Where She Belongs (Destiny Falls)

  WHERE SHE BELONGS

  A Destiny Falls Novel

  Cindy Procter-King

  Published by

  Blue Orchard Books

  Copyright © 2012 Cindy Procter-King

  All rights reserved

  Kindle Edition

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright Notice

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles. This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Where She Belongs Publishing History:

  December 2012 Blue Orchard Books – eBook and Trade Paperback

  March 2012 AudioLark – Audibook

  December 2011 Five Star/Cengage/Gale – Library-edition hardcover

  Cover by The Killion Group

  Formatting by Hale Author Services

  About this Story

  She never wants to go home again.

  For Jess Morgan, Destiny Falls holds too many painful memories. Nine years ago, a logging accident near the remote timber town killed her dad and her high school sweetheart. To make matters worse, her mother quickly sought comfort with another man. That choice tore Jess apart and drove her to seek a life far away. But now fate steps in, and family obligations force her return home. Before long, she’s convinced that persuading her mom to live with her in Toronto will repair their shattered bond. However, she doesn’t count on a long-ago friend re-entering her life and challenging her convictions.

  Rugged forester Adam Wright believes in family, roots, and not running from heartache. Now, all he wants is to help Jess break down the walls of the lonely sanctuary she’s built for herself and heal her past hurts. It’s not until she rejects his plans for their future that he realizes his persistence is pushing her away—not at all what he intends.

  Has he lost his chance? Or can he convince Jess that where she truly belongs is with him... forever?

  In memory of Andy, brother of my heart. Taken too soon.

  June 1, 1956 — July 22, 1981

  Chapter One

  JESS MORGAN SCANNED the arrivals area of the small British Columbia airport. Her best friend was supposed to have met her at the luggage carousel thirty minutes ago. Granted, Jess hadn’t visited in ages, but it wasn’t like Molly Davis to be late.

  Especially under these circumstances. Pete’s heart attack. The funeral. Jess’s mother left alone to deal with both.

  A headache battered Jess’s temples as the exhaustion of the cross-country flight fell over her. Heels tapping, she wheeled her suitcase to a kiosk advertising North Thompson Valley attractions: whitewater rafting, helicopter skiing, and hiking and camping at majestic Destiny Falls, a few kilometers north of her hometown bearing the same name.

  And a far cry from her life in Toronto.

  Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. Destiny Falls hadn’t felt like home in years.

  Heart squeezing, she released the suitcase handle and set down her carry-on. She retrieved her cell phone from her purse. Damn it. Dead battery.

  Slipping the cell into her coat pocket, she scanned the Kamloops airport for a pay phone. A flight announcement blared over the loudspeakers. Nearby, a young mother fussed with a baby in a stroller while two little boys with her kissed their father goodbye.

  The picture of the cozy family stirred old longings inside Jess. Had she stayed in Destiny Falls—had fate not stolen the option—she could have been that woman, in love and knee-deep in diapers. And not wanting it any other way.

  Behind the young family, a phone stand beckoned. Shaking off bad memories, Jess grabbed her carry-on. A man in his early thirties jogged up, his dark blond hair buffeted by the chilly March breeze she’d felt coming off the plane.

  “Jess?”

  “Yes?” Well-worn jeans hugged his lean hips, and an ivory cotton shirt peeked from his unbuttoned jean jacket. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a square jaw and angular features, he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. A crooked white scar bisected his right eyebrow, drawing her attention to his light blue eyes.

  Wait a minute. “Adam?” She blinked. Amazing. She hadn’t seen him in thirteen, no, nearly fourteen years, considering her rapidly approaching twenty-eighth birthday.

  Memories flooded her mind from those few carefree summer weeks a lifetime ago. Adam had been visiting his aunt and uncle’s farm in Destiny Falls. The object of her first older-guy crush, he’d ignored her.

  How old had he been then? Seventeen. Which placed him at thirty-one now.

  His scar held the same rugged appeal as when he’d been seventeen.

  “Yeah, that’s right. Adam Wright.” His faded-denim gaze flicked over her. A faint buzzing spread through her—darn jet lag. “Molly sent me to get you.”

  “Oh? I was about to call her. Is she in the car?”

  “No, I’m your ride.”

  Jess frowned. Adam had lived in Kamloops the summer they’d met, but she knew from Molly’s emails that he’d moved to Destiny Falls several years ago. Why would he make the ninety-minute drive down the winding country highway when last night she’d arranged her ride with Molly?

  Her stomach pitched. “What’s wrong?”

  He pushed a hand into a front jeans pocket. “Molly stopped by your mother’s place on her way down here, then decided she should stay in Destiny Falls and keep Nora company. So she asked if I’d mind coming. Sorry I’m late, but I left as soon as she called.”

  A reasonable explanation—except Jess’s mother was very guarded. She held her grief close to her, sharing it with no one. That was how she’d dealt with Jess’s father’s death and with every other crisis in her life.

  Lines of discomfort bracketed Adam’s mouth. “Molly doesn’t want you worrying about your mom. It’ll be after ten when we get back, and she didn’t think Nora should have to wait up for you without someone there to help her pass the time.”

