The Way Home

by Eliana West

  “I don’t mean to be rude but your ancestors had terrible taste,” Jo said, standing back to look at the red paper with gold and purple flowers on the wall.

  “I’ve made a career out of historic preservation but I don’t think anyone would want this to be salvaged. This is going to make a great episode for the show.”

  “You might need to put up a content warning for people to shield their eyes.”

  Taylor threw his head back and laughed.

  By the time they finished cleaning up, his stomach was starting to rumble.

  “I don’t know about you but I’m ready to dig into some of that casserole Tillie brought.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  They warmed up the dinner and decided to eat out on the veranda. Jo propped herself against one of the pillars at the top of the stairs with her legs crossed. Taylor mirrored her, sitting against the opposite pillar.

  “This is nice. I can see why so many houses have front porches around here,” Jo said.

  “I always pictured having this veranda lined with rocking chairs and spending summer evenings out here.”

  He looked over at the long wide expanse, picturing a row of rocking chairs and ferns hanging above the railing. He blinked and shook his head when Jo sitting next to him holding his hand was added to the picture. He opened his eyes. Jo was watching him with a curious expression.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s been a long day.” He took a bite of the casserole and groaned. “Tillie’s food is one of the things I always miss about Colton.”

  “What about your family?”

  “My parents live in Atlanta. Uncle Robert, Dax and my other cousins are the only family I have here now that my grandparents are gone.”

  “What about your brother, where does he live?”

  “Dylan is an ER doc in Memphis. I’m hoping he’ll come down to visit now that I’m here. What about you, do you have any family that will be coming to visit?”

  “My parents are excited to come down. My dad is looking forward to connecting with a whole new branch of the family he didn’t know about.”

  “And, do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “One of each.” She sighed.

  “Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good.”

  She gave him a small smile. “My brother and sister are twins. They have that whole twin-bond thing going on and I’ve always been the odd one out.”

  “Ah.” Taylor nodded. “Does that mean they won’t be coming for a visit?”

  Jo laughed. “They wouldn’t be caught dead in a small town, and especially not one in the South.”

  “There’s a lot of stereotypes about the region. Some are justified but a lot aren’t true.”

  “I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first came,” she admitted. “But I really like it here. There’s a sense of community that I didn’t really have back in Chicago. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s…peaceful here.”

  “I feel the same way—this place is special.” He finished his meal and clasped his hands in front of him. “Can I ask you a question?”

  She nodded, biting her lip.

  He took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t be angry with him for asking but he needed to know. “Why did you want Halcyon so much? I mean you’d never been to Colton until just a few months ago. What changed?”

  A shadow of sadness passed over her face.

  “I grew up in a loving home, with great parents but I never really felt…settled. I wish I could explain it, but the moment I saw a picture of Halcyon I had to come here. It sparked something in my soul.” She bit her lip and looked away. “It’s hard to explain but I thought if I didn’t feel a sense of home with my family, maybe I would find it here with my ancestors.”

  He looked at her in surprise. Jo didn’t strike him as the kind of person who felt like an outcast in their own family.

  “Would you believe me if I said I know how you feel? I never fit in with my family but I always felt at home here, too.”

  Their eyes met and he saw understanding and compassion in her gaze.

  She sighed. “Taylor, we both want what’s best for Halcyon. We might not always agree on how to move forward but if we keep that in mind…I don’t know, maybe we can figure out a way to make this partnership work.”

  “Damn it.” Taylor ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t want to like you.”

  Jo smiled. “I didn’t want to like you either.”

  “Just another thing we have in common.” He smiled back.

  Jo looked at him. Her eyes were way to expressive in the moonlight. He watched mesmerized as she took a bite of her pie and then as her tongue darted out to lick a crumb off her full pink lip. He’d lied when he told Jo that he didn’t want to like her—it was more than that. He had already moved past being friends with Jo to wanting something more.

  Chapter Seven

  The quiet that came from it being just the two of them in the house was completely shattered when the film crew arrived. Jo hovered in the doorway for a moment, taking in all of the activity in the kitchen.

  Taylor sat on a stool in a corner, sneezing while a young woman dusted powder on his face. There were people scattered all over the room with different types of equipment.

  Taylor saw her and waved her over.

  “Jo, let me introduce you to Chloe Michaels.”

  The young woman with a short pixie cut that made her already light amber eyes look even bigger than they were greeted Jo with a friendly smile.

  Jo shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope you all are getting settled in okay.”

  “Yep, no problems—I wish we didn’t have to stay in Greenwood though. Colton is such a cute little town. I’m looking forward to exploring it more,” she said, reaching for the hairspray.

  “I have to admit that’s one of the things I like about this place, no hotels or big malls,” Jo said.

  Chloe patted a stray hair on Taylor’s head back into place. “Tessa was saying that you might turn this place into a boutique hotel.”

  Jo stiffened and looked at Taylor in surprise. That wasn’t something he’d ever mentioned. Was he making plans behind her back?

