Coming Home to You by Rebecca Crowley

Author:Rebecca Crowley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781957748351
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2022-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Babies are in no hurry to be born today! On my way now, be there in ten.

Sam closed the text from Mabel, popped in his earbuds, and flicked to the TV show he’d downloaded earlier that day. The unseasonal cold front meant he was the only person in the courtyard café at Second Chance, a boutique gift store on Main Street, but that suited him just fine. He only had a few days left in his hometown, and he was finally allowing himself to enjoy it.

He hadn’t seen Mabel since Erev Rosh Hashanah, but he’d relived their conversation—and their kiss—almost constantly.

He was in dangerous territory. On one hand, he was perfectly poised to walk away, once and for all. He had her forgiveness, her friendship, the closure he needed. He should draw a line under this experience and move forward toward the life he wanted.

On the other hand…he didn’t want to.

The longer he spent with Mabel, the more addicted to her he became. That wasn’t fair to her, and it wasn’t right for him. He needed to use this period of recovery and rediscovery to be better, to open himself up, to knock a few cracks in his walls and accept that with the drafts came light. He wasn’t sure when—or if—he’d ever be ready to walk down the aisle, but he was done being alone.

Meanwhile Mabel deserved devotion, the sort of man who would treasure her and fight for her—the opposite of who he’d been when they broke up, and the ideal from which he was still a long way off. She wanted to jump into commitment with both feet, when he’d only just decided to kneel by the edge and test the water. What if he couldn’t handle it? What if he screwed it up? As much as he hated to admit it, he hadn’t forgotten his father’s warning. He’d already hurt her once—he didn’t trust himself not to do it again.

And yet none of those reasons managed to overwhelm his attraction. Sometimes his thoughts wandered as far as proposing a no-strings fling, just a couple of nights to satisfy their cravings—and then he reminded himself he’d already done enough damage for a lifetime, and the last thing she needed was another man loving and leaving her.

Not that he loved her, of course.

Although if he wasn’t careful, he might.

Despite being tempted several times in the last few days, he’d managed not to text or call Mabel. But when she asked him to meet her at Second Chance with just a few hours’ notice, he agreed right away.

“Dangerous territory,” he reiterated to himself, taking a sip of coffee before tapping play on the video. Any misstep and he’d lose Mabel forever. She’d forgiven him once—she wouldn’t do it again.

He zipped his coat up to his chin and focused on the screen. The evening dusk and the unusually frigid temperature added to the TV show’s atmosphere, so by the time Mabel tapped him on the shoulder he was so engrossed in the story he startled.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.