  Jess nodded. Her mother usually went to bed at nine. And it would be like Molly to take stock of a situation and do what she deemed best—whether the recipient of her good intentions wanted her to or not.

  “How is my mother? Did Molly say?”

  “Pete’s heart attack came without warning, Jess. It caught your mother by surprise. She talked about you at the funeral on Monday, said she’d left you a message.”

  Jess shifted on her new Italian leather pumps. A hint of censure shadowed Adam’s gaze, mirroring her thoughts of the last twenty-four hours. She should have been here for her mother. Instead of dashing around the shoe shows in Europe, gathering ideas for her upcoming buying trip, she should have been in Destiny Falls, helping Mom get through Pete’s funeral.

  “I was overseas on business.” Her need to explain herself rankled. She loved her mother, but they weren’t Norman Rockwell material, and they never truly had been. Especially not since Jess’s father had died and Pete had entered the picture. “I only returned to Toronto yesterday.”

  “To
o bad she couldn’t reach your cell or email.”

  “She didn’t try.” Her mother didn’t have the number or Jess’s email address, or any business contact info. Her poor mom had been forced to leave a message on the home answering machine in Jess’s empty apartment.

  “Yeah, well, it was a nice service. I’ve never seen that little church crammed so full. Everyone in town knew Pete.”

  “You went?” Jess picked up her carry-on. As far as she knew, Adam wasn’t well acquainted with her mom. But of course everyone in Destiny Falls knew Pete. He was—had been—the manager of the sole supermarket in the area.

  Adam nodded, reaching for her bag. His woodsy scent drifted to her. “Let me get your luggage.” Voice low, he slid the carry-on from her grasp.

  Jess drew away swiftly, nerves humming. Her purse strap slid down her arm, and she dragged it back up. “Thanks.” She wouldn’t argue. She’d spent most of the last two days on planes. She just wanted to get there already.

  He wheeled her suitcase toward the exit. “My dog’s in the truck. Hope you don’t mind. She was alone a lot today, so I didn’t want to leave her. She rides in back and won’t bother you.”

  “Um, that’s okay.” Was Adam married? Nearly everyone in Destiny Falls was.

  She glanced at his hand. He didn’t wear a ring, and Molly had never mentioned a wife or kids. But he looked like a family man, strong and capable, handsome, tall.

  She rolled her eyes. Get a grip, Jess. What did it matter if the man had eight wives? After tonight, she wouldn’t see him again. She hadn’t visited Destiny Falls since her bitter argument with Pete four Christmases ago. She had just a few days off work, postponing several meetings to make it happen.

  While she was here, her only concern was for Mom.

  The headlights of Adam’s big SUV illuminated the dirt driveway leading to the farmhouse Jess’s grandfather had built. Her hand tensed on the armrest as she struggled to contain the mixed surge of anxiety and homecoming that always assaulted her at this point. The time away hadn’t mellowed her conflicting emotions. And the long drive with Adam hadn’t helped.

  Initially, they’d exchanged idle small talk about the weather and changes in the valley. But his subtle disapproval of her—for what, missing Pete’s funeral?—had worsened her tendency to withdraw when jet-lagged.

  Eventually, he’d focused on driving while she’d stared out the passenger window, fervently wishing Molly had picked her up.

  He parked next to Molly’s red family sedan. “We’re here.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate the ride.”

  He slid her a glance. “No problem.”

  Right. She unbuckled her seatbelt. As she retrieved her purse, he opened her door. Not wanting to insult him, she accepted his help climbing out of the truck.

  “I’ll get your suitcase.” His deep voice sounded tight.

  Conscious of his assessing gaze and the warm, rough texture of his large hand, she sidestepped him, mumbling another thank-you.

  Turning, she faced the house she’d grown up in, where she’d once dreamed of Danny and babies and building a life in Destiny Falls. Her breath caught. Little had changed in four years. Fresh paint livened up the place, but it was still the same buttercup yellow with glossy white trim. A light shone at the side entrance, another on the front porch. A crescent moon glimmered above the forested mountains in a cloudless, star-studded sky.

  The late-March breeze swirled her coat around her legs. Adam stepped beside her, carrying the luggage. “Ready?”

  No.

  But she couldn’t explain her ambivalent feelings to this man she barely knew. Instead, she asked, “Do you want to let out your dog?”

  He shook his head. “Sheba’s okay in the cargo hold for now. I’m not staying long, anyway.”

  Good. He made her nervous.

  She headed to the side door, and he followed her in. She hung her coat on the row of pegs in the small mudroom.

  “Mom?” She smoothed her knit dress, releasing static that had accumulated in the SUV. “Mom? Are you down here? Molly?”

  No answer. “They must be upstairs,” she murmured.

  She entered the kitchen and set her purse on the antique pine trestle table. On the maple buffet banking the rear wall, sympathy cards and fading bouquets flanked a small bowl of potpourri. The scents of cinnamon and dried orange blossoms lifted into the air.

