Home Is Where the Heart Is (2 page)

In just a few short years, her duties at the bookstore had doubled, then tripled, as Paula realized the untapped potential Kyra had. Together, they could put TTB on the map. The book signings and various author events had more than doubled, bringing in tons of new customers. It was nothing to have a couple of hundred people packed into the building for a book signings. Events like that were exciting and great for business, but tiring nonetheless. It was all worth it to see the smiles on the reader’s faces when they met their favorite authors. A truly rewarding experience, no doubt, for all involved.

Kyra’s alarm buzzed loudly, startling her, pressing her into the start of another exciting day at the bookshop. Her mother, Liz, still couldn’t believe that she had become so passionate about books of all things. Her mom hadn’t pressured her to read as a child since she had shown no interest, and she was happy that Kyra had found something to be passionate about.

Rising out of her fluffy, cloud-like bed, Kyra shuffled into the kitchen to start the coffee pot. She admired the beautiful sunrise peeking through her living room windows as she poured her first cup of hazelnut-flavored coffee. She lifted the steaming cup to her lips, enjoying the nutty flavor; savoring her first sip.

The phone rang like an insistent bird’s chirping, breaking the silence of her peaceful morning. She mumbled as she made her way across the room. Glancing quickly at the caller id on the cordless phone, she smiled as her parents’ number appeared on the screen.

“Good morning, Mom,” she said.

For a brief moment, the world stood still as Liz Michaels broke into uncontrollable sobs. Her mother rarely cried so she knew immediately that this wasn’t a call to check in on her. Something was seriously wrong. She could feel it deep in her bones.

“Kyra, darling, you must come home,” said Liz, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Mom, please calm down. Take a deep breath. What is going on?”

“Something horrible has happened. Your father... he’s been shot. You must come home! They don’t know if he’ll... if he’ll make it.”

“Oh my god!” Kyra cried. “What happened?” The calmness she had moments ago tried to instill in her mother fled. Her hands trembled as fear racked her small frame, her mind going places so dark she could barely hold back the tears.

“He’s in surgery now. He’s… it’s… bad! Please come home!” Liz once again begged.

Without hesitation, Kyra stated, “I’m on my way. I love you, Mom. Tell Dad I love him too! I’ll be there soon!”

As Kyra placed the cordless phone back on the charger, she wept until she couldn’t catch her breath. She hoped her father would be okay, wondering what had happened. He’d been shot? How was that even possible? Everyone loved her father. Who would shoot him?

It just didn’t make a damn bit of sense to her at all. She wanted so desperately for her mother to tell her more but she knew her mother needed her there now. Answers could come later. She stood up quickly, her heart aching, the burn in her throat growing with each breath she took in as her eyes roamed over her cozy living room, suddenly realizing that her whole world - her perfect little world - had fallen apart in that moment, shattering into a million tiny pieces of razor-sharp glass.

Memories of her childhood in Sizzle raced into her mind, each memory close to her heart, flashing before her in vivid detail, one right after another. In the past five years, she had forced herself to keep her memories of Sizzle locked away. Well, most of them, anyway. She talked to her parents at least once a week but never asked questions about Dylan. Sure, she loved her family but she just couldn’t imagine what it would be like to visit; to see Harley and Dylan together as husband and wife.

Now that her family needed her, there was no choice. She had to return. She had to face that life head-on and deal with the part of her she left behind. Being there for her mother and father was all that mattered now!

Kyra absent-mindedly dug her nails into the palms of her hands as she charged into her bedroom. She reached her closet door, flung it open, and grabbed her travel bags, tossing them onto her bed as she mumbled to herself. “Dad will be okay. I’ll stay until I know he’s alright. When he’s home again, with mom to care for him, I’ll come back home.”

She tossed clothes haphazardly into her bags, giving little thought as to what items she was packing. Realizing this sudden departure wouldn’t just affect her, Kyra took a break from packing to grab her cell phone and call her boss. She quickly explained the situation and said she’d probably be gone at least a week, possibly longer if there were complications. She promised Paula that she would be back to work as soon as she could.

