The Homecoming

By Lois Edmonds

The scheming of disapproving parents has kept teenage lovers Jessa and Will apart for nine years. When Will eventually returns to his home town, he discovers he has a son he didn't know existed and a woman he is still in love with. It is a rollercoaster of emotions as Will gets to know his son and struggles to break down the barriers Jessa has had to create in order to survive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lois Edmonds
• Release date: Nov 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465786517

Lois Edmonds

The author has two loves:writing and painting pet portraits. After many years in the UK as a professional charity fundraiser and marketer, Lois now lives in Brisbane Australia, where she divides her time between writing, painting, and charity work.

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The Homecoming

Lois Edmonds

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Lois Edmonds

Discover other titles by Lois Edmonds at Smashwords.com.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

One minute it was an ordinary day for Jessa. The next, it was as if the whole world, her carefully constructed world, was crashing down around her.

There was no mistaking the face of the man who had sidled onto the stool at the other end of the counter. Sure, the features had matured, but those striking deep blue eyes, straight nose and wide generous mouth were etched on her brain. The last time she saw them, they had belonged to a seventeen-year-old youth. Today, they were part of a drop-dead gorgeous apparition she never expected to see again. William Capper III.

Standing out of sight behind the swing half doors to the cafe kitchen she took a few moments to observe and collect herself. What was Will doing back in town? The last time she had seen him, he had held her hands awkwardly while his parents stood waiting impatient, stiff backed and disapproving beside their big black Mercedes saloon. They had been too shy to risk a goodbye kiss in full view of the disdainful glares of his snobbish mother and imperious father. Instead, they made desperate whispered promises to keep in touch before he climbed into the back of the car and was swept out of the gravel drive and out of her life.

Capper Engineering had been the backbone of the small Staffordshire town of Rainley. Almost half of the men and a good number of the women from the town worked there in some capacity. Jessa's father was the janitor for the works, a job he did half-heartedly and only because it provided him with the means to get drunk and play poker every Thursday when he got paid. Not much of his money ever made it home; in fact he rarely made it home himself until the money ran out. Not that Jessa minded that. It was preferable to having him hanging around the house drunk and nasty and itching for a fight.

Jessa's mother May was left to provide for herself and Jessa any way she could. May had inherited the rundown Martha's Cafe at the end of the High Street from her mother and they lived in the dingy rooms over the shop. On slow days, a young innocent Jessa would be sent down to tend to the customers while May provided ‘extra' services to a string of males who knew they could get more than a cup of coffee at Martha's Cafe. It kept food on the table, but it turned her generous outgoing mother into an embittered woman.

Nine years. It was nine years ago that William Capper II had made the decision to close Capper Engineering and move his family to China where he was opening up a new aluminium smelting operation.

That one decision affected the lives of so many people. Not least, the 350 locals who found themselves out of a job. Many of them had been forced to move to other parts of the UK to find work. Those who had no choice but to stay behind couldn't afford to support the other businesses in the small town, and day after day in those early months, hard-working shop-owners had closed their doors for the last time. The dry-cleaners, the Italian restaurant, the gift shop on the corner. The High Street looked morose and unwelcoming with so many gaping holes where they had once been thriving businesses. The windows became a breeding ground for tatty posters; the Shop for Lease signs ending up eventually on the scrap heap as the hope of renting the spaces faded. Even after all these years the town still exuded a sad, empty feeling that did little to attract new business.

Jessa's father was one of those who had split in the hope of finding work somewhere else. The difference was, he went alone and he never came back.

Jessa's mother needed to provide even more ‘extra' services as the custom in the cafe slackened.

And Jessa? Well she was pregnant – and she had no idea where the teenage father was. Not one word from him, despite all of his promises. China was a big mysterious place half the world away. She didn't even know which province, let alone which city Will's family had moved to. He may as well had been on the moon.

Nine years. A lot of water under the bridge in nine years. A lot of heartache, misery, loneliness – and anger.

And a beautiful eight-year-old son who looked heartbreakingly like his father.

As the shock of seeing Will again receded, the anger set in. A deep, unforgiving, cold anger that she had suppressed for so long it took her by surprise her when it rushed unbidden to fill the awful void in her heart at the sight of him. A void that had once been so full of youthful passion and love and hope for a future with William Capper III. Not any more.

It was that same anger that gave her the strength to push hard on the swing doors, and sail out into the public domain of the cafe to serve her new customer.

Walking down the High Street for the first time in so many years had given Will a feeling of déjà vu that seemed at odds with the many changes he noted. It saddened him to see how rundown and seedy the town had become, and the feeling was followed by a rush of guilt and anger at his father for being the cause of it.

He had arrived just that morning and after a quick solo inspection of the old engineering complex, he had booked into the town's only pub with accommodation. He left his hire car at the pub and walked the short distance into the High Street; it seemed the best way to re-acquaint himself with his old stamping ground. He had no idea what he would find, but he hadn't really expected to see so many changes for the worse. Yes, he knew it would have suffered after the closure, but that was nine years ago and he hoped to see some regeneration by now. Sadly, there was no evidence of this along the once busy main street.

He knew as soon as he saw the Martha's Cafe sign that this was his real destination. What would he find there? Had Jessa and her parents left the town along with everyone else? He had written so many letters during that first terribly lonely year but when there was no response from Jessa, he assumed they too had moved away. Or, worse, she had moved on and was giving her affections to another young lad.