  Jess stared at the cards, chest tightening. Like usual, she felt like an intruder in her childhood home—Pete’s legacy. At Waverly Foods, he’d welcomed his customers with a ready smile. At home, he’d valued privacy. So much so that Jess had felt unwanted and, on her infrequent visits from university, increasingly out of place.

  “Where do you want your luggage?” Adam asked.

  “By the buffet is great, thanks.” Please leave.

  His shoes scuffed on the linoleum. Jess headed to the plaster archway that opened into the living room. Moments later, he joined her.

  Hadn’t he said he wouldn’t stay long? What did he want, a tip?

  She stepped into the living room. The huge stone fireplace and navy chintz sofa swept into view, and her stomach bottomed out. Dad.

  The last time she’d seen him, he’d been reading a newspaper in the overstuffed armchair Pete’s swivel rocker had replaced long ago. The braided area rug had disappeared, too, although her mother’s framed needlepoint designs still graced the walls and the hardwood floor gleamed.

  Closing her eyes, Jess staunched the flow of sadness. If she surrendered to memories of her father, painful visions of Danny would follow.

  Those she couldn’t handle. Not now. She had to keep them at bay.

  She called again from the bottom of the stairs. “Mom? Molly?”

  Molly appeared around the upstairs corner, wearing jeans and a simple white blouse.

  “Jess!” Red bob swinging, Molly raced down the steps. “How I wish it were under different circumstances, but, oh, Jess, it feels so good to see you again,” she said as they hugged.

  “It’s good to see you, too, Moll. You cut your hair.” Jess squeezed her best friend tightly. “I can’t believe it. I’d forgotten how short you are.”

  “That’s what you always say.” Molly turned her face toward Adam. “We were the same height when we met in grade six, but something happened to Jess in high school.”

  “Something didn’t happen to you, you mean,” he replied with a smile.

  Arrowing him a watch-it-buster glance, Molly touched Jess’s arm. “How did things go at the airport, hon? Did Adam find you okay?”

  She nodded. “Is Mom in bed?”

  “Yes, although I haven’t convinced her to try to get some sleep.”

  “That’s all right. I can see her then.”

  “She’d like that. First, though, Jess, I should tell you...” Molly’s gaze slipped to Adam. A hint of a frown firmed his mouth as unspoken communication passed between the cousins.

  “Tell me what, Moll?”

  “It’s just that your mother...” Molly sighed. “She’s taking Pete’s death pretty hard, not at all like she usually... I don’t know... conducts herself, I guess.”

  “What? Why didn’t you say so last night?” What was going on?

  “Jess, she’ll be okay now that you’re here.”

  Jess didn’t wait around to hear any more. She raced up the stairs and took the hall to the right. Hand over her heart, she peeked into the master bedroom. Her mom sat up in the old double bed, plump pillows supporting her back against the iron headboard. Her ruffle-necked nightgown made her look small and fragile. Red splotched her cheeks, aging her beyond her fifty-nine years.

  “Mom?” Jess gripped the cold glass doorknob. The closet door stood open, Pete’s clothes in plain view. His glasses and wallet lay on the pine dresser, as if in wait for his return.

  “Jessie?” Her mom’s voice broke as she glanced up. “Oh, Jessie, at last, you’re home!” Eyes brimming with tears, she held her arms open.

 
Jess raced to the bed and hugged her mother over the layers of pale yellow sheets and a wedding-band-patterned quilt. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. I’m here, Mom. I’m here.” The words were like a litany she didn’t quite believe. Not once had she seen her mother like this after her father died.

  Her mom sobbed against her shoulder. “Jessie, I don’t know what to do! Peter was my world. I’m all alone now.”

  “You’re not alone, Mom. I’m here for you.” She sat on the bed and pushed the short, graying, brown curls off her mother’s moist forehead.

  “B-bless you. Molly has been wonderful. Everyone has been so kind. But it’s not the same—it could never be—as having my Jessie-girl home again.”

  The pet name from childhood touched her. “I came as soon as I could.” Obviously, not soon enough.

  “I know, and I’m grateful. But it’s been f-far too long.” Red-rimmed hazel eyes searched Jess’s face. “I know we’ve had our d-differences. It was difficult for you to accept Peter, and that always put a strain between us. But I want you to know how much I need you, Jessie. I want—”

  “Oh, Mom. We’ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow, all right? Right now you need your rest.”

  Her mother nodded. Jess hugged her for several silent moments, stroking her soft curls, listening to her ragged breathing. She smelled of talcum powder and floral-scented soap... and childhood memories.

  When the world had been safe and secure, free of heartache.

  Everything had changed. Everything. Why hadn’t she let her mother know how to reach her? Why had she allowed the troubles of the past to taint their relationship for so long?

  Her eyes burned. Why had her mother done likewise? Dad’s and Danny’s deaths had been a hundred times more horrific than Pete’s. Yet it had taken the loss of a man Jess hadn’t even liked for her mother to open up.

  To break down.

  The bedroom door creaked behind them. Molly’s quiet voice drifted in. “Excuse me, Jess? Mrs. Olson?”

  Jess blinked back hot tears. “Come in, Moll.” She pulled several tissues from the box on the nightstand and passed them to her mom.