  Taylor frowned. “That’s not something we talked about—you must have misunderstood.”

  There was a flash of something in Chloe’s eyes that looked like she wanted to disagree but the young woman smiled and said, “I’m sure you’re right.”

  “Nothing is going to happen with the house unless Jo and I agree. We’re partners fifty-fifty.” Taylor gave her a warm smile that made her heart flutter.

  “At least for now,” a woman said walking up with a bright smile. “I’m Taylor’s producer Tessa Caldwell.” She shook Jo’s hand.

  Jo flinched slightly when Tessa tightened her grip a little more than necessary.

  She pulled her hand out of Tessa’s grasp with a frown and stepped back. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  She looked completely out of place in her silk blouse and high-end jeans. Jo bit back a laugh when she noticed Tessa’s high heels. Her hair fell in perfect light brown waves and her green eyes looked her over with anything but friendliness.

  “Excuse me but, Taylor, we need you,” Tessa said.

  “Just a minute.”

  Tessa hesitated for a second before she walked away.

  Chloe stepped back. “I’m finished here.”

  “Thanks, Chloe.”

  “It was nice to meet you,” Jo said.

  Chloe gave her a warm smile and said, “I hope we have a chance to get to know each other better.”

  Taylor turned to her after Chloe left. “Sorry it’s so chaotic around here.”

  “That’s okay; it’s part of your job.”

  “Are you going to stay and watch the filming?”

  “I was going to go to work so I’d be out of your way.”

  Taylor’s face fell. “Oh.”

  Jo realized he wanted her to be there. She remembered what he said
about his parents not approving of his career and began to understand that behind the confidence Taylor wanted approval.

  “I don’t have to go in today. I can stay if you want.”

  “Great.” Taylor broke into a smile that lit up his eyes. “We’re filming a lot of promo stuff and setup shots. It will be fun.”

  He called Chloe back over. “Would you mind hanging out with Jo today?”

  “Sure.”

  “Chloe will be able to answer any questions that you have.”

  He surprised her when he reached out and gave her hand a quick squeeze before he left to go talk to Tessa.

  “It always takes a while to get set up for the first shot so you’ll have time before they’re ready,” Chloe explained.

  “How long have you worked for the show?”

  “This is my second season. I was really lucky to get this job. The former hair and makeup person is a friend of mine and recommended me. It was a good way to get my foot in the door. I’m hoping to get a position as a production assistant someday.”

  “Wow, that’s really great.”

  There was a commotion coming from the front hall and Chloe glanced over her shoulder. “It looks like they’re almost ready.”

  “The guy with the lights is called a gaffer,” Chloe explained.

  They were standing off to the side watching while the cameraman set up his shot. Tessa was talking to Taylor, pointing out something on her tablet when she noticed them.

  When the cameraman came over to ask Taylor a question, Tessa marched over to where they were standing.

  She looked at Jo with an annoyed expression. “We really can’t have any distractions. It would be better if you could leave while we’re working.”

  “Taylor asked Jo to stay,” Chloe said.

  “I’ll deal with Taylor. You need to remember you work for me,” she snapped.

  The last thing Jo wanted to do was to get Chloe into any kind of trouble but she also didn’t want to disappoint Taylor.

  She was just about to make an excuse to leave when Taylor came over. “This is great—you’ll be able to see everything from here.”

  Jo couldn’t figure out if he didn’t see the look of annoyance on Tessa’s face or if he was ignoring it. Either way the look was gone, replaced by a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” she said linking her arm through his and leading Taylor away.

  “Sorry about that,” Chloe muttered.

  Before she could say anything more someone shouted for quiet.

  Taylor stood in the main hallway under the dusty chandelier. He was wearing his trademark outfit but this time he had a History Reborn T-shirt on under a gray plaid shirt.

  The moment someone said, “And, action,” he broke into the smile that won him a legion of fans and he looked directly at the camera.

  “Hi, I’m Taylor Colton and welcome to History Reborn.”

  He was good at his job, really good. Jo watched transfixed as he moved around the different rooms in the house, giving his audience a glimpse of the projects that he would be featuring on the upcoming season of the show.

  “What do you think?” Taylor asked when they stopped for lunch.

  “You were great. I don’t know how you do it. I’d be flubbing my lines and making all sorts of weird faces instead of having such a nice smile.”

  Taylor’s eyes lit up. “I have a nice smile?”

  Jo winced. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you have a good smile for television. I mean you have a way of smiling at the camera that people like.” She slapped her palm on her forehead. “This isn’t coming out right.”

  Taylor’s lips quirked. “I’ll take the compliment, thanks.”

  “How much more will you have to do today?”

  “Not much actually—just a few more shots after lunch and then some production meetings to go over the schedule for the rest of the week.”

  “Thank you for inviting me to watch. I had fun. I’m going to head into town and work for a little while. I promised Mae I’d help her with upgrades to the computers at city hall with any spare time I have after I finish my projects for Dax.