Feeling forgotten and lost in a land of vast cultural differences and vast distances from anywhere, he concentrated on his studies and tried to forget his sweet memories of Jessa. They had enjoyed just one magic night together, but it had stayed with him all these years like it had been yesterday. He hadn't meant it to happen. But they had been so in love, so desperate not to be parted. It had been an act of pure defiance at a time when their young lives were out of their control, having to do what others had decided was best for them.

The cafe was quiet when Will entered, with just one table by the window occupied by an elderly couple who didn't take any notice of the young man in the sharp suit who opened the door with an air of uncertainty. There was no one behind the counter. He settled on the stool and looked around him – and like what he saw. Comfy sofas and low tables in the sunny window corner, several small tables scattered along the side wall, and padded stools at the counter provided relaxed seating for all types of customers. The decor of dark grey walls, stripped pine floors and counters, with touches of red in the seating and table covers was both surprisingly sophisticated and welcoming.

He smiled wryly to himself; from what he remembered of her, this was definitely not the work of Jessa's mother. She had been much more roadhouse material; he recalled plastic table cloths and even more plastic flowers, rickety chairs and chipped Formica tables. This was city chic in a small town.

Yet, by the look of the delectable fruit pies in the counter display, the new owner was as good a cook as May had been. As many men would drop in to the cafe for a thick slice of one of May's pies – Will's favourite had been sweet apricot and apple and pastry that melted in the mouth - as did for her other ‘delights'. Delights that a youth of seventeen could only wonder, and dream about. He only remembered her pies.

He was still remembering the pies when the swing doors flew open. His heart somersaulted. Storming towards him behind the counter was Jessa. Not the Jessa he remembered, but a real, grown-up version. And boy, was she all grown up.

She hadn't grown any taller – if anything she seemed shorter than he remembered. But then, he realised he was a lot taller now than he had been as a youth. But she had grown out in all the right places. The uniform of white blouse and short red skirt did little to disguise the shapely form underneath. Full breasts, tiny waist, and wide hips just made to rest your hands on. Before he could take in any more, his vision was filled with her face.

And that was definitely saying hands off!

Eyes full of emerald fire and two spots of colour on her high cheek bones were a dead giveaway. If he had missed the fact that she was livid, the words that followed left no room for doubt.

You have a bloody nerve just showing up like this! Oh, God, she thought. He smiled. Why did he have to smile?

What sort of a welcome is that, after all this time?

The only sort of welcome for someone who disappears without a trace for nine years!

He put up his hands as if to protect himself from her tirade. Whoa! Stop there! What the hell are you talking about? I wrote to you – so many times!

"You did not!'

I did so! His response was forceful enough to attract glances from the couple by the window. They exchanged looks, and beat a hasty path to the door.

She hesitated. The anger that had buoyed her was dissipating and she was starting to tremble in reaction. What are you saying? I never received one letter from you – not one!

It was Will's turn to look shocked. But, Jessa – I wrote to you every week that first year – every damned week – just ask your mother!

Jessa took a step back, her legs shaky and her words shakier. ‘Will... I didn't get one of them – not one... and Mum's dead."

Will exhaled sharply. He hadn't expected this, any more than he had expected the rush of feeling that had overwhelmed him at the sight of her. Everything he had thought and felt over the years was built on a misconception and he was totally at sea.

Jessa could feel the tears coming. He had kept his promises. He hadn't forgotten her. All those years spent angry and alone for nothing. Her anger was still there – but it was now directed at another person entirely. Someone who had also deserted her; except they hadn't had a choice.

Suddenly, she felt sick all over again. Oh, Christ – Billy...

Barely able to keep herself together, she spoke quietly. Will, can you please lock the door and put up the Closed sign. We need to talk.

Jessa poured two mugs of coffee and placed them on the table at the back of the cafe with her hands still shaking. She glanced at her watch. It was 3.15. Billy would be out of school soon. She had less than half an hour to tell Will he had a son before the small boy walked in that door. This was a small town; if she let him leave without telling him it would by only a matter of time before someone else did, or made some snide passing comment. Her heart thudded painfully.

She didn't look up as Will took a seat on the other side of the small table. She stared into the foam in her coffee and searched for the words.

Will looked across at Jessa. The young girl he had loved had been pretty, but this woman before him was incredibly beautiful. The once short honey blonde hair was now long and tied back, with soft wayward tendrils framing her face. The elfin face had gained definition; slightly higher cheekbones, slightly wider brow, slightly more rounded chin. But the mouth was the same. Full, soft, and very kissable. And those eyes... they were now downcast but he knew they were still the deep emerald green that had captivated the young lad from the other side of the tracks. You never forgot eyes like that.

Will was stunned by the look in those same eyes when Jessa eventually raised them. Gone was the innocence he remembered. A wealth of experience was reflected there and judging by the pain in those green depths, not good experiences.

Jessa took a steadying sip of fragrant coffee. Will... so much has happened since you left. I hardly know where to begin.

Please, Jess, it sounds as though we need to wipe the slate clean and start again. We have both been harbouring hurts against each other – wrongly so, it seems.

Her smile was wry and a little sad. If only it was that simple. You don't understand. It's complicated...

He frowned. What do you mean... complicated?

Jessa hunched over her coffee and when she glanced up, her eyes were bright with tears. Oh, Will. That last night, before you left, when we – I got pregnant.

Will leaned back in the chair and ran his hands through his hair. He tried to make some sense of her words. Oh. God – Jess! I'm so sorry.

He got to his feet. This was too much to take in sitting still. He paced back and forth, Jessa just stayed where she was, her eyes following his movements. It was some time before he turned to her. His words were low and raspy. I should have been here. Done something to stay. Defied my Dad!

"Will, you were a kid, you had no choice but to do what your parents wanted. Besides you weren't