Page 1 of No Place Like Home (Orlinda Valley #3)

Rowan

My phone rang through the speakers of my Jeep Wrangler as I inched my way closer to the Tennessee state line.

One glance at the caller ID told me it was Trevor, my best friend since middle school.

I clicked the answer button just as someone cut me off on the highway.

“Son of a bitch, what the fucking hell?” I yelled out the window.

Trevor’s laugh filled the interior. “Damn, Rowan. I’m guessing you’re having a good drive?”

“Oh yeah. It’s been nothing but a party,” I said as I swerved into the left lane and sped up to pass a white minivan.

“Been a pretty simple drive until now, but this traffic fucking sucks.” I laid on the horn as another car swerved into my lane.

“Has everyone lost their fucking mind and does no one work anymore?” I sighed as the Welcome to Tennessee sign loomed over the road.

“At least I’m finally in Tennessee. Only a couple hours left.

” I had planned on making a career out of the military, staying in until I could retire, but the past couple years things had become less fun.

I found that I suddenly wanted to settle down, and Orlinda Valley called to me.

I chuckled. I hadn’t been home in five years. I’ve been avoiding it like the plague—for no other reason except I use to hate it. Now here I am, heading back to the past. No job, no plans, just hope for the future.

“Tennessee’s the place to be in the fall. You came at the perfect time.”

Trevor’s voice jarred me back to our conversation. “I don’t know if I agree with that. But, anyway, you didn’t tell anyone I’m coming in this early, did you?”

“Nope. Hold on.”

I heard Trevor’s voice move away from the phone speaker, talking to someone else.

He was probably serving customers at Jerry’s Pub in our hometown of Orlinda Valley, where he was bartender and part owner.

It had been an old hole-in-the-wall bar for as long as I could remember, and when Jerry, the past owner, finally had enough, he sold it to a group of firefighters itching to do something fun and different.

Trevor was one of those firefighters, now living both his dreams of saving the town from the occasional fire and owning a bar.

From what I’d been told, they’d turned Jerry’s Pub into a thriving business, and now it’s the popular place to be.

“All right,” Trevor said, returning to the call. “So, have you decided where you’re going to crash?”

“Since you can’t promise your couch to your best friend who’s been off keeping your sorry ass safe, I asked Kai when we talked last night if I could stay with them. But they’re still under construction, so they don’t have space.”

“I still can’t believe they didn’t ask you to be in the wedding.”

“Fuck that. It’s a wedding, the guy doesn’t know me at all, and I didn’t know when I’d be able to get home.

Anyway, he told me I could stay at Kora’s since she’s no longer using her place.

As long as Mom doesn’t come over to check on things, I should be good until I’m ready to make my presence known. ”

Kora was my cousin, and we were as close as siblings.

She and Kai met a little over a year ago and were getting married in two weeks.

I was glad she finally found someone to spend her life with.

From what I knew about Kai, the man who drove into town one day and right into her heart, he was every bit the man she deserved.

“You know this wouldn’t be such a big deal if you’d’ve come home more often.”

“Yeah, whatever. Doesn’t matter now. I’m home for good.”

“Home and unemployed. You know Bryson’s going to love your irresponsible attitude,” Trevor said.

I shook my head as I passed a semi. I was the youngest of three boys. Bryson was the middle brother. He was loud, obnoxious, and always the life of the party. Jamison was the oldest. A widower and single father, he was serious and loved by all.

Twelve years ago, I turned my back on multiple scholarship offers to play football, because I couldn’t imagine spending four more years in school when I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.

Not to mention, I needed to get away from home, and away from the knowledge that I was the only McKendry brother without a plan.

The Army had been my out. It was the one thing Bryson and Jamison hadn’t pursued, and something I could do on my own that would make my parents proud.

“I don’t give a fuck what Bryson thinks.

Even if I found a cure for cancer, he’d have issues with something.

I don’t live my life for his praise anymore.

