Page 23 of No Place Like Home
I choked on that last thought and grabbed at my glass of water.
“You okay, baby?” my mother asked.
“Yeah.” I pounded on my chest. “Just went down the wrong way.”
I’ve always told Summer I loved her, and I did. She was my best friend. We’ve always been there for each other. Why did that bother me now?
“So, Rowan, let’s change the subject,” Terry said. “How long you home for? Do you have to go back right after the wedding?”
“That’s right, Terry, you didn’t hear,” my mother said. “Rowan’s home for good.” A scowl crossed her face. “He’s taken his life-long dream of a military career and flushed it down the toilet like the shit he pushed out this morning.”
“Seriously, Tonya? We’re eating here.” Summer flapped her fork in the air and gestured toward her plate.
“You’re fine, Summer. Don’t act like you have a weak stomach.”
“Mom, it’s not a big deal.” She opened her mouth to reply, but I interrupted, sharp and direct. “No. I understand you’re irritated with me because I didn’t tell you my plans.”
I placed my fork on my plate. “It happened so fast. My time to re-enlist came up, and I’d been considering getting out, because the fun of the military was waning. I’m not a kid anymore. I want to settle down and have a family.” I hesitated and kept my eyes on my mother. I sure didn’t want to say exactly when and why I decided to come home. Not to my mother. And glancing at Summer might give away too much. “So, when it came time, I decided I didn’t want to stay in.”
My mother’s look was full of concern. “It’s all good, Momma. And you’ll get to see me every day. Hell, I can stay here with you if you want.”
“Are you sure you’re happy with your decision?” she asked in a soft voice.
I reached over and grabbed her hand. “Yes, Momma, definitely. I’ve been gone since I was eighteen, and I’ve missed so much. I need to be home. There’s nowhere else I want to be.”
I glanced quickly at Summer. Her eyes met mine and we held on to each other’s gaze for a beat. I gave her a smile, and she answered it with a small one of her own.
“Well, then,” my mom said, “I’m glad you’re home.” She squeezed my hand.
I felt the love of my mother radiate through me. Coming home was a good thing. Maybe I really should move in with her, even if it was just for a short time. It would be nice to wake up and have her cook for me, and to be here at the end of the day. I’d been gone too long.
“But you can’t stay here,” she said quickly and started eating again.
I stared at her, shocked. “Why? You have two extra bedrooms.”
“Nope. I don’t. One is filled with tons of stuff for the wedding, and the other I have to get ready for your Uncle Nigel. He’s staying with me now that Summer’s taking up Kora’s house. He’ll be here Friday.” She took another bite of lasagna and chewed before she continued. “So, you’ll just have to stay on the couch at Kora’s with Summer.”
And there it was. I’d been thrown out of my childhood home. I guess it was back to sharing a bed with Summer.
Chapter 12
Summer
We had just left Tonya’s and were on our way back to our house. Well, notourhouse. Kora’s. Whatever. Dinner delicious, as usual. I always loved being asked to stay for dinner growing up and was envious of Tonya’s relationship with her boys and with Kora. The way she cared and loved on them made me despise my mother even more, since the only one she ever cared about after my dad left was herself. Tonya was always cordial to me—hell, she’d let me spend the night with Rowan without ever questioning us, and over the years she’d had her way of letting me know what she thought about a guy I was dating, or the latest color of my hair.
Even though she grated on my last nerve most of the time, she seemed to know when something was bothering me and showed concern in her own way. Her heart was in the right place, though her mouth didn’t always follow.
Tonight was no different. I caught her eyeing us a few times. Her scrunched brows projected to the room that she was concentrating on whatever was going on between us.
Damn. I’d worked so hard to get over my feelings for Rowan. Spent years convincing myself I was fine with being in the friend zone. Even talked myself into believing that what I’ve been feeling toward him since he came home was just infatuation. Harmless. Temporary. Nothing I couldn’t ignore.
But the second I’d stepped into that kitchen, an awareness of him hit me like a wave I never saw coming, stealing the air from my lungs. Every nerve ending woke up, tuned into him—sharp, restless, impossible to shut off.
God, it bothered me, and not in the way it should have.
“Here let me carry that,” Rowan said as he tried to take the plastic container filled with Tonya’s famous lemon pound cake with cream cheese glaze from my hands.
“I’ve got it.” I jerked my hand away. What did he think I was? An invalid? I could carry half a cake.
