Coming Home

By Paloma Beck

Rachel Porter, a romance writer, has told her three sons tales of finding their true soul mate since they were just boys. She believes that there is but one match for every person. Now as men, they have yet to discover their soul mates.
​That is, until they come home...

Ryan Porter needs a change from his busy city lifestyle. After five years of living in New York and establishing his own real estate firm, something is still missing. When a tragedy brings Ryan back to his family’s rural home in Maine, he finds that missing piece.

Tyra has heard stories of Ryan since she first met his family years earlier. Now Ryan has come home and he is more than she dreamed he would be. Neither can fight their attraction for the other. And while Tyra just might be the catalyst for the change Ryan needs, first he must embrace Tyra’s secrets.

With family secrets creeping out, a profitable relationship ending, trouble with his company and the unexpected loss of his father, Ryan’s life has been thrown off course. The one thing he’s got going for him is the new woman stirring up emotions he’s never experienced before. Tyra might be the one who convinces Ryan there’s truth to his mother’s tales of a soul mate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paloma Beck
• Release date: Sep 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310847226

Paloma Beck

Paloma Beck is a Romance Author living a life of contradiction... she's a happily married carpooling mom writing steamy romance. It's almost naughty! Paloma writes both contemporary and paranormal romances that are anything but PG. She published her first book in 2012 and hasn't slowed down since.With her husband and three sons, the Blue Ridge mountains have been her home for nearly twenty years. There's still a special place in her heart though for New England where she spent her childhood. The lakes of Maine call her name and someday she hopes to find her way back there.Paloma is a proud supporter of Starbucks. She believes a daily dose of espresso and a good book make any day better. So, go on, Romance Beckons. Grab a cup of coffee, a good book and get reading!

Book preview

COMING HOME

Paloma Beck

Coming Home

Copyright © 2015 Paloma Beck

Second Edition

First E-book Publication: October 2012

Cover design by Romance Beckons

Edited by Mary Clark

Proofread by Rene Flowers & Perk It Up Editing

All cover art and logo copyright © 2015 by Romance Beckons

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Dedication

For Michael, my first book for my first son—

I wanted to show you that you could do and be anything you want.

I walked the walk. You can too.

COMING HOME

Rachel Porter, a romance writer, has told her three sons tales of finding their true soul mate since they were just boys. She believes that there is but one match for every person. Now as men, they have yet to discover their soul mates. That is, until they come home…

Ryan Porter needs a change from his busy city lifestyle. After five years of living in New York and establishing his own real estate firm, something is still missing. When a tragedy brings Ryan back to his family’s rural home in Maine, he finds that missing piece.

Tyra has heard stories of Ryan since she first met his family years earlier. Now Ryan has come home and he is more than she dreamed he would be. Neither can fight their attraction for the other. And while Tyra just might be the catalyst for the change Ryan needs, first he must embrace Tyra’s secrets.

With family secrets creeping out, a profitable relationship ending, trouble with his company and the unexpected loss of his father, Ryan’s life has been thrown off course. The one thing he’s got going for him is the new woman stirring up emotions he’s never experienced before. Tyra might be the one who convinces Ryan there’s truth to his mother’s tales of a soul mate.

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Chapter One

Ryan’s phone rang from somewhere on the floor where their clothes had ended up on their way to the bed the night before.

If you answer that damn thing again… Kimmi said as Ryan removed his arm from across her bare chest. He avoided looking in her direction, knowing she was on the verge of another one of her annoying tantrums about his clients getting more attention than she does, and how they had no private time, she always had to share him with his clients, blah, blah, blah. Ryan was so tired of hearing the same complaints and getting into the same argument every time, neither of them willing to concede their point.

It’s seven in the morning, for God’s sake, Kimmi. Whoever the fuck is calling must have a damn good reason. Ryan grabbed up his phone and walked out of the room and away from her whining reply.

Ryan watched Kimmi as she stomped by him towards the bathroom, rolling her eyes in his direction and letting out a loud, frustrated sigh but he didn’t give it more than a fleeting thought. There were too many clients looking at major real estate right now to ignore a call. Even at seven am on a Saturday morning. This was how he earned his money, how he was able to take her to all the places she loved, how they were able to live like they did.

He knew Kimmi, or Kimberlee Patrice Sheppard as most people knew her, needed to live at this level of life—she always had, her parents raised her this way and knew nothing else. But hell, if he had to choose, he just might have to admit that his business gave him more satisfaction than Kimmi did. And if she pushed, he’d walk. Kimmi was good for his business but she wasn’t the one for him. She was the daughter of a prominent client who flipped real estate on the island and gave Ryan his first break into major deals that took his company to the top. Hell, he put Ryan on the radar here in New York City. Ryan owed this man greatly and appreciated the position he raised him to as a major player in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world, even with the understanding that the help came with the promise of providing the life Kimmi needed.

He could only imagine what his mother would think if she could see him now. Ryan’s mother had always told him and his brothers when they were growing up that there was one true soul mate for every man, a woman who was meant to be his alone to love and care for, and who would in return love and care for him beyond all others. Ryan knew with certainty that Kimmi was so not his soul mate. This was exactly why he’d never introduced Kimmi to his parents. His mother would know right away and looking into her eyes would immediately send him the message he couldn’t receive because, no matter what his mother thought, Ryan needed Kimmi in his life right now. That was the reality—that was real—his mother’s bedtime stories, her promises of a soul mate for each of them, were fantasy. Ryan couldn’t live in a fantasy world. Life wasn’t about fantasy. He was firmly grounded in reality.

