Coming Home Read online

  Coming Home

  Published by Tiffany Johnson

  At Smashwords

  Copyright 2011 Tiffany Johnson

  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 Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Chapter One:

  Lord was the rain ever coming down! I guess it was a true symbolic moment in my life! My marriage had gone all to hell thanks to a little damn blonde secretary. And a husband, I mean ex-husband, with a little penis the size of little miss bimbo’s brain. Yeah I said it; and it made me feel a little bit better. The only thing that sucks more than being divorced at twenty-seven is coming home to Forsyth County, Georgia to a full parade of “I told you so-s!” They could all go suck lemons anyways! I had to remind myself why I came back here instead of running away to Hawaii for a month! I could blame it on the scenery, or the sultry southern nights, but the one true fact was I just wanted my Momma. Momma’s can heal the entire world if they wanted too and my mom was the best at fixing broken things and right now I was pretty damn broken.

  Only about an hour away from me laid a beautiful two story classic old southern home that I grew up in. Where I’d bet my last twenty that my Momma was sitting on the swing drinking fresh lemonade from her favorite hand painted lemon glass pitcher she did in her last art class. She would probably be checking her watch and inching closer to the cordless phone sitting across from her on the wicker coffee table. She always did worry about her only baby girl. I grew up with two brothers; the older one was Mitchell and the younger one was Devin. I was fixed perfectly between the two; but you would think I was the youngest by the way they both treated me.

  Waking up to the brightest summer morning I’d seen since leaving Georgia was both odd and comforting. But my bed from my teenage years was nowhere as plush and luxurious as my king size sleigh bed at home; which I planned to burn as soon as I get back to New York. Geeze even the flies flew slower in the south! The clanging from the kitchen drew my focus from the window down to where I am sure my mother was. She loved to cook as much as she loved my father! Geesh! Men, I hate all of them! Except maybe my dad, Mitchell, Devin, and those hot twenty-something’s from those vampire movies; ohhhh and that TV show too! Yummy!

  Yummy was right; Momma was cooking blueberry pancakes. My favorite! She always knew how to cheer me up; and by God pancakes worked every time. “Baby your brothers will be here about noon with some of their friends,” my Momma said while loading my plate up! Ok that was a surprise, “Cool, what are they gonna do just visit or whatever!” She gave me an apologetic look, “They wanted to have a cook out and maybe play some football like ya’ll use to do on the weekends. Even Stacy said she’d come; she wants to see you!” Yeah that’s all I needed was a huge friggin’ pity party for the southerner who tried to run but got squashed by the big bad stock broker Yankee! Woot Woot—sounds like loads of fun! The next question in my mind was where in the hell can I hide? I wasn’t quite ready for all the attention or the crowd. I came home to be alone but looks like everyone else had their own plans for how I would deal with my own heartache. And I’m not sure if I like that or not.

  I figured what the hell ain’t like I could just get mad and insist they call it off; it was already after ten. So I decided I’d put my big girl panties on and go get in the shower. And try to make myself look a bit less worn than I was. Maybe even a nice little walk down the long drive way that was encased with huge ancient pecan trees. I really did love this place, it was truly home. But good Lord the bugs were wild in the summer time! A long walk around my home place calmed my nerves. And also brought back many childhood memories of hide and seek with my brothers. Man those were the days. Childhood were the days, no real pain, no real hurt, like now my heart hurts so badly so much pain how would I heal.

  I guess my walk was longer than I thought because the party was in full swing when I got in view of the house. God there had to be thirty or forty people there; now I don’t know if I really want to handle that many people right now. The grill was smoking; I hope Devin wasn’t cooking; he burns everything. That thought just made me smile; he was the most awesome little brother; and Mitchell was a totally great older brother. I was blessed with such a loving and caring family. Not so very blessed in the husband department. Ole well time for my big girl panties and a fake smile.