  “Can you have lunch before you go?”

  Tessa came into the kitchen. “That would be nice but I’m afraid Taylor and I have a lot of production notes we need to go over.”

  Jo fought the urge to roll her eyes. “That’s fine—like I said I have work to do. We can catch up later when I come home.” She made sure to look Tessa straight in the eye when she said the word home.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Taylor said.

  Since she didn’t get to have lunch before she left Jo stopped at the Catfish Café first.

  Tillie was chatting with two Black men. She’d already met Isiah, the town’s new sheriff. But she hadn’t met the older man wearing a firefighter uniform.

  “Well, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today,” Tillie said when she took a seat at the counter.

  “I promised Mae some help with a new computer system for the town.”

  “How did it go this morning?”

  “Pretty good—it’s strange having the house full of people all of a sudden.”

  Tillie nodded. “What can I get you?”

  “Can I please have a glass of tea and a meat loaf sandwich?”

  “Coming right up.”

  “Jo, I’ve been wanting to introduce you to Nate Colton, the head of our one-man fire department,” Isiah said.

  “Soon to be two men, I’ve got someone new starting next week,” Nate said holding out his hand.

  Jo shook the older man’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to meeting the young lady who is brave enough to take on Halcyon.”

  Jo ducked her head. “I’m definitely not brave—moving here was kind of an impulse decision.”

  “What are your plans once you get it fixed up?”

  “To be honest, I haven’t thought past living in it. I know I don’t want to run a bed-and-breakfast. I want this to be a home first, a place for family and friends to gather.”

  “Fair enough—you’re young and you got plenty of time.” Nate nodded with a smile.

  Jo chatted with Nate and Isiah over lunch. It was eye-opening learning about the challenges of being first responders in a small town with limited resources. She walked over to Mae’s office thinking about ways she could help besides working with Mae to select new computer equipment.

  “May I help you?” Mae’s office assistant, Grace, peered over the top of her reading glasses at Jo when she walked in.

  “Hi, I have an appointment to see the mayor.”

  Grace pursed her lips “And your name is?”

  Mae stuck her head out of her office door. “You know who she is, Grace.” She smiled and waved Jo toward her office. “Come on back.”

  Mae shut her door the minute Jo walked in and leaned against it and groaned. “That woman is going to drive me crazy.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “She’s decided that because I’m young and Black I need to learn how to act—” Mae crooked her fingers into air quotes “—properly.”

  “Oh no, I’m sorry.”

  “She insists on running the office like it’s Buckingham Palace. Everything has to be so still and formal. That’s just not my style.”

  “Definitely not.” Jo chuckled.

  “I’ve been dying to see you and hear about how it went having the film crew at the house this morning.”

  “It went pretty well, better than I hoped for. It was fun watching Taylor and seeing everything that goes into filming the show.”

  “Do you think you’ll get along with the crew okay?”

  “I think so.”

  Mae cocked her head. “That doesn’t sound very confident.”

  “His producer is…I just met her so I don’t want to be judgy but she was kind of a bitch.”

  “Ugh, that’s not good,�
� Mae said.

  “The way Taylor described her I thought she’d be different. She acted almost like a jealous girlfriend.”

  “Well, is she?”

  Jo frowned. “Taylor said she was his best friend but now that I think about it I don’t think he ever said they weren’t dating.”

  Her heart tinged with disappointment. When Taylor had grabbed her hand that morning she’d thought she felt a spark between them but maybe she was wrong. She must have misread the signs—it wouldn’t be the first time. Oliver proved she shouldn’t trust her instincts when it came to men.

  “Taylor’s personal life is none of my business.” She shrugged.

  “Maybe not, but it’s not going to make it very pleasant if you’ve got a jealous girlfriend in the house.”

  Jo sighed. Mae had a point. She’d have to ask Taylor about it when she got home. It would be better to clear the air now than have things get awkward later on.

  She put her thoughts about Taylor and Tessa aside for now. “Enough about that. Let’s talk about how we bring this office into the twenty-first century.”

  Mae glanced at the ancient fax machine in the corner and groaned. “Good luck with that.”

  They spent the next couple of hours working on a plan to update the ancient equipment and making sure what they planned to purchase would integrate with the county and state systems. It felt good to be needed, like her work mattered. It may not be a big project like she used to take on but she was getting much more satisfaction knowing that what she was doing would make a difference in the lives of the people in Colton. With updated systems the town would run more efficiently and be able to provide more services to the community.

  “I can’t believe no one has updated any of this before now,” Jo said when they finished.

  “Well the old town council didn’t have the town’s best interests at heart and they weren’t really interested in growing with the times. It’s amazing to me how some people can be so resistant to change.”

  Just then Grace opened the door. “Mayor Colton, may I remind you that you have an appointment with the county assessor. I am sure Mr. Baker’s time is very valuable. We wouldn’t want to waste it, now would we?”