” I hit the gas to speed past a semi as we started an uphill climb, but it was all for nothing.

As I crested the hill and turned a curve, I saw nothing but a sea of red brake lights, and I slowed to a crawl.

“Shit. Traffic is stopped dead. Fuck me. Look, I’ll talk to you tonight. If I ever get home.”

“Sounds good. Stop by the pub when you’re ready to get out. I’ll be here.”

The line went dead. I clicked the end call button and turned up the classic rock channel.

I might have grown up near Nashville and enjoyed country music, but one thing I got out of the military was that when you needed mindless music to keep your thoughts from wandering too far, rock ’n’ roll was the only way to go.

Even though the music was loud, the windows were down, and we were going a whopping ten miles an hour, my mind did wander.

I probably should have at least let my mother know I was going to be home early, but I knew she’d make a big deal out of it and then get excited about me mending bridges with Bryson and all that shit, and I didn’t want to go there yet.

I hadn’t even told Summer, my closest friend aside from Trevor.

We talked every week—hell, sometimes multiple times each week.

She was going to be pissed when she saw me. She hated surprises.

As the traffic crawled along, I thought back to the first time I truly met Summer.

It was a hot and humid June day when we were in middle school.

Trevor and I kayaked down the Red River and banked our kayaks at the “swimming hole”, the place where the river widened and became deeper.

A rope hung from a limb of a large tree that grew out over the bank of the river, and people could jump from a small rock ledge and swing into the water.

It was a great place to relax in the sun on the shore, wade in the shallows, or swim past the drop-off, and it was always crowded with local kids taking advantage of the long, humid summer days.

Kora and her best friend, Darlene—now my sister-in-law, married to Bryson—were there with a girl named Summer, whom I’d seen with them many times but had never really talked to before.

Near as I could tell, Summer was trying to kill fish—though she insisted she was “skipping rocks”. Either way, she sucked at it.

I walked up next to her, picked up a nice flat rock, leveled it to the ground and let it soar.

It hit the water and skipped off the top five times before finally going under.

“You’re a fucking show off,” were the first words I remember her saying to me.

I had never heard the f-bomb out of a girl’s mouth before and was shocked into a stupor.

I instantly realized her language was one hundred percent Summer , and that I had found my newest best friend.

The rest of the day was spent tossing around the football, rowing around in Trevor’s and my kayaks, and trying to teach Summer how to skip rocks.

She never could get the hang of it. By the time I left for the Army after graduation, she was still unsuccessful, and there were fewer fish in the river because of her attempts.

It was almost five o’clock by the time I took the ramp off the interstate toward Orlinda Valley.

The country breeze whipped through my hair as I tapped my hand in rhythm to the music blaring from my speakers.

I turned down a back road to take an alternate way to Kora’s, because I wasn’t ready to drive through downtown yet.

I was sure I’d see someone walking or driving who would recognize me, even in this Jeep, and it wouldn’t take long for word to get back to my mother that I was home.

I was already risking being seen by my mother staying at Kora’s, since Kora’s five-acre property was adjacent to my family’s land.

My mother had sold her the lot years ago, and she had lived there until recently when she moved in with Kai.

I turned off the road onto the gravel driveway, and the tiny brick ranch house came into view.

It was the house my parents had lived in when they were first married, on the twenty-five acres of farmland they’d bought along the Red River.

Once their family grew, they built a bigger house on the adjacent property, and Mom lived there still.

I followed the driveway to the rear of the house and pulled in next to a car I didn’t recognize—not that that was a surprise, since I’d been gone for five years.

But Kai hadn’t mentioned that anyone else would be staying here.

On the other hand, maybe he wouldn’t have told me about them because he didn’t know I was arriving a week earlier than planned.

I sent Kai a text telling him I arrived early and waited for an answer while the song that was on ended and another began. When I got tired of waiting, I figured I had a choice: I could either stay here or go say hi.

“Oh well. Hope the person’s friendly.” I grabbed my duffle bag from the back seat—I’d get the rest of my stuff out later once I decided what to do with it.