  My brothers waited for me to get closer into their view before both were charging me and hugging me to death! “Hello! I need to breathe here,” Devin was chocking me with his huge bear hug, “Oh crap sorry sis!” Damn he has bulked up, “Cha yeah you need to learn your strength!” “Yeah,” Mitchell chimed in; I guess he had an up close and personal experience with Devin’s strength. “How you doing today sis?” Devin dropped the loaded question of the day. “Well about as good as any dog crawling back home with its tail between its legs!” My brothers always had my back, “Whatever Mandy it ain’t even like that!” Leave it up to my little brother to think all is always well with the world. “Hey you up for some good ‘ole Bar-b-q, potato salad, and some good ‘ole flag football? Huhh, huhh, huhh punk?” Mitchell was trying to lighten the mood then charged at me like he was gonna tackle me but I moved out the way; hey I still had it! Maybe this would be fun after all!

  “Hey does Momma need some help,” I asked the boys. “Let’s go see! Oh yeah Stacy will be here soon,” Devin told me! “That’s awesome haven’t seen her in years!” I was kinda nervous and excited about that. “She hasn’t changed much, still a squirt like you!” Devin was off his rocker; “Cha! Whatever! Devin I’m older than you remember!” God bless that dork, “Whatever! I got some of my boys here I want you to meet. We hang out a lot and they never met my sis! They love Momma!” We all just laughed because everyone loved Momma and she loved pretty much everyone too!

  She was in the kitchen; in typical Momma fashion, she loved to cook. She was talking with a rather good looking man; they were both laughing and smiling so I figured they knew each other well. “Hey Cam this is my daughter Mandy!” Damn he was hot and so was his name… CCccaaammm …yeah I really liked that! “Hey Mandy, it’s really nice to meet you! I have heard a lot about you!” Hmm “Yeah it’s probably all lies,” I laughed. God his smile was almost as sexy as the rest of him. Devin looked at me; “Sis that’s one of my boys I was tellin’ you about!” Damn was the rest of his friends that hot!

  “Awesome so you gonna play some football too huh?” I asked.

  “Of course darlin’ I’ma spank Devin’s butt and maybe take down Mitchell a few times!”

  “Wow this I can’t wait to see!”

  Actually so far it wasn’t as horrific as I thought it was gonna be. The food was a hundred percent fabulous and another hundred percent southern. Stacy Miller my best friend practically since I was born and up until a few months into my new New York life showed up. She was exactly like I remember her; short like five foot four kinda short with mid-length hair that was her least favorite mud color she called it. And she had the most beautiful green colored eyes. God I forgot how much I missed her till she was standing right in front of me. She hugged me like I never left and that made me feel bad. We were really close, she came to NY to visit twice, but my husband thought she was trailer trash and didn’t want to be seen with her. He was a fucking jerk. Usually good looking men with money are! “Stacy I’m so sorry about not being a better friend and not calling you back and visiting! There is really no excuse!” Tears stung my eyes. “Girl let’s not worry about
the past and just move into the future okay,” she said. “Okay my darlin’! You know I love you right!” She smiled so huge and it made me happy to have my best friend back, “Yes I do! And I love you too!” We hugged it out and went back to giggling like teenagers. Wow being home was awesome. Nobody asked me how I was feeling a hundred times or about my ex-husband. It just felt like old times again.

  The guys were throwing around the football and downing a few beers. The jokes and the comebacks were flowing all around us; I just couldn’t help but laugh. I missed this so much more than I realized. Everyone was picking teams. Me and Stacy giggled, we loved watching the guys play football as teens. One of summer’s many blessings was shirtless football games. I shocked myself; since this whole mess I never once thought of men until now! And especially Devin’s friend Cam was pretty hot.

  “Hey! Hey Mandy! Whose team you gonna be on; you and Stacy?” Stacy just giggled; she did always have a thing for Mitchell even as a teen. From the corner of my eye I saw Devin’s friend Cam sitting his beer on the table. He grabbed the end of his red Georgia Bulldog’s shirt and pulled it over his head. Good Lord Jesus this kid was unbelievably sexy under those clothes. His chest was perfectly tanned and adorned with hard, chiseled abs that cried out to be rubbed all over and maybe even licked once or twice. Where the hell did that come from? But damn that kid was downright irresistible. “Hello Mandy stop ogling Cam! You playing or not home slice?” I was caught. “Shut up Devin I’m in! What team needs another player?” Devin and Mitchell both chuckled and answered in unison “Cam’s does!” Cam just looked my way with a sheepish grin and I got weird little butterflies in my stomach. It’s been years since anyone has made me feel like that and that was freaky! After all he had to be five years younger than me. But hey I could still look. So I took Cam’s team and Stacy went all too willingly to Mitchell’s! They actually looked really cute together; maybe I needed to talk to him.

