The City Girl's Homecoming Page 3

  * * *

  When Megan was finished with her meeting at Whitaker Acres, she returned to her office. The drive had enabled her to clear her mind. There was something so peaceful about driving on roads that weren’t so congested that traveling three miles took nearly half an hour. The scenic countryside was an extra added bonus.

  She loved this little town. Only about twenty miles from downtown Raleigh, it was an easy commute to the state capital. And though it had the requisite chain stores, the town possessed a charm and personality all its own. The downtown had many small businesses that made Spring Forest unique. Snap Pop Candy Shop, Whole Bean Coffee, and Mimzi’s Ice Cream, all within walking distance of her office, had been major selling points in her decision to take the job. There was something about the small town that gave her a sense of home. It felt familiar even though she’d never been here before.

  She parked her car at the back of the converted craftsman house that served as the Sutton Law Office building and went inside.

  Emma Alvarez, the office manager and Daniel’s fiancée was at her desk when Megan arrived. She looked up. “How did it go with Bunny and Birdie?”

  “Only time will tell. Right now they’re in denial. Birdie can’t believe that Gator would steal from them. I tried to show them the proof we have, but they wouldn’t even look at it. I left copies with them. Hopefully they’ll read the files and decide to press charges.”

  Emma patted Megan’s hand. “You’ve done all you can. That’s all you can expect of yourself.”

  “I know.” Megan was silent for a moment.

  “What else happened?”

  Although they hadn’t known each other long, Emma was pretty attuned to Megan. There was no sense trying to deceive her. “I met the grumpiest man in town.”

  “Who?”

  “Cade Battle. I think he’d intended to stay for lunch until I got an invitation. Then he suddenly didn’t have time. He was just this side of rude.”

  “Rude? To you? Why?”

  Megan shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “As good as the sisters cook, missing lunch is no more than he deserved.”

  “True.” Emma’s diamond solitaire sparkled on her left ring finger, catching Megan’s eye. “It’s getting close to the big day.”

  Emma nodded. “I can hardly wait.”

  “I bet.” Megan knew firsthand the excitement that came with planning a wedding. And she knew the disappointment that came when the wedding was called off and the couple didn’t become a family. She really hoped Emma and Daniel managed to pull it off. They were good people and deserved to be happy.

  Emma glanced at the clock and shut down her computer. “I need to get going. It’s time for me to pick up the girls.”

  Emma had initially been hired by Daniel as a nanny for his three daughters. Once he realized how organized she was, he’d asked her to become his temporary office manager, working from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Somewhere in there, they’d fallen in love. Emma kept the same hours so she could be available for her soon-to-be stepdaughters.

  “See you tomorrow,” Megan said, walking to her office at the back of the building. The office was so different from the one she’d had at her New York firm. That one had been outfitted with expensive furniture. Original artwork had hung on the walls. This one was simply decorated and had a homey feel to it. While her New York office had been designed to impress clients, this office was designed to make her clients feel comfortable.

  Megan updated her case files to reflect her meeting with the sisters and then put a reminder on her calendar to follow up with them. That simple task had her once more thinking about Cade Battle and the way he looked with his shirt off. He was definitely well built. There was something about him that appealed to her on a basic level. She quickly slammed the door on that thought reminding herself that he didn’t like her. After returning calls to other clients, she turned off her computer and headed for the Main Street Grille.

  It was only a couple of blocks from the office, so she decided to walk and return for her car after she’d gotten her order.

  As expected, the Grille was doing brisk business. The food, burgers and sandwiches for lunch with typical pub offerings added to the dinner menu was anything but typical. The burgers were juicy and flavorful. The corned beef on a Kaiser roll and pastrami on rye tasted as good as the sandwiches she’d bought at her favorite deli in New York.

  She looked around. The tables and booths were filled with families enjoying a night out together and a yearning grew within her. Two children near her laughed, the sound mingling with boisterous conversation. Someone bumped into her and she looked around.

  “Sorry,” a man’s voice said.

  Megan looked up and into Cade’s face and her silly heart skipped a beat. His eyes swept over her and her skin began to tingle as if he’d actually touched her. She’d never had such a strong reaction to a man and the intensity of the feeling surprised her.

  “I didn’t see you standing there,” Cade said. A hint of something she didn’t recognize flashed in his eyes for a moment only to be replaced by coolness and indifference. He stepped away from her. Disappointment settled in her stomach.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s crowded in here.”

  He nodded then looked around as if searching for someone. Clearly he was uninclined to continue the conversation.

  “Do you come here a lot?” Megan asked. It seemed foolish to be standing there and not talk. After all, they might not be friends, but they weren’t strangers any longer.

  “Often enough.”

  That was vague. What, did he think she would stalk him by hanging around here on a regular basis hoping to see him? That wasn’t likely. Megan refused to chase a man, no matter how handsome he was or how much faster her heart beat when he was around.

