Falling Home by Libby Kay

Author:Libby Kay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Second Chance Romance, Small Town Romance, Marriage Problems, Opposites Attract, Workplace problems, Ohio, Christmas
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Published: 2022-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Ginny paced through the house that night. Sleep was not an option, as she had too many competing thoughts vying for space in her muddled brain. She did laundry, triple-checked that her father’s overnight bag was packed, scoured the stovetop, and gathered more firewood from the shed. She did anything to keep busy, anything to stop thinking about her father’s surgery ... and how excited she was to see Max in a few hours.

She was also pretending that she wasn’t thinking about his lips, or the fact that she desperately wanted to taste them. God, why had she fangirled over her ex-husband like that? And why couldn’t she stop thinking about how soft his flannel shirt felt on her fingers, or how safe and protected she felt in his embrace? Get a grip, Ginny!

During times like these, stressful times when uncertainty clouded around her, Ginny gravitated toward the kitchen. Whether over a cup of coffee or a meal, she liked to center herself in the warm space. There was something about being surrounded by happy memories and familiar scents that slowed her racing heart.

But for all the happy memories in this kitchen, there were a couple that tore her up inside. One of these memories Ginny kept hidden away because it was too much to even speak about. On a morning like this one, when no one was awake and the house was still, Ginny had watched her mother leave.

It had been in early high school, and Ginny had gotten up early to make hot cocoa since she knew she wasn’t allowed to have it with breakfast. This act of quiet defiance had been about as rebellious as she’d gotten back then. And if she were honest with herself, it was as rebellious as she got now. She didn’t like to cause scenes, period.

That morning she heard a quiet thud at the base of the stairs and a few muffled profanities. Thinking her mother was bringing down the laundry, Ginny got up to help, carefully covering her mug with a tea towel. “Good morning,” she’d said, turning the corner and coming face-to-face with a reality she hadn’t been prepared to see.

Her mother stood there, dressed in her favorite jeans and sweater, graying hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. A cloud of perfume had wafted up to greet Ginny, who’d raised an eyebrow at her mother. There’d been two suitcases splayed on the floor between them, her purse hung over the railing. “Oh,” her mother said, lowering her gaze. “I thought you’d still be in bed.”

Ginny shrugged, not sure why she was feeling so guilty. Even at fourteen she knew she was seeing something that was about to rip her world in half. “What’s going on?”

Her mother sighed and stepped past her daughter, pulling the suitcases back to standing and grabbing her coat from a hook by the door. For a moment, she didn’t say anything, just quietly buttoned her jacket up to her neck. “I’m going away for a while,” she’d said to the floor, her familiar gaze not reaching up to meet Ginny’s.

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