I knocked and waited, but there was no answer.

After knocking again with the same result, I found the key under the flowerpot where Kai said it would be, and let myself in.

The house had an open floor plan, so I could see the kitchen and living room from where I stood near the door. Off to the right was a short hallway which held the bathroom and the only bedroom. I glanced around and saw no evidence of anyone staying in the house.

I shrugged and dropped my bag on the floor, then pulled a glass from the cabinet, filled it with water, and took a deep drink as I leaned against the counter.

I stood tall and craned my neck toward the music I heard coming from the bathroom. What the hell? My eyes darted toward the closed bathroom door. Someone was here. I could hear what sounded like a woman talking—or was it singing?—but it was hard to make out.

Should I tell whoever it is they have company? I thought, then shook my head. Why should I? Whoever it was, they probably weren’t supposed to be here, anyway. I squared my shoulders as the door swung open.

The occupant—yes, it was a woman—strolled out, her body wrapped in a short white towel that barely covered her ass and showed off her toned, sun-tanned legs.

She had another towel twisted around her head which bobbed side to side, and she wiggled her hips in tune to the music.

The view from here was well worth my price of admission. Damn. Welcome home, Rowan!

She spun to the music as she released the towel from her head and let out a blood curdling scream as soon as her eyes focused on me.

Her hand grabbed the front of the towel as it came loose and fell down her front giving me a brief, but much appreciated, glimpse of some amazing cleavage before she pulled it up again.

My brows popped, and the grin I’d started when she wiggled her way out of the bathroom now filled my face.

“Holy flying fuck,” she raged, her voice laced with venom and eyes wide with shock. “You scared the living shit out of me, Rowan. ”

Summer . She still looked amazing and had a mouth that would embarrass a sailor. Nothing had changed, and I loved that about her.

“Damn, Summer. That mouth of yours and that show you just gave me in that get-up you’re wearing would get me hard if you weren’t my best friend.”

I placed the glass on the counter and crossed my arms over my chest.

Her beautiful face reddened with rage and her chest strained against the towel as she seethed.

Yep, she still hated surprises, and clearly the fact that I’d surprised her had pissed her right the hell off.

A pissed Summer was an entertaining Summer, and her mouth and no-bullshit attitude were things about her I could always relate to.

She’d always been beautiful in her own way—all female, yet able to wield the harsh words and bitchy attitude that made so many guys afraid of her.

Not me, though. I loved that about her. If it hadn’t been for her, my status as the youngest of three boys would have sent me off the deep end a lot earlier than it did.

That, and she made me feel things no one else ever had.

I looked her up and down again. She’d been athletic in high school, and from what I could see of her now—which was quite a lot because of that very skimpy towel—her legs were still long, tan, and fit, and her skin golden and smooth.

Her hair hung in wet waves down her back but appeared to be almost back to her normal light-brown color.

And, of course, her deep cleavage still looked amazing as ever.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped, her voice losing its edge. She stood up taller, the scare she’d gotten now totally resolved and her take-no-shit attitude one hundred percent back in place.

“I could ask you the same thing.” I pushed away from the counter. “Kai gave me permission to stay here and told me where to find the key. He said the house was empty.” I strutted toward her, my gaze traveled up and down her body.

I talked to her every week, but a phone camera was not the same as talking face-to-face. Seeing her in person was so much better. Seeing her in person in a towel and getting a quick flash of booby goodness—well, that was a bonus.

Summer held her ground, her stance strong and her hands on her hips. “Kora gave me permission and told me the same thing. It’s her place, so her word holds truer.”

I shook my head. “Well Summertime, it looks like we may have a problem. It’s good to see you, though.” I opened my arms and raised my brow. She rolled her eyes and walked into my embrace.

She smelled like she always had, like honeysuckle, coconuts, and sunshine. The perfect scents of Summer.

For the first time since I left the Army, it felt good to be home.