Tell Jack we said hey.” Lane waved at her as Livy stepped out of sight and through the foyer.

  From the Barnetts’ front porch, the warm evening breeze delivered a sweet, pungent odor of distant rains. Livy eased the door closed behind her and stepped out far enough to watch the passing clouds.

  “How’s the trip going?” She and Jack had not talked all day.

  “Well, that sweet voice sure does make everything better.” His words dripped like honey into the phone.

  She swooned, leaning against the porch railing. “Did you call just to flirt with me?” She wouldn’t have minded if he did.

  His laugh was hearty. “That and to see how the visit with your mom is going.”

  “It’s been wonderful. We just finished dinner at Jen’s and are enjoying some ice cream. I sure miss you, though.” Livy closed her eyes and conjured up his face in her mind. Those blue eyes, strong jaw, and scruffy five-o-clock shadow he likely had going.

  His sigh on the other end only made her miss him more. “Oh, I miss you, too, honey. The guys wanted me to ask you to say hello to all of the girls, and tell them we’ll be back around 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. Just in time for a home cooked meal.” Those last words hinted at a not-so-subtle request. “I’ll miss your mom, won’t I?”

  “Yes, she’ll be on the road again, but I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” Her heart raced with anticipation. “Since I’m so close to finishing up at the house and should be ready to move in soon, I’m going to need to go get my things. And you’ve got your big truck. And …”

  He paused. “And you’d like to borrow the truck to go back to your mom’s all alone?” His voice teetered on the edge of a laugh. Oh, how he teased her.

  “You’re so very clever. No, my mom has invited you to come with me.” She looked down at her free hand shaking. “It would, of course, help to have your truck to haul my things back here, but it would also give the two of you the chance to meet.” Why was she so nervous about whether he’d agree to the trip? She acted like a teenager asking a boy to the prom.

  “That sounds amazing.” Not a second went by before he answered. “I’d also love to see where you grew up. See my sweetheart’s roots.” Again, the dripping sweet tone.

  “Oh, Jack, you’ve got to put that husky voice away. You know what it does to me.”

  “Yes. Yes, I do.”

  Hearty laughter from the women she loved most rumbled from inside the glowing house, pulling at the corners of Livy’s lips. What a wonderful day. And now soon—but in a much better way—her past and her future would meet.

  CHAPTER

  Twenty-Four

  J ust here. To the left.”

  Jack pulled the truck through a tall ranch-style iron gate that framed a long dirt drive. The four-hour drive east on Interstate 40 had passed quickly, though Livy’s stiff legs told another story. She rolled down her window and inhaled the familiar earthy, red-clay dirt. Rows of mature summer corn, as tall as the top of Jack’s truck, ushered them toward her childhood home about a quarter-mile down the drive. It was a relief to see her family’s land still producing crops, now managed by the neighboring farmers.

  Jack parked the truck in front of the long porch where Livy’s mother stood, hands on hips and an elated smile dancing across her face. Though it had been several years since her father passed, Livy still expected to see him standing next to Mama. He would always be waiting to welcome her with one hand waving and the other holding the snap of an overall suspender. Even without her father here today, her heart thumped with excitement. Jack was about to see this part of her life.

  “Hi, Mama.” Livy climbed two squeaky steps into open arms. The fresh scent of baby powder enveloped her as her mother’s slender fingers pulled Livy
’s face close enough to rub their noses together. It had been their signature greeting since Livy was young.

  “And who is this handsome fella?”

  Livy pressed her lips to keep a laugh from escaping. “Oh, you’re so coy, Mama. Really.” Her mother grinned at Jack, who was standing just off the porch.

  Jack’s boots were loud as he stepped up with one hand outstretched, removing his ball cap with the other. He towered over them both. “Hello, Mrs. Johnson. I’m Jack Bowdon. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  “Well, what nice manners.” Her mother’s cheeks flushed pink. “But I must insist you call me Katherine. It’s nice to have you here, Jack.” Oh, how Livy could relate.

  Jack excused himself to retrieve their bags, and Livy turned to her mom. “Well?”

  “He sure is a cutie pie—and a tall one!”

  Livy couldn’t agree with her mother more. Her eyes settled on Jack as he brought the bags into the house. She showed him to the guest room where he’d be sleeping while Katherine put the finishing touches on lunch.

  Jack dropped his bag then followed Livy to her room next door. “So, there’s only one wall separating us.” His raised eyebrows and thin smile made him look impish. “Then again, I’ve already had you in my bed.”

  “Jack Bowdon, you’re so bad.” She swatted at him, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her in for a quick kiss. He followed close behind as they made their way through the open living room into the kitchen.

  Over a lunch of egg salad sandwiches, Katherine shared stories about what Livy was like as a child—headstrong, creative, and kind to everyone she met. They both answered Jack’s questions about farm life and reminisced about Livy’s father. He would have loved Jack, she was sure. After lunch, Livy helped her mother clean up while Jack looked at the family photos hanging on the living room walls.