  The sun was setting and it had been a really good day. The best I had in weeks; even years really. I saw the circular ring of bricks and Devin was making a tee-pee shape with sticks. It was bonfire time; one of my most favorite summer activities. Cam had a red gas can in his hand and was headed towards the huge stick tee-pee with a huge grin. Man I hope we didn’t need the fire department this year!

  Stacy and I headed towards the house to grab a hoodie from my room. “Mandy,” my Momma said, “Don’t you think Cam is a nice looking fella!” Only Momma would call him a fella. “Yes Momma if I was into younger men I’d say he was quit the hottie!” I heard the back screen door slam shut and saw Cam with Devin in the doorway. Cam was sporting the sexiest grin I’d ever seen in my life and I blushed! He must have heard me. He passed me on his way to Devin’s bedroom, he turned and grabbed my hand in the hallway; “Baby I ain’t that much younger!” Ohhh my goodness he was hot and he called me baby! When was the last time a man called me baby in that voice? Uuhhh NEVER!!! My stomach was cutting flips and I ran to meet Stacy in the living room. Wow he was making me feel funny. How could this kid make me feel like a swooned teenager again?

  The bonfire was as much fun as I always remembered. Me and Stacy huddled together and I asked her how she felt about Mitchell. And she was more than willing to pour her heart out to me. I missed these girl talks. I hadn’t had any really really close friends in New York. Everyone was only looking after themselves, so you wouldn‘t dare share anything extremely personal. But with Stacy it was like I had never been gone or never left her hanging. God bless her! She was an awesome person. We grabbed a few beers from the cooler that Momma was sitting next to. She was holding an odd colored mixture in a red Solo cup. “Hey Dev when did Momma start throwing a few back?” Devin chuckled, “After she took that bartending class at the community college!” No way my Momma would never! “Stop fuckin’ with me Dev!” Cam laughed. “Sis I am serious she also took a pottery and painting class and a cake decorating class I think. She had to have something to do since she was alone!” True enough. “Just promise me I ain’t gonna have to hold her hair back or calm her down if she starts yee-haaww’in!” Mitchell rolled his eyes. Cam smiled, “Now I’d like to see that! And if she starts screaming Free Bird I may die!” I laughed so hard tears were running down my face and Cam just winked at me. “Hey I can hear ya’ll children I am old not deaf!” Busted again.

  Stacy slide over so Mitchell could sit next to her. They exchanged a cute little glance; I’ll store that in the back of my mind for later investigation. Devin’s “friend” a girl named Carlie, which lived down the road, pulled up in an old pick-up came rushing over. Devin ran to her and circled her around in the air and kissed her cheek. I have never seen him act that way before. Maybe I need to inquire about that too; at that moment I kinda felt like an outsider watching my family interact with people that were obviously special to them. “Hey I know it’s been a while since you been home! Don’t worry you’ll find your footing again!” I swear the kid was reading my mind and when did he sit down next to me. “So where is your girlfriend at tonight Cam?” I was trying to keep the cut out of my voice; I hated when people could read my thoughts; even though that was usually only Momma and Stacy. “Hell if I know? If you find a decent woman send her my way because I am ‘bout sick of being the third damn wheel!” He whispered that to me like he didn’t want everyone to hear the sadness in his voice. That just hit me weird and I found myself patting his bare leg and nodding. I understood that feeling well. I was married but I always felt like a third wheel in my own marriage.

