Coming Home

By Diana McKinley

Dr. Ashlyn Gary is a successful trauma surgeon in Boston. A child prodigy, she made it through medical school in record time learning to heal physical wounds most would think difficult to overcome. Over the years, work became her focus, her outlet, and her hiding place. A young woman when she left Georgia to attend Harvard, she left behind a mountain of hurt and regret when she ran away from her first love. Just a boy to Ashlyn then, Logan Hatcher is now a man with regrets of his own and fences to mend.

Dr. Bradford Fielding has long admired and watched Ashlyn grow and blossom before his eyes. As her colleague, he’s guided and mentored her. As her friend, he’s nurtured her, all while hoping that eventually she’d see him as he saw her – as more than just a friend.

When compelled to return home by unexpected tragedy, Ashlyn’s past and present collide in an all-consuming tidal wave. One Ashlyn will have to overcome, as the adult she is now, in order to have the future she’s long denied herself.

CONTENT WARNING: Explicit Sex

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diana McKinley
• Release date: Nov 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310137341

Diana McKinley

As a lover of the written word, in all its forms and variations, Diana McKinley is excited to enter the realm of authoring erotic novels. Through years of reading and looking for strong male and female characters alike, across a myriad of genres, she decided that sometimes you have to write the tale in your heart in order to finally see the kind of hero or heroine you've been searching for. She loves humor and a happy ending though sometimes her characters have to go through insurmountable odds together to achieve their bliss. She hopes that there will be something for everyone who relishes a satisfying erotic story in her books. Come along on the journeys and enjoy the ride! You can learn more about Diana's writing at http://dianamckinley.com/

Book preview

Coming Home

Second Chances

Book 1

Diana McKinley

Copyright © 2015 Diana McKinley

Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781310137341

Smashwords Edition

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 reader. 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

DEDICATION

Thanks for helping to make it happen

Will and Jules

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover Art:  Reese Dante   http://www.reesedante.com

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Actual locations are referenced solely to lend realism to the story. No negative connotations to real locations are implied or suggested.

"Only when we are no longer afraid

do we begin to live."

Dorothy Thompson

Chapter 1

Just one more hour, Ashlyn Gary told herself wearily. Her gaze flickered up to the old sterile black and white, round-faced clock on the wall behind the nurses’ station. It was almost two in the morning. Yep, only one more hour before the promise of her own bed could become a reality. In light of all the sleep she’d missed over the last decade, one hour was really nothing, Ashlyn told herself.

Still, after working almost around the clock for the past seventy-two hours, with only the occasional catnap in the doctors’ lounge to keep her brain from truly crashing, she needed more prolonged sleep. The kind that went on for hours and actually produced a dream or two. Anything lasting past five hours at this point sounded like sheer nirvana to her.

Originally, Ashlyn had been scheduled to work only two days in a row, before she had a rare two days off. But when an entire section of scaffolding had collapsed on the rear addition to the municipal building, Ashlyn and seven other surgeons had stayed on, helping Boston’s Massachusetts General deal with the influx of severely injured workers.

There were ruptured spleens, damaged kidneys, spinal injuries, and even two traumatic brain injuries to deal with. Broken bones, a collapsed lung, and a few severed fingers rounded out the list of what they’d been working to repair. Now that the patients were entering the slow process of healing from all that had been done to save their lives, Ashlyn felt as though she could finally begin to let her guard down a bit.

Dr. Gary, a charge nurse, named Bridgid, called her. Got three more charts for you to sign-off on before you head out. Can you look them over?

Sure. Ashlyn smiled and reached out to take the clipboard Bridgid was handing her way. How could she refuse? The nurses were stretched thin and always running, trying to meet everyone’s needs while not clocking the dreaded overtime their superiors hated so much. Everywhere one turned, people were expected to do more with less.

Thanks, Dr. G. You’re the best! Bridgid gave her a nod and turned to head down the hallway with her cart full of meds.

You’re welcome, she answered softly, knowing Bridgid was too far away to hear her now.

When Ashlyn turned back to the papers, there was suddenly a second set being passed her way. A nurse in her late twenties and closer to Ashlyn’s age, named Michelle, was standing on the other side of the counter with a clear apology written all over her face.

Sorry, Dr. Gary, but I have two charts for you to sign as well.

Hand them over. Ashlyn chuckled wearily as she added them to her stack.

Michelle voiced her thanks, and Ashlyn dipped her chin. She set about completing the charts, hoping that she could return to her own reports before she nodded off from sheer exhaustion. Ashlyn knew she couldn’t leave the building until she’d submitted them.

Twenty minutes later, Ashlyn drew in a deep breath, stretching her neck from side to side, trying to work out the tension her body persistently held within her shoulders. Maybe a massage would do her better than actual sleep, she mused. Nah, she wanted a bed. Her bed.

A cup of coffee appeared in her peripheral vision, and she smiled. Ashlyn knew well the hand that was bearing the mug. She had performed more surgeries alongside those skillful hands than she cared to count. They were steady, strong, and always true, never missing their mark and never wavering. Over the last six years, Ashlyn had come to greatly depend on the one whose hand she was still staring at. When his other palm settled on her aching shoulders, she looked up into his concerned, clear blue eyes.

Thank you, Brad, Ashlyn said quietly. She attempted another smile, but let the mug hide her half-hearted effort.

Why are you still here? His deep baritone voice rolled over and through her, washing away some of her immense fatigue. He gave Ashlyn’s shoulder a light squeeze and his brow furrowed slightly when he felt just how tightly wound she actually was.

Ashlyn saw the recognition dawning in his eyes and she gestured to the reports lying on the desk in front of her, hoping to use logic and reason to deflect his desire to send her home.

Dr. Bradford Fielding was nearly seven years her senior, one of the most dedicated surgeons she had ever worked with, and one of her only true friends. He was well over six-feet tall, broad-shouldered, handsome as all get out