Take Me Home

by Elks, Carrie

  Something really damn good.

  “You’re really pretty,” he told her, his voice soft. Through heavy eyelids he took her in. High cheekbones, soft lips, a nose so straight he could draw a line with it, and those damn eyes that weren’t crying anymore.

  They were staring into his instead.

  She was only a couple of feet away from him, but it felt too far. A step forward closed the gap. Then he was running his finger from her cheekbone down to her lips, tracing the bow along the top as her warm breath caressed him.

  God, she was so warm and soft. He slid his palm around the nape of her neck, angling her face up. And all the time she was silent, her gaze appraising him, as though she was waiting for him to make his next move.

  He leaned closer and her chest hitched. Sliding his other hand around her waist, Gray pulled her body against his. The need for her thrummed through him, desire replacing adrenaline in his bloodstream.

  She blinked and he swore he could feel her lashes against his skin. His lips were a breath away from hers, so close, and he could taste the anticipation of her on the tip of his tongue.

  “Cora,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to hers. “What are you doing to me?”

  It was like a switch had been flicked. She jerked her head back, cutting the connection between them. Running the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip, she shook her head and took a step back.

  “I’m sorry. You should be okay now. I need to go…” She glanced at her watch.

  It was Gray’s turn to blink. What the hell just happened? One minute it seemed inevitable that his lips would be on hers. The next? It was like somebody dumped a bucket of ice water over him.

  He opened his mouth to thank her, but she was already gone, running toward the town square without a glance back at him. Gray watched her with a sigh. She was intriguing as hell. And if she thought she could escape him, he knew better.

  Eating breakfast at the diner might become his new favorite pastime.

  Chapter Seven

  “There’s no way you ran through peoples’ yards and climbed over their fences,” Tanner said, shaking his head after Gray recounted his escape from the church.

  Gray’d been home for a couple of hours now, and Aunt Gina had served up lunch. He and Tanner were cleaning up the kitchen as she and Becca sat with his dad. “You’re making it up.”

  “I’m not. Go and ask Cora Jean at the diner. She’s the one who helped me.”

  “Cora Jean?” Tanner raised a dark eyebrow. “You’re telling me Cora Jean jumped over a seven foot wall?” He grinned. “Now I know you’re lying.”

  “Why would I be lying?” Gray asked, his voice full of confusion.

  “Because Cora Jean is seventy-four. You must remember her from when we were kids. She was always hollering at us for making a mess.” Tanner frowned. “Come on, you have to remember?”

  “I really don’t recall a Cora Jean.” He frowned, willing his brain to work. “Wait… you mean the Battleaxe?”

  “Yeah.” Tanner nodded. “Tiny old lady. White hair pulled back into a bun.” He took a breath. “And apparently really great at vaulting walls.”

  Gray ran the pad of his thumb along his bottom lip.

  “She wasn’t old,” he told Tanner, who had a shit-eating grin on his face. “She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five.” And yeah, she was young and pretty and made him want to laugh in a way he hadn’t in a long time.

  And he’d wanted to kiss the hell out of her until they were both breathless.

  “But she said her name’s Cora Jean?”

  “Yeah. She works in the diner.”

  “What can I tell you.” Tanner shrugged. “The only person under the age of fifty working in the diner is Maddie, and I’m pretty sure you’d know her since you dated her sister for three years.”

  Gray’s mouth turned dry. “Maddie Clark? Ash’s sister?”

  Tanner laughed. “That’s what I said.”

  That wasn’t right. Maddie Clark was fourteen years old and wore braces. Gray shook his head to try and clear his thoughts.

  “What about Maddie Clark?” Becca asked as she carried an empty plate into the kitchen.

  “Gray’s getting confused between Cora Jean Masters and Maddie Clark.” Tanner’s eyes twinkled. “It’s an easy thing to do.”

  “All this fame’s gone to his head.” Becca rolled her eyes. “And from what Aunt Gina said, Maddie Clark saved your ass. Those teenage girls wanted to eat you for breakfast.”