Her relationship with her boss had become quite close over the past five years, with her employer soon becoming her friend. She had finally felt comfortable opening up to Paula about her reasons for leaving Sizzle, appreciating the comfort her new friend offered. Paula had taken Kyra under her wing and taught her so much about life and business. Their friendship was one Kyra hadn’t expected and she’d never take advantage of that. She could tell that Paula was worried for her. Paula gladly let her have as much time as she needed. Not having a family of her own, she had often pressed Kyra to visit her parents and face her past, but to no avail. Kyra had often told Paula that while she was stronger now than she was then, she still didn’t think she could face seeing them together. The image alone cut at her like a jagged rusty knife biting into her flesh.

Kyra returned to the bags on her bed and filled them with enough clothing to last her a week, or maybe two if it came to that. After she added her toiletries, she headed for the front door, grabbing her Kindle and tossing it into her purse as she went. There’s no way in hell she would leave home without the mountains of books tucked into her trusty ereader, especially since she would be stuck in Sizzle, Texas, the equivalent to the middle of God’s nowhere, or BFE, as she liked to call it.

She locked the front door to her cozy little condo and headed for the elevator, letting out a depressed sigh as she pressed the ground floor button. The air in the elevator was thick with the uncertainty that radiated from her. A lone tear escaped her already-swollen eyes as the doors opened to a bright Houston afternoon. It was one of those days worthy of spending in the park, reading a chunky romance novel where the girl gets the guy and they live happily ever after, which was as close to romance as Kyra got these days.

Her love life was utterly loveless. She hadn’t had the courage five years ago, and she didn’t want to chance another broken heart. Instead, she lived for her job at the bookstore. She found romance in black and white, between the covers of romance novels written by women who obviously had an idea what real love was like. That wasn’t her.

There was only one man for her and he was taken… forever. There were moments when she hoped to find love, to be swept off her feet. She prayed for it, begged for it. She yearned to be touched, to be held by a man as he whispered tender loving words into her ear as they lay in bed, but she had never made it past dinner with the few dates she had worked up the courage to go on. None of those guys could compare to Dylan.

Paula told her it would happen for her when she wasn’t expecting it, that the love of her life would appear at a time when she needed his love and companionship most of all. She hoped Paula was right.

She fumbled for the keys to her shiny, pepper-white convertible Mini Cooper and hit the button to unlock the doors. Tossing her bags into the backseat, she wondered what it would be like to see Dylan again after all these years. Would he be as handsome and drool-worthy as he was when she fled town like a bat-out-of-hell? Of course he would! But that wouldn’t change the fact that he was a married man.

She had a long drive ahead of her. She settled into the cool leather seat, fastened her seatbelt, and revved up the engine. The car purred like a kitten as she pulled out of the parking garage, sunglasses hiding her puffy eyes. Even though this wasn’t a vacation, she rather enjoyed the freedom of a long drive, the wind whipping through her long brunette hair as she sped down the highway.

She had changed a lot since she left Sizzle. Being on her own had allowed her to experience so much and grow stronger as an independent woman. She treated herself like a queen in every way that she could. Romance aside, she wanted for nothing. The last five years had been good to her. Sure, her heart still ached, but it had lessened some.

As she zoomed down the highway, her thoughts began to drift to her old life in her hometown, memories of her childhood flooding her thoughts. In middle school, she had met her best friend, Jenna. They had been inseparable. She remembered the first time she slept over at Jenna’s house and met her older brother, Dylan. She hadn’t thought much about boys at that point until she saw him. He was so much older than her and he was drop-dead gorgeous. Every time she slept over, she watched him, oogled him, and dreamed about him.

Of course, he didn’t notice her. Why would he? She didn’t have a sexy body or any breasts to speak of. He was way out of her league and she knew it. He wouldn’t care the slightest about a little girl the way she cared for him, but he would joke and pick on them all of the time. As they got older, Jenna had noticed her infatuation with her brother, causing the longtime-friendship between the girls to fracture.