  Although Megan liked the food, she didn’t dine here often. She rented a house in the historic part of town about a twenty-minute walk from the office. Although small, the house had a very nice kitchen. Most days she cooked dinner for herself and her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Crockett. The older woman had mentioned having a hankering for a steak and fries from the Grille, so Megan had decided to grab the food here today. She considered letting Cade know he was safe from her, but decided against it. Instead she marched to the counter and gave her to go order. Once placed, she stood by the front window and waited for it, refusing to look at him again. The seconds seemed to crawl until her order was ready. When her name was called, she ran to the counter and grabbed the brown bag and headed home.

  * * *

  Cade watched as Megan Jennings took her bag and left. Though he told himself not to stare, he couldn’t keep his eyes from focusing on her curvy backside as she strode from the restaurant. After their brief encounter, she hadn’t looked in his direction once, choosing to look out the window instead. Not that he wanted her attention. He didn’t.

  The last thing he wanted was to have Megan Jennings anywhere near his life. She was a city woman through and through and he didn’t need that kind of trouble. When he decided to have a relationship again, it was going to be with a nice country girl. Someone who loved the farm life as much as he did. So why was his mind suddenly filled with thoughts of Megan?

  “Who’s the girl?”

  “Nobody,” Cade said, turning to his brother. Chase must have arrived while Cade had been distracted by Megan. “Let’s grab a table.”

  “It didn’t look like nobody,” Chase said as he slid into the booth.

  “Nobody important,” Cade clarified.

  Chase laughed. “Really?”

  “Yes. I only met her today. So whatever you’re thinking, forget about it.”

  “What I was thinking is that it looks to me like a city girl has gotten your attention. Not that I have a problem with that.”

  “You’re not the one who was burned.”


  “True. But from the way you were staring, it doesn’t look as if you’ve learned your lesson.”

  Cade didn’t bother telling his brother just how wrong he was. Cade had learned his lesson good and well. He’d never let a girl like Megan near his heart again. “Forget about her. I’m sure you didn’t come all the way to Spring Forest to harass me. Let’s eat.”

  * * *

  Megan arrived at home and changed out of her work clothes into a pair of green cotton shorts and a coordinating floral top. Green had been her mother’s favorite color and Megan wore something in that color every day to honor her mother’s memory. Some days Megan missed her family so much her heart actually ached. Wearing green helped her feel closer to her mother.

  Megan grabbed the bag containing dinner then walked across the street to her neighbor’s house. Mrs. Crockett had been widowed many years ago and had never remarried. Most people believed the elderly woman was weird or crazy, and consequently no one ever visited her.

  The day Megan moved into her house, she’d witnessed the woman holding a conversation with one of her sixteen cats and dogs. Megan could have turned her back on the other woman like everyone else in town had chosen to do, but she hadn’t. She recognized loneliness when she saw it. So instead, she’d approached the woman and introduced herself. Mrs. Crockett had smiled broadly and introduced each of the animals by name. Then she’d invited Megan in for a glass of sweet tea. In no time flat they’d become fast friends, and Megan brought her dinner each night.

  Megan knocked on the door. Within seconds it opened.

  “Oh, is that dinner? You know you don’t have to cook for me all the time.”

  Megan smiled at the protest. Mrs. Crockett only received a pittance from Social Security and her late husband’s pension. Unfortunately her limited income wasn’t sufficient to cover care for the animals, pay rent and buy sufficient groceries for herself. Mrs. Crockett had chosen to prioritize the first and frequently didn’t have food. She also hadn’t paid her rent in quite a while and was only days away from being evicted. Daniel and Megan had done all they could to help, but had run out of options. No matter how often they’d advised her of the consequences of her choices, Mrs. Crockett insisted on taking care of the animals regardless of the cost to herself. As a result, she was about to lose her home.

  “It’s just as easy to cook for two as for one. But today I picked up dinner at the Grille. I got that steak you said you wanted.”

  “You can’t tell me you want to spend your Friday evening with an old woman. Surely the men in town must be beating down your door to get you to go out with them.”

  “You live across the street from me,” Megan pointed out with a smile as she put the carryout containers onto the table. “Have you seen any men, young or otherwise, knocking on my door?”

  Mrs. Crockett tsked as she poured sweet tea into crystal glasses. The table had been set with delicate china and a vase of fresh flowers that came from her garden. Embroidered napkins matched the lacy tablecloth. The care her neighbor took to make the table look so nice illustrated how much she looked forward to their meals.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with the young men in this town. In my day, men knew how to come courting. My Harvey was such a charmer.” Mrs. Crockett glanced at the picture of her late husband that sat in a place of honor on the upright piano. Though the photograph had faded with time, Megan could still make out the young man’s proud smile. “He never once showed up on my doorstep empty-handed. He always brought flowers or candy or some trinket he knew I would like. Men these days don’t have a clue. Or manners. They don’t even hold the door for you. And sometimes they only want what you young people refer to as a booty call.”

  Megan had just taken a bite of her pastrami sandwich and nearly choked at the older woman’s comment. She took a swallow of her tea. “Where did you hear that phrase?”

  Mrs. Crockett laughed. “I may be an old woman, but I do have a television and radio. Not to mention the internet. I know all about what’s going on in this crazy world.”