  Gray was still trying to get his head around it. “Maddie Clark,” he said again. “I didn’t know she was still living in town.”

  Becca grabbed a fresh towel from the drawer and helped Tanner dry the dishes as Gray placed them on the rack. “She left for a while. Went to Ansell to study music,” she told him. “But something happened and she came home again.”

  “Something happened?” Gray repeated. Curiosity rose up in him. “What was it?” Everybody knew only the best got into Ansell. The performing arts college in New York had one of the most prestigious music programs in the country.

  “I assume she came back to look after her mom.” Becca shrugged. “It’s a shame because I thought we might’ve had another star on our hands.” His sister grinned at him. “It might have shrunk your head a bit.”

  “Maddie performed?”

  “She played piano. Still does.”

  “I knew she played. I remember her having lessons with her mom when I dated Ash.” He frowned, remembering those days. Ash in her cheerleader’s outfit, Gray always sporting a bruise or two from football. Little Maddie sitting at the piano, her mom leaning over to point at the sheet music in front of her.

  He could almost smell the aroma of pot roast drifting out from the kitchen within his memory.

  “But now she works in the diner?”

  “And teaches piano.” Becca shrugged. “Has for years.”

  He wanted to ask more, but Becca was already curious as to why he was curious. Another question and she might be asking a few herself. And right now, he wasn’t prepared to answer them.

  A couple of hours ago, he nearly kissed his ex-girlfriend’s little sister. And what a shitstorm that would have released.

  Gray finished washing the last dish and placed it in the rack, then emptied the water, frowning as it took forever to drain. “Does anything in this house work the way it’s supposed to?” he asked.

  “Nope.” Becca grinned. And wasn’t that the truth. After the morning he’d had, it made him want to hit something.

  “I’m going to head up to my room and play some guitar,” he said when they finished putting the dishes away. “I’ll see you later.” A little strumming was what his soul needed. Anything to take his mind off this house and this town and the damn inhabitants who were driving him crazy.

  Especially the one who made him laugh and want to kiss her, and lied to his face about her name.

  Yeah, especially Maddie Clark.

  * * *

  “Come in,” Maddie called to her niece and nephew, flinging the door wide open with a grin on her face. Little Grace threw herself at Maddie, who just about managed to catch her without getting winded. Carter hung back, a shy smile on his face as he pulled at the collar of his shirt. “Hey bud,” Maddie said, ruffling his light brown hair. “You’re looking dapper.”

  “What’s dapper?” he asked.

  “It means fancy. But old-fashioned fancy. It’s how guys used to dress when they knew how to woo a woman.”

  “What’s a woo?” Grace asked as she climbed down from Maddie’s hold. “Is it something to do with witches?”

  “Are you confusing my children again?” Ashleigh asked as she walked up the steps to where Maddie was standing.

  “Mom, what’s a woo?” Grace asked her, scratching the top of her blonde hair.

  Ashleigh’s confused eyes met Maddie’s. “I was telling her about wooing,” Maddie said. “Like in the old days.”

  “Wooing is when a man
decides to make a woman feel happy,” Ashleigh said, rolling her eyes at Maddie. “But it’s not a word either of you will need for a long time. Now go inside and see Gramma. I want to talk to Aunt Maddie for a minute.”

  Maddie stepped aside so Grace and Carter could slip by, their shoes hammering against the wooden floor as they ran to the kitchen. She could hear the deep tones of her mom greeting them, followed by the higher pitch of the childrens’ responses.

  “Is everything okay?” Maddie asked her sister.

  Ashleigh was looking beautiful as always. Her pale blonde hair was pulled into a low chignon, and the simple lines of her navy dress flattered her slim frame. Maddie felt like a mess standing next to her, wearing only a tank and jeans, but what was new about that?

  She’d always been in Ashleigh’s shadow. It was something she’d come to accept over time. Laugh about, even. And if occasionally she wished people didn’t compare them quite so much, well that was okay, wasn’t it?

  Ashleigh patted the back of her hair. “Any news in town?” she asked with an innocent expression. “Anything I should know about?”

