I'm excited to announce that A Love That Leads Home is available now!
It is set in a fictional town in Idaho called Nearlake, and
is the third and final book in my series centered on three friends: Sadie, Charlie, and Anne.
This book is about Anne.
After graduation, Anne Avery left Nearlake and never looked back. More than happy to get away from an angry, alcoholic father and a small town that she felt did nothing but judge her, she created a life for herself. Her decision meant turning away from her first love, but it was clear she would never be good enough for him anyway.
After her mother falls and is injured, Anne returns to Nearlake for what she believes will be a short visit, but as her life unravels, her past catches up with her.
Chase Coulter, the oldest son of a founding family, is considered the "golden boy" of Nearlake. Content with life, owning and running a Dude Ranch, he finds his world turns sideways with Anne's return. The one who got away. The one who broke his heart. The one he never should have let go of.
As Chase attempts to come to terms with his feelings while treading carefully with hers, he hopes for a future with Anne.
Excerpt from A Love That Leads Home
Anne said hello to the ranch hands as she made her way to Jackson’s stall.
“Hey, handsome,” she said when she reached the door. The horse looked her way, then walked over, his head poking out over the stall door. She rubbed a hand down his face, her fingers along his soft nose.
She’d had a fleeting thought when she was looking at spreadsheets that one way to ease a bit of any financial strain would be to sell Jackson. The idea of it now caused tears to fall from her eyes. She placed her forehead against his and sobbed. The velvety texture of his face against her hands soothed her soul. He was worth a lot of money, yet her heart tore apart in her chest at the thought of letting him go.
The scuff of boots on the cement floor brought her from her thoughts. With her eyes closed and her head against Jackson’s forehead, she didn’t have to look to know Chase was nearby.
“Annie.”
“I can’t do it, Chase. I just can’t,” she said. She’d cried so much the past few weeks, she didn’t think she had any tears left. Yet, they flowed like a river.
She felt his hand on her back and turned into his open arms. Her head against his chest, his arms wrapped around her, she cried until she could hardly breathe.
He rubbed a hand up and down her back, his chin resting on top of her head. “Breathe, Annie. Focus on my breathing. I breathe; you breathe. I breathe; you breathe. Okay?”
She did as he said, the scent of pine and dust and horse and all that was uniquely Chase filled her senses. As her breath began to match his, she began to calm down.
“Better?” He held her away from him just enough to look into her eyes, his hands holding her upper arms.
She nodded.
He pulled her to him again and held her close.
“What is it you feel you can’t do, Annie?” he asked.
“I can’t sell Jackson,” she said.
He held her away from him again and looked at her. “Now, why would you go and do a thing like that?”
“Because I need the money.”
There. She’d said it. While Chase was aware that she didn’t get much in the divorce settlement, she’d never said a number, and whether from pride or shame or some of both, she wanted to figure things out herself.
She turned from him and back toward Jackson. “If I want to move on with my life and make sure my mom is okay, I don’t have the finances to do that.”
“To do that and leave Nearlake, you mean,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
She nodded.
“Is it really so bad here, Annie?”
She looked at him.
He ran a hand down his face. “I promised myself I wouldn’t say this, but I’m breaking that promise. I want you to stay. I do. Having you in my life again has been like having a light switched back on. Everything is brighter. And whenever you talk about your life away from here, you get sad, you retreat, and make yourself small. But here,” he waved a hand around. “Here, you ride like the wind on horseback with a huge grin on your face. You laugh. You smile. Your mom is here. Your friends are here.” He scuffed a boot on the ground and dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m here. Are those things not enough for you to stay?”
Her heart broke in her chest. He looked so like he did all those years ago when she told him she wanted to leave. Back then, she’d felt as if he was the only reason for her to stay, and she still chose to go. Tears formed again at the thought of how that had broken his heart. It had broken hers, too.
Unable to look at Chase, she turned to Jackson and rubbed his nose.
“Annie. I love you. I do.”
Her heart lurched in her chest as she looked at him.
“Lord help me, it’s true.”
His frustration palpable, he ran a hand down his face and rubbed his chin, then turned and walked out of the stable.
She watched him go. As much as she wanted to run after him, tell him how she felt, she stood still. How could she when she had no idea how to articulate the jumble of emotions inside of her? She rested her head on Jackson’s nose and sighed.