Jenna had accused Kyra of only being her friend so she could be close to Dylan. Kyra had sworn that it wasn’t true. She didn’t want to lose her friend. But that’s exactly what happened. The argument between the two girls had been brutal and filled with hurtful words that stung deep. They went their separate ways and hadn’t spoken since.

Of course her childhood was filled with plenty of happy memories, too, but all she could seem to remember as she drove further out of town were the ones that made her feel bad about herself and her life. Going home would be hard as hell, even now. She groaned at the thought of facing Dylan and Harley. It was a small-town so she was certain to run into the happy couple at some point. Swallowing her pride, she decided to hold her head high and ignore the feelings assaulting her. “Damn small towns,” she groaned to herself.

Kyra’s cell phone buzzed with her mother’s ringtone and she quickly hit the speaker button. “Hello, Mom.”

“Kyra, honey, I have some really bad news.”

She remained silent, dreading the worst. She had already been told her father had been shot. What other bad news could there be? She was afraid she already knew the answer, praying she was wrong. Today was turning out to be the worst day of her life.

“Kyra, your dad is gone. I’m so very sorry, honey,” her mom said.

Kyra’s eyes flooded with tears as she took in the news. Her dad was gone. She hadn’t thought this would happen, hadn’t wanted to believe it was a possibility. She was so sure that he would be okay. Her dad was a strong man, a fighter. The sudden loss she felt as her mother’s words sunk in sent a cold wave of heartbreak through her.

“Oh, mom. I just... I can’t believe this is happening.” Wiping her tear-stained face with the heel of her palm, she mumbled, “I’ll be home soon. I’m… I’m not too far away.” Her voice cracked with each word as she sobbed. She hung up and pulled over at the next rest area and cried until she couldn’t anymore. This couldn’t be happening. Her dad was a wonderful man. He had been a partner at Perry and Michaels Law Firm for thirty-five years, and had always been a well-respected attorney in Sizzle and the surrounding counties. The firm covered an array of legal cases, from civil cases to criminal law. He was the go-to guy if you needed legal help, and he practiced law like he lived his life – on the straight and narrow, following all the rules, always doing the right thing.

“Who could possibly want to hurt my dad?” Kyra thought aloud, her voice gravelly from crying. She raised her fist, banging it on her steering wheel over and over again. She was on an emotional rollercoaster ride from hell, not knowing what to feel or think.

As she pulled out of the rest area, she realized she was only an hour away from Sizzle’s city limits. Her return home was going to be an extremely sad one. There was no way she could hide from all of the people wanting to comfort her and her mom. She would be forced to face everything and everyone, forced to not only see, but also feel everything.

Grumbling at the thought of standing face-to-face with Dylan and that harlot of a wife of his made her stomach turn. Stomach acid rose like a geyser up her throat, burning like liquid fire. Surely she could manage to hold herself together for a week or so. It’s not like she would have to spend a lot of time around the two lovebirds. They weren’t important. The trip home was to be one of mourning, not of lost love. She needed to be there for her mother, help her through their loss, help her to begin again without her father.

“God, please give me the strength to handle anything that comes my way. I’ll just have to put on my big-girl panties and hope that I can survive Sizzle one more time.” She floored the Mini Cooper, determined to meet this challenge head-on. She could stop at every rest area along the way, but the destination remained the same. Might as well not put it off.

The city lights had faded into long sweeping highways lined with pine trees and lush greenery as she got closer to Sizzle. The beauty of the countryside had been something she had missed desperately when she moved to Houston. She longed for the miles of wildflowers growing in the countryside. The cozy homes that lined the streets of Sizzle had had colorful manicured yards akin to a painting by Monet. She was certain the beauty of the little town was still the same. Things like that never really changed. That’s part of what gave Sizzle its charm.

As a child, she felt like Sizzle was a magical place filled with amazing people that magically knew everything. Now she knew the truth. There wasn’t a drop of magic in that town. It was just a small town where everyone knew everyone else’s business and nobody could have or keep a secret. That bit of reality stole the magic she had once grasped so tightly in her youth.