  Maddie shrugged. “Like what?”

  “I heard Gray was at church today, causing an uproar. I wondered if you saw anything from the diner?”

  For a moment, Maddie froze. Did Ashleigh know about their escape? Or even worse about the near-kiss? “Like what?” she said, keeping her voice as even as she could.

  “I don’t know. I just thought I’d ask.” Ashleigh looked pensive. “Do you think I should go to see him?”

  Maddie blinked. “Why would you want to do that?” Her stomach felt strange. Like there was liquid heating up inside it.

  Ashleigh shrugged. “I was the love of his life once. We dated for three years. It seems rude if I don’t at least say hello, doesn’t it?” Her voice dropped. “Unless you think it might give him the wrong impression?”

  Maddie’s fingers curled into her palm. “Wouldn’t that upset Michael?” she asked. Ashleigh’s husband didn’t seem like the jealous type, but then again, Maddie wasn’t sure what type he really was. Whenever she saw him he was always so quiet, as though he didn’t want to be at whatever event they were attending. He was ten years older than Ashleigh – which made him sixteen years older than Maddie – and she couldn’t think of one thing they had in common apart from Ashleigh and their children.

  “What kind of impression would it give?” Ashleigh asked, laughing. “It’s not as though I’ve been pining after him for all this time. I’m married, after all. And I’m hoping he’s gotten over me, too. It’s been more than ten years since we ended things.”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie replied, still feeling off. “The whole thing just feels weird, you know?”

  “Why do you feel weird? You hardly knew him. You were still a little kid when he left town.” Ashleigh shook her pretty head. “Honestly, Maddie, you don’t need to worry about me. I just want to do whatever’s right. I don’t want everybody talking about me, thinking I was rude if I don’t visit. But then, I also don’t want them saying I was desperate to see him, either.” She let out a sigh.

  Appearances were always important to Ashleigh, even as a kid. She’d been the prettiest girl at school, the head cheerleader, and of course, her boyfriend had been the one all the other girls lusted after.

  Sometimes it felt that life came so much easier to her big sister than it did to Maddie. Most of the time she found that funny. But occasionally it hurt, like somebody jabbing an old wound.

  The same way thinking about her sister going to see Gray Hartson was like a scratch to her heart.

  “I should go,” Ashleigh said, leaning forward to hug Maddie. “Thanks for looking after the monkeys. We should be back around eight. Are you okay to get them in their pajamas? It’ll make bedtime so much easier.”

  “Of course. I’ll get them showered and all ready for bed.” Maddie kissed Ashleigh’s cheek. “Have a good time.”

  “Thank you. I’ll see you later.” She leaned into the house and called out. “Grace, Carter, I’m leaving. Be good for your aunt and Gramma.”

  “Bye, Mom!” Grace and Carter shouted, not bothering to come out of the kitchen.

  Then Ashleigh was walking down the front steps, her high heels clicking on the stone steps as she went.

  Maddie watched her and touched the back of her own head, wincing when she felt how loose her braid was and how many hairs had escaped from it. She quickly pulled her hand away, shaking her head at herself.

  There was no point in trying to compete with her beautiful sister. She’d learned that lesson long ago.

  * * *

  After dinner with his family, and more jibing from Tanner about climbing over fences, Gray headed back to his room, claiming jetlag, but really he’d wanted to be alone.

  He still couldn’t get over the fact that it was Maddie Clark who helped him escape from church. When the hell did she grow up? But more importantly, why had she lied about who she was?

  She knew who he was. She’d admitted as much, when they were trying to climb over that damn wall.

  He’d tried to distract himself by playing his guitar. He had an album of songs to write and a studio booked in four months’ time, yet his fingers didn’t seem to be working. It was like he’d forgotten how to write music, to lay one note next to each other until it became a melody. Instead, each time he strummed it sounded wrong.

  So wrong.

  He’d put his guitar away and showered, then lay down in bed, trying to remember why he’d come back here in the first place.