  “Apparently,” Megan said with a laugh.

  “Now, if my sweet boy Willie was still alive, he could show you the way a young man should behave.”

  Willie had been Mrs. Crockett’s only child. He’d followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Army. Sadly he’d died in an unfortunate training accident while in his twenties. Of course had Willie lived, he would be old enough to be Megan’s father. Not that she would ever point that out. Megan knew Willie would forever be twenty-six in Mrs. Crockett’s memory as well as in her heart.

  “I’m sure you raised him right.”

  “That I did.” Mrs. Crockett focused on her meal for a few minutes before speaking again. “Surely you must have met someone in the time you’ve been here. Someone who could help you forget the ex-boyfriend you left behind in New York.”

  Megan immediately pictured Cade Battle in all his shirtless glory, then just as quickly dismissed him. She might not know everything about men, but she could tell when one wasn’t interested in her. And Cade Battle definitely fit into that category. Their encounter at the Grille this evening had emphasized that. Not only that, he actually appeared to dislike her, although she couldn’t for the life of her imagine why. They’d never even met before today. “Nope. Not a one.”

  “That’s a shame. I don’t know what’s wrong with men your age.”

  Megan heard the disappointment in the older woman’s voice. “Well, I haven’t been in town long. I’m sure I’ll meet someone soon.”

  That seemed to pacify Mrs. Crockett, and their conversation drifted to other topics. Once they’d finished eating, they carried their plates to the kitchen and washed them. A delicious-smelling peach cobbler was cooling on the counter. Mrs. Crockett placed heaping helpings into etched glass bowls and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream. As usual, they ate their dessert at the kitchen table. The night was pleasant, and the window was open, letting in the sweet breeze. Megan was going to miss sharing these companionable nights with her neighbor.

  “I’ve talked to your grandniece, Grace,” Megan said. She’d avoided the conversation while they’d eaten the main course, but knew she had to bring it up.

  Mrs. Crockett lifted her eyebrow but didn’t reply. Instead she scraped her spoon around the inside of her bowl.

  “I know you don’t want to move in with her family and you won’t have to. Grace has found a wonderful senior living home. She visited the facility and liked it. Best of all, it’s only twenty minutes away from her house, so she and her children will be able to visit you regularly. And you’ll be able to visit her.”

  “I appreciate all that you and Daniel are trying to do for me,” Mrs. Crockett said, speaking slowly.

  “But?”

  “How can I possibly leave my babies? They need me. I can’t just abandon them to fend for themselves again. If I can’t stay in this house, then fine. I’ll just have to think of something else.”

  “There is nothing else,” Megan said gently. She’d tried every legal maneuver she could think of, pushing the envelope as she stretched her creativity. Nothing worked. Mrs. Crockett was going to be evicted.

  One of the cats rubbed against Mrs. Crockett’s leg. She picked him up and rubbed her nose into his fur. “So you just expect me to turn my back on them and forget they exist? I can’t.”

  When other people looked at Mrs. Crockett they saw a crazy cat and dog woman. Megan saw more than that. She saw a woman with a kind heart and a lot of love to give. People judged her because she chose to give that love to stray animals. Megan knew the reason why she did that. Mrs. Crockett had once told Megan that animals didn’t join the military and break their mother’s heart. Mrs. Crockett couldn’t risk loving people again. That didn’t mean people couldn’t love her.

  “I’ve been thinking about that and I believe I have a solution.”
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br />   “Let’s hear it.” Though Mrs. Crockett might have been trying to sound cool, Megan heard the hope and excitement in her voice.

  “The Whitaker sisters run the Furever Paws Animal Rescue on their property. We can take the animals there.”

  “Bunny and Birdie?”

  Megan nodded.

  “They’ve always been nice girls.”

  The Whitaker sisters were in their sixties and hadn’t been girls in nearly half a century. But then Mrs. Crockett was ninety years old, so even at their advanced age, they still seemed like girls to her.

  “Then you know they’ll take good care of your animals.”

  “I’m sure the shelter is a good place, but I want more than that for my babies. I want them to have good homes where they’ll be loved.”

  “The shelter tries to find good homes for the animals.”

  “Can you promise they’ll find a home for mine?”

  “I don’t think they’ll be able to keep them all together,” Megan said honestly.

  “No, I don’t suppose they will.”

  “But I’ll make sure they each find a good family. I promise you that.”

  Mrs. Crockett heaved a heavy sigh, then looked around her kitchen. “So many memories. I look around this house and there are memories everywhere. I moved in here after my Harvey died. I raised my boy here. I’m going to miss this place.”

  “I know. And if there was a legal way you could stay here, I would be in court arguing it. But there isn’t.”

  “I know. I appreciate all that you’ve done for me.”

  “The new place your grandniece found sounds nice. You’ll have a private room. The room is big enough for you to have a small sitting area, so you’ll be able to take some of your own furniture. It won’t be the same as living here, but it’s still something. And of course you’ll carry your memories inside you.”

  “You’ll find good homes for all of them? No matter how long it takes?”