Just Like Home (Bring Me Back Book 2) Read online

  It almost kills her. Every time.

  Parker reassures her with her competence though. And it helps that Broughton Street where the bakery isn’t too far from Arden’s home with her husband Flash.

  Arden leans down and places a kiss on Dahlia’s forehead. Coming around from behind the counter, I lean over and do the same. The little girl smiles up at us, tufts of white-blond hair sticking up on her head. Arden’s tamed one of them enough to be pulled into a big turquoise bow, and it matches the adorable romper Dahlia wears. She grabs hold of one of her bare feet, gripping it tightly with her tiny fist.

  “Love you, baby girl,” Arden says. “See you soon.”

  “See you later, ladies. Have a great day!” Parker waves at us as she pushes the stroller out the door.

  “That baby sure is a cutie pie,” muses Mrs. Perkins. She slides off her stool. “Well, I gotta run, too. It’s Frida, and it’s my week to host Yahtzee for the girls. I got a lot to do today to get ready.”

  I wave a hand at her. “You go on, girl.”

  She winks at me. “This old bird’s still got some get up and go. First stop? Liquor store.”

  Arden snorts, and I almost drop the mug I’ve gathered up to clear away. We both laugh as Mrs. Perkins heads out of the coffeeshop.

  After refilling a few customers’ coffees from the tables around the shop, Arden settles in front of me with a coffee of her own. “You’re coming out tomorrow night, right? My parents will be here this afternoon, so they’re going to watch Dahlia so Flash and I can have a night out.”

  I pin her with a skeptical stare. “You haven’t had a night out with Flash since Dahlia was born. Don’t you want it to be just the two of you?”

  Arden gives an emphatic shake of her head. “We’ll have a private dinner together. Then you and Axel will meet us for drinks and dancing. Don’t mess with the plan, Brantley. We’ve already perfected the plan!”

  A weary sigh escapes me. “This plan is perfect according to who? Why does it always have to be just me and Axel? That makes it feel like a double date.”

  And Axel and I are definitely not a couple.

  I’ve held off for a year from becoming romantic with Flash’s very attractive, very single younger brother Axel. To me, he’s like a delicious piece of forbidden fruit. He’s made it known that he could be persuaded to be more than just friends, but I know damn well what a bad idea that would be. Axel is Flash’s brother, and Arden is my best friend. If he and I were to date and it go south, it would be the most awkward situation known to man. I’d have to be around him all the time, and it would be worse than it already is.

  I’m just not going there.

  No matter how deliciously handsome he is.

  “Can’t we invite more people to make it more of an outing than a double date?” I encourage Arden.

  She frowns. “Like who?”

  Thinking, I ring up a customer who’s ordered a vanilla latte. “Like we could ask Parker if she’d like to come. She seems like she’d be a good time.”

  Arden nods. She heads toward the back of the shop, where her art studio is housed. She’ll most likely disappear back there for a couple of hours, making pottery to sell in the shop and display in our many niches and crannies around the space. “I’ll ask Flash if there’s anyone at the office he wants to invite.”

  I turn away to begin making the latte, but not before I throw her a satisfied smile. “In that case, count me in for tomorrow night. I’ll be the one wearing something sexy.”

  Arden giggles. “I’ll be the one acting like a brand new mom who hasn’t seen the light of day in months. Oh, wait...”

  Laughing, I watch her disappear into her workshop.

  When I close the coffee shop at seven, I’m able to walk from the shop to my house on Birch Street. I always enjoy the ten-minute walk, with the exception of ninety-degree summer days. Then, I drive. But tonight, autumn is just setting on the city of Savannah, and for us that means nights fragrant with sweet, crisp air and the old-fashioned lamp lights glowing along the brick sidewalks. Spanish moss drips overhead, weeping its grief over the summer’s end.

  I live in a small cottage, set back from the street along a narrow, barely used lane. There’s just one other home at the end of it, and it belongs to a man I consider to be kind of a hermit. I almost never see him. My cottage pulls a smile to my lips every time I walk up to it, because it’s every dream I had when Arden and I moved to Savannah. She and Trenton purchased a giant house in a suburban neighborhood, living their own dream. But this is where I wanted to be: close to the shop, in the heart of the city I dreamed about so much growing up.