  Because you promised your sister. And your father’s sick.

  Oh yeah, and the fact he hadn’t been back to Hartson’s Creek in forever. In the end, sleep seemed preferable to overthinking, but like everything else in his life it was stubborn.

  It was a few hours later that the first drip came. It barely registered in his slumbering mind. The second worked its way into his dream as rain. But it was the third that woke him up.

  Not that it was only a drip. More of a flood pouring down from the ceiling and drenching everything in its wake – including Gray and his bed.

  He sat up, spitting water out of his mouth and blinking it out of his eyes, his brows pulled together as he tried to work out what the hell was going on. The water continued to pour onto the dent in the pillow where his head had been, and he followed it to the source – a hole in the plastered ceiling that revealed half-rotten beams and a rusty pipe.

  A rusty pipe with a hole in it.

  He jumped out of bed and looked around for a bucket, a bowl, anything he could put under the deluge. “Tanner!” he called out. “There’s a leak in the ceiling. Help me out.”

  “Wha?” Tanner asked, running into his bedroom, clad only in a pair of pajama pants. That was one up on Gray, who was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts, and running around to try to find a goddamned bowl.

  “Where is it?” Becca appeared carrying a bucket, thank the Lord. He and Tanner pulled the bed across the room then settled the bucket under the leak.

  “Where’s the water shut off?” Gray asked.

  “Under the kitchen sink.”

  He ran down to the kitchen, Becca and Tanner following close behind. As they passed Aunt Gina’s room, she pulled open the door. “What’s going on?” she asked them.

  “Another leak. Gray’s room this time,” Becca told her aunt.

  Another? This time?

  Gray knelt down in front of the sink, yanking the painted wooden cupboards open and pulling out the cleaning bottles that were stored there, then leaned forward to turn the shut-off valve. It was stubborn and rusted, and his arm ached from reaching at an awkward angle. But eventually it turned, and he sat back with a sigh.

  “When did you get that tattoo?” Becca asked, taking in the ink on Gray’s body.

  He looked down at his chest and the black scrolling tribal tattoos that radiated from his chest to his upper arms. “A while back.” The design had taken over a year,
intricately planned with his tattoo artist who’d flown into whatever country he’d been touring in at the time. From the moment he’d felt the first needle puncture his skin it had felt right. Like layering up his armor, protecting himself.

  “It’s pretty,” Becca said, following the design around. “But don’t let Dad see it. He wasn’t keen on your second album cover.”

  “Yeah, well I kind of had to bleach my eyes myself,” Tanner said, grinning. All those billboards in New York with my brother’s naked body staring down at me. They gave me nightmares.”

  “Do you regret them?” Becca asked him, ignoring Tanner.

  “Nope. In my list of regrets, they’re lingering right at the bottom.” Gray shrugged. “Now, do you have a number for the emergency plumber? We need to get these pipes replaced.”

  Chapter Eight

  “What do you mean he won’t get all the pipes replaced?” Gray asked, his voice tight. “It’s crazy to replace one piece of pipe when you know the whole thing is rusting. How many leaks have you had in the last year?”

  “A few.” Aunt Gina shrugged. “But you know your father. He’s stubborn. And he didn’t like any of the quotes he received for the work.”

  They were sitting at the breakfast table, Gray sipping hot coffee from an old chipped mug. It was strange how many things needed repairing around here. Not just the roof and the plumbing and the peeling paintwork outside, but the kitchen and the bathrooms were still the same as from when he was growing up. It was as if nothing had been touched for years.

  “How much is it?” Gray asked. “I’ll get the money wired over. You should have told me before. You know I would have taken care of this. I’ll arrange for somewhere for us all to stay while the pipes are being replaced.”

  It made him mad that they hadn’t asked him for help.

  “I couldn’t,” Aunt Gina said, pressing her lips together.

  “Dad wouldn’t let her,” Becca told him as she poured herself a mug of coffee. They’d had to fill the coffee maker from the outside tap, along with the pans on the stove that were boiling, ready to clean up after breakfast.