  The beer was flowing and I went to get a bottle of wine from the frig. I grabbed two plastic wine glasses we used for outside and headed back to Stacy. Maybe I should grab a third one and offer Carlie a glass? See I was thinking like a friendly big sister after all. I heard some loud giggling when I got closer. Momma had moved to the blanket with us and Cam was playing the guitar. Momma was looking at Cam the way she looked at her kids with love and warmth; I needed to find out how much Cam was around this place and part of our family. Damn Cam played the guitar! He was earning hot points left and right tonight. Momma’s laughter was contagious; her spirits where high from her drinks, but I assume it was from having all her children and their friends in her life again. I sure missed my Momma. I leaned down and kissed her on her head and she looked up at me with a smile. “Love you Momma!” She smiled half-blazing, “Love you too baby girl!” She stood up a bit wobbly, “I think I’ma carry my old butt to bed ya’ll young folk rock out!” The laughter vibrated everyone and she just winked. Momma was always so damn awesome.

  “Here is the wine girls! Carlie would like some too?” She looked taken back and then smiled, “Sure Mandy thank you!” She had manners wow Devin was moving up in the world! “You’re welcome hun!” Cam took that moment to say, “I really love ya’lls Momma,” still chuckling from her retreat. Everybody loves Momma; I swear it’s true! “Cam play us some music, I got my guitar too bro.” He started strumming a song and then it hit me it was one of my favorites. “Ohhhh my God Cam that is one of my favorite songs!” He smiled, “Mine too I love it.” It was Little Texas’s song Southern Grace. And by God he had the voice for it. I find myself sipping my wine and just staring at this beautiful man that was full of surprises. Damn when did I start thinking of him as a man? “She’s got me falling in her eyes again tonight…..” he sang on and I was bewitched it’s like he was singing to me even though I could hear Devin and Mitchell singing too.

  “Hey Mandy this wine is really good,” Carlie said after the song was over. “Yeah it better be it cost my ex-husband almost two hundred dollars a bottle.” She gasped. “Mandy let me try that, that’s a lot of money for some damn grapes,” Cam said. Not even thinking I gave Cam my glass to drink from. He raised his eyebrow, “It beats the hell out of Boone’s Farm!” We all laughed at that; been there done that. Mitchell and Devin sampled it and smiled, “How much of that did you bring?” I gave him a devilish look, “Three cases little bro; thirty-six bottles. And I charged it to Ke
vin’s account before I left New York; I figured I deserved a going away gift.” Mitchell laughed an evil sounding laugh that made me laugh. “I know I am blonde but ain’t that over seven thousand dollars in wine? Are you rich or something? That‘s more than my truck cost.” Carlie looked interested and uneasy. “Ohhhh my goodness,” she put her hand over her mouth, “I’m so sorry I should have thought before I opened my mouth it’s none of my business.” It was southern manners at their best! “Hey it’s cool don’t sweat it! Yeah well I ain’t rich but I am well off. I own a company in New York with my ex-husband; he is a stock broker. Well actually we are both stock brokers but I did more of the actual running of the company than working with the clients these past few years. I quit working there but in the divorce I get fifty percent of what the company makes and if he decides to get brave and close that company and start another one I still am entitled to half of any business he opens. Gotta thank the Lord for great divorce lawyers.”

  Cam must have been shocked I guess he didn’t know a whole lot about me or maybe my brothers didn’t tell him their sister was pretty fucking loaded. “What was he like? I didn’t even know you were married. Everyone just said you moved to New York!” She blushed as Dec started to apologize. Dev cut her a look I just waved it off. “Hey don’t look at her like that! I don’t mind answering questions that don’t involve my feelings and how I must be heart broken. Fuck that!” Everyone laughed. “He was a great guy for the first three years we were together. We met when I was twenty-one at a seminar for up and coming stock brokers in Atlanta. He was good looking, I mean really fucking sexy, he was smart, and God did he have good hair!” Stacy was giggling as my eyes went hazy and I relived my past out loud since my divorce. Cam kinda squirmed and I could feel his thigh hitting mine as he tried to stretch out. “He was eager to start his own business and move up in the world; as was I. We both got accepted to work at a firm in New York that was taking applications at the seminar. He was from Florida and as you know I am from Georgia and New York seemed so exciting and scary all at the same time. The firm leased apartments in the same building for its new employees till you decided to move into something larger. They were the smallest things I had ever seen; but it didn’t matter it was new and exciting. Turns out Kevin was my neighbor and worked on the same floor as me at the firm. He was in my ‘team’ so we spent a lot of time together. Everyday actually and I fell in love.” I sighed loudly.