  As a teenager, I read a book set in Savannah. And even though I’d never visited the city myself, never having traveled outside of Palm Beach County, Florida, I knew it was a place I wanted to visit. Full of history and old beauty and magic. It was still by the water, which is in my blood, and Arden readily agreed to attend college in the city with me when we graduated from high school.

  I rented an apartment in the historic district after we graduated, and I bought my cottage a few years later. I pause in the lane beside my little mailbox, gazing at my house. It’s small and white, with two windows framing either side of the cheerful blue front door. Flower boxes rest under both windows, full of sunny yellow daffodils and spilling creeping jenny. The deep front porch has been painted gray, and two white rockers sit, waiting for someone to fill them. It’s the perfect place to sit and sip sweet tea on a hot day or wrap in an afghan and drink cider on a chilly one.

  After grabbing the mail, I let myself into the front door and lean against it, sighing deeply.

  It isn’t a home. A home needs a family. And that’s something I’ve given up hope of ever having.

  But it’s pretty damn close.

  2

  Axel

  I knock back another sip of Maker’s Mark, letting the bourbon slide down my throat. It burns all the way down, but I like that. The burn feels good; it reminds me that I’m alive.

  I’ve had trouble with that lately. Finding a reason.

  It’s not like I’m depressed, or suicidal. I don’t feel either of those demons breathing down my neck. I just feel…aimless. Like I’m drifting in my life, and I don’t know how to anchor.

  I’m a fixer. Always have been.

  “The fuck are you thinking so hard about?” My brother, Flash, reaches me from somewhere far away and burrows into my thoughts, pulling me out.

  “How the hell do you do that?” I snap, irritation swirling.

  Because, damn. Flash shouldn’t be able to tell that I’m thinking. He should assume that I’m just sitting in this booth, sipping my bourbon. Because he’s blind. He can’t read my expression or see that I’m caught up in my own head.

  He reaches out, catching me in the back of my closely-shaved head. “I know you. I’m your brother. Why are you brooding? It doesn’t suit you.”

  He’s right. He’s the broody one. I’m the jovial brother, the one with all the quips and the comebacks. Our mother used to call me her little whip, because I was so quick on the uptake.

  I shake my head, staring down at my drink. “Shit, I don’t know, man. I just can’t get my head out of my own ass lately. I mean, you have Arden and Dahlia. And your family is amazing, man. I’m happy for you. I love being an uncle.”

  Just thinking about my baby niece fills me with warmth. She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, even though holding her makes me feel like I’m Bigfoot.

  “But helping you navigate coming back after your accident? That did something for me. And before that, being deployed? Having a mission? It fueled a fire inside my soul, you know? I’m just missing that right now. I mean, being a mobility specialist is fucking rewarding as hell. Don’t get me wrong.”

  It was the career path I chose when I left the Air Force, shortly after my brother’s Honorable Discharge. I wanted—no, I needed—to help him get back on his feet. I’m good at it, and I like working with my clients.
But it’s not the same as it was when I was helping my own brother.

  “And you’ve got the whole thing with Mom and Dad’s company. Sage-Jackson Corporation has never been more successful than it has been under your leadership. I couldn’t have done what you have. I just need to find my…” I trail away, suddenly lost for words.

  Flash leans forward. The sunglasses shielding his gaze reflect the light from the downtown Savannah bar’s ceiling. “Purpose?”

  It sounds so cliché. I sigh. “Yeah. I guess.”

  Just then, Arden slides into the booth beside her husband. I assess them, noting the happiness that radiates off of them both the second they’re within five feet of one another. Arden aims light green eyes right at me. “You guys doing okay over here?” She places her drink, something red and fruity, down on the table. “Your conversation looks way too serious for a fun night out.”

  Flash leans over to kiss her cheek. “We’re going just fine, Bunny.” His pet name for her rolls right off his tongue, making my eyes flip skyward. If I didn’t love them both, they’d make me sick. “B here yet?”