He dropped his gaze and flipped his phone over to see what client needed him now. But his caller id told him it wasn’t a client. He took a deep breath before answering. The hair on his neck stood straight as he pressed the phone to his ear—something was wrong. Hi mother.

* * * *

Kimmi was turning the shower on when Ryan swung open the door. Still in the boxers he had thrown on when he got out of bed, he rifled through his cabinet as he spoke. I have to go home. I’m leaving right away.

What do you mean ‘home’? Kimmi sneered.

To my parents’ house, Ryan explained. My father is in the hospital.

Oh My God, Kimmi said and then fell silent. It may have been the only time he’d seen her without words. She stepped toward him but Ryan dodged her, grabbed his suitcase, and began throwing clothes in.

Let me come with you, Kimmi offered.

Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t the time to bring you home to meet the family.

Ryan, Kimmi said his name as if it were a curse. Her temper was rising. Ryan knew she hated when he disregarded her. He had to shelter her sensitive feelings; careful not to treat her as if she meant nothing to him at all, which was very nearly his reality. However, right now, the words his mother spoke swirled through his mind. He couldn’t be bothered with Kimmi’s neediness. His father had been in a car accident and from what Ryan could understand in the brief phone conversation with his mother, things didn’t look good. Shit. Shaking his head, Ryan realized Kimmi was talking again.

… just want to be there for you, she whined as she petted his shoulder and slid her arms around his waist, placing her body warm against his back. He cringed at the contact, seeking solitude and needing to be far away from this distraction. He needed to get to his mother, to his father.

No. I need to go alone. Besides, I’ll be back within the week. I can’t leave the office longer than that, Ryan replied, moving out of her suffocating embrace and into his closet again without even a glance back in her direction. Kimmi did nothing without an ulterior motive. She’d been dropping marriage hints lately and he suspected her offer to come with him had something to do with that. No fucking way.

They finished dressing in silence and walked out of his apartment together. She followed him to the garage where Ryan owned adjacent parking spots for both their cars. Kimmi put her hand on Ryan’s shoulder as he popped his trunk to slip in the bag he’d packed. She straightened her back, squared her shoulders, lifted her head, and said, Don’t be surprised if I’m not waiting when you get back.

Okay, Ryan responded without turning fully around. He shrugged off her hand, looked at her over his shoulder, and shook his head. It’s always about you, isn’t it? He paused and let out a sigh, Actually I don’t really care if you’re here when I get back. Do whatever the fuck you want — you always do, princess. He slammed his car door harder than he needed to when he got in and thought To hell with Kimmi.

Within a few miles, Ryan had forgotten about Kimmi’s fit over being left behind. By the time he passed through the tunnel north out of the city, his thoughts were already far off, his mind spinning around his conversation with his mother. She hadn’t told him much but one thing she didn’t mean to say was bothering him the most.

His mother said his father was on his way to her house. She hadn’t said the lake house where he knew his parents spent a lot of their time. He hadn’t missed the quick slip of tongue and it made him curious. His mother, an author, considered the lake house the ideal place to write. Ryan knew she spent more time there than her father who worked in the city just two hours from the lake. But she’d said her house—what had that meant exactly?

Just after sunrise, Ryan drove through the town where he’d spent eighteen years of his life. The highway in Bryant passed by his old neighborhood, his high school, the field he played soccer for years, the baseball stadium his father took him to see all the local games, his father’s downtown office—but he continued through without looking back.

Just under two more hours to the lake house, Ryan didn’t want to stop—he needed to be there. He wanted to talk to his father, to see for himself that he would be okay. Doctors had the technology to bring about a full recovery from seizures these days. As long as the injuries from the actual crash weren’t too severe, this was something his father could overcome. He was a healthy, strong man who took good care of himself and hardly seemed his age. Everything was going to be fine.

Ryan could afford to stay with his mother for a week to help her if she needed but couldn’t be away from his business longer than that. He guessed they’d return to their main house in Bryant. He’d brought his computer and planned to set it up and work from his father’s home office there. Maybe he’d even see if he could pitch in to help Henry if there were many contracts in progress that needed attention before his father would be well enough to return to them. As soon as he saw his father and found out everything was okay, he’d call his assistant and get things squared away at his office.

About twenty minutes from the house where his family had spent their weekends away from the small city in which they lived, he could see some of the inlets in the smaller towns he passed through. Some of his best family memories were from times spent at the lake. And every summer since he left home for college, they would all return for at least one week together. But Ryan hadn’t gone down to visit last summer—the real estate market had been booming and getting away was impossible. It had been a long time since he’d been down to the lake—too long. Things had changed. A few small shops he frequented were gone, names of some restaurants had changed, but the bar he and his brothers spent a lot of late nights in was still there.

Mordecai’s Bar and Grill was the place to go if you were young enough to be awake after ten. With few alternatives for nightlife, you’d find anyone old enough or in possession of a good fake id at Mordecai’s Bar. Ryan smiled at the memories of that place; remembering hundreds of rounds of pool, slow dancing with his first girlfriend who turned out to be his first conquest, and then his first real hangover the next morning. He and Davis would drag Henry with them so he could drive them home. Man, he missed those times with his brothers sometimes. It had been a long time since they’d all been together.

In fact, he hadn’t even seen his parents in the last year except when they came up to have dinner with him. His mother was doing a signing for her latest book and his father made the trip to see