  My ears perk up without my permission. The same way they do every time Arden’s best friend Brantley is mentioned. We’ve been thrown together ever since my brother and her best friend met, whether we wanted to be or not.

  And, if I’m being honest with myself, I never really minded.

  Arden pulls her phone out of the clutch purse she’s carrying. “Oh, she said she and Parker are leaving now in an Uber.”

  I catch movement at the door of the bar and lift my hand in a greeting. “And there’s Armstrong.”

  Alonzo Armstrong strides toward our table, an imposing figure who creates a wave in the crowded bar as people part to let him pass. A towering black man with light brown skin and a shiny bald head, Alonzo is built like a tank.

  “Alonzo!” Arden stands, rising to her tiptoes to reach his neck so she can wrap him in a hug. She disappears as he engulfs her in his arms.

  “Good to see you, girl.” His deep voice rumbles out of him.

  Reaching over Arden, Alonzo shakes Flash’s hand and then mine.

  “Good to see you, bro.” I offer Alonzo a grin. “How’s office life treating you?”

  Alonzo took a job at Sage-Jackson recently when he arrived in Savannah after leaving the army. Our paths crossed more than once during joint-force operations. We bonded, and he became like another brother to us. He wasn’t sure where he’d land after he left the service, and Flash pressed him to come use his skills as a systems analyst—something he did behind the scenes in the army—at our company.

  Alonzo grunts. “Hot as hell down here in Savannah, you boys know that, right?”

  Laughing, I rub the scruff forming on my chin. Usually, I’m clean-shaven, but it’s been a few days since I shaved. I’ve had a lot on my mind. “Yeah, man. We like our heat and humidity down here in the south.”

  “Well, you know me being from the Bronx, I don’t know a damn thing about this nonsense.” Alonzo rubs the top of his head.

  Flash grins. “You’ll like it in January, when it isn’t snowing, and you don’t have to shovel a driveway.”

  Alonzo chuckles. “Yeah, I know that’s right. I’m going to grab a beer, you good?”

  We both lift our glasses, and Alonzo heads to the bar.

  “How do you think he’s settling in, really?” Arden’s worry-laced voice rises above the din of the bar. “I feel responsible for his happiness because we’re the only people he really knows in Savannah.”

  Flash pulls her in close, and she perches back on the edge of the booth. “He’s doing just fine. Alonzo’s never had any trouble fitting in, despite the fact that he comes across like a freaking ogre at first. Everyone at the office loves him already.”

  She smiles, resting her head on my brother’s shoulder, and I’m hit with another pang of envy. I realize, not for the first time, that I want what my brother has. Something real to come home to at night. Something real, something lasting, that’ll carry me through the good times and the bad ones. If I had that, maybe I wouldn’t be floundering with a lack of purpose in my life right now.

  “In the name of all that is holy, Axel, if you don’t smile.”

  Startled, I glance up from the glossy tabletop to find Arden staring daggers at me.

  I lift one eyebrow, killing the rest of my bourbon with one gulp. “What?”

  She scowls. “It’s looking like I’m going to have to take care of all my boys tonight. I need you to loosen up, Axel! Where’s my fun-loving, always-smiling, brother-in-law?”

  With maximum effort, I push down all the deep and dark feelings I’ve been having and glue a genuine smile onto my face. Because for Arden, it’s not that hard. She might as well be a real sister to me, for all the love I have for her. I watched Arden forcibly walk my brother through one of the hardest personal trials a human could endure—the loss of his sight. With the exception of the death of our parents, I’ve never seen Flash in that kind of pain. It was brutal, and he was ugly and mean and all kinds of broken. But when they met, so was she. They healed each other. I’ll always love her for that, no questions asked.

  I drum both palms flat against the table and shake off my funk. “Right. No taking care of me required. I’m back, baby.”

  Arden flips her long blond hair over her shoulder, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips. “Atta boy.”

  Sliding out of the booth, I join Alonzo at the bar. He’s just grabbed his beer, and I ask the bartender for another Maker’s Mark. She nods, filling a tumbler with honey-brown liquid. Alonzo and I turn and lean against the counter, backs against the wood, surveying the crowded room.

  “You ever miss being up in that F-22?” Alonzo aims his question at me without glancing my way, taking a healthy swig out of his bottle. His big body relaxed, his ankles crossed one over the other, he’s the picture of chilled calm. But his eyes rove the bar, his senses taking in every aspect of our surroundings the way he’s been trained to do.

  It’s ingrained in him, the way it’s been pounded into all of us. If you’ve served, you observe what’s going on around you. It’s a fact of your life that doesn’t go away, even when you’re no longer wearing the uniform or carrying the sidearm.

  “Damn right,” I murmur, sipping slowly. “Every day. Just try and keep busy, find other things to mean something, you know? Kind of failing at it right now.”

  Alonzo grunts his understanding.

  “You ever miss using that brain on intelligence ops?” I aim a sideways gaze at my friend, gauging his reaction.

  Alonzo’s background in army intelligence was extensive and impressive, and as an officer, he definitely could have had a life-long military career ahead of him. But that isn’t the route he chose and working in the private sector is earning him a six-figure salary at Sage-Jackson. I don’t think it’s about the money for Alonzo, though. If I have him pegged correctly, there’s more to him moving to Savannah and taking a job with our company.

  I’m just not sure what that reason is.

  “Yeah, man. Sometimes I do. Other times, I’m real relieved to be out of there. This life you and Flash are building here? This is more…stable. I need that right now.” His expression shutters, and he clamps his lips together like that’s all he’s got to say, and I drop the topic.

  The front door of the bar opens then, and that’s where my gaze draws. My breath catches, and my heartbeat kicks into third gear. Brantley Hughes strolls into the bar.

  My body reacts every time I see her; I can’t help it. But tonight? Tonight it’s like she’s trying to give me a goddamn heart attack.

  Brantley’s short, maybe five-three with heels on. And these black heels are sky high. My eyes travel from those up the length of shapely, bronzed legs. She’s wearing a curve-hugging dark pink dress that stops just above the knee, a short split on one side teasing my active imagination. Thin spaghetti straps show off her shoulders and a plunging neckline, forcing my eyes to pause and d
rink in the thick chained heart necklace that drops between her ample breasts.

  A whole slew of curses let loose from my mouth, and beside me, I note Alonzo straightening.

  “Well, damn,” he mutters. “Are they with us?”

  It’s only then that I notice Parker; the woman who nannies for Flash and Arden has come in with Brantley. She looks pretty, too, in black shiny leggings and a gold glittery top. But I barely glance at the blond before my eyes drift back to Brantley. She’s caught sight of me, pausing in the doorway. Our eyes catch and hold, and I take a step toward her without even realizing what I’m doing. Her hair, chestnut at the top, fading to gold where it lays in thick waves past her shoulders, glitters in the lights of the bar overhead. Her tongue darts out to lick glossy lips, a nervous habit I’ve seen her do a million times before now, and my dick immediately stiffens in my jeans.

  Jesus fuck. She looks sexier tonight than I’ve ever seen her look. What the hell am I going to do all night?

  I hear Arden call out, “B!” from our table.

  Brantley pulls her eyes from mine, grabs Parker’s hand, and pulls her to the table.

  I follow their progress with a predatory gaze, unable to stop my staring.

  “I thought Flash had found a unicorn…” Alonzo’s voice is amused. “You telling me all the women you hang out with in Savannah look like that?”

  A stab of jealousy rockets through me, and I down a swig of bourbon to tame it. “We don’t hang out with a lot of women in Savannah. But we seem to have gotten lucky three times.”

  Alonzo shakes his head. “Well, what the hell are we standing here for?”

  We push off from the counter and carry our drinks back to our large, circular booth, where our party has grown to six. Alonzo slides in at the end beside Flash, and I slip in on the other side, beside Brantley.

  I lean over so that both she and Parker can hear me. “Drinks on me tonight, ladies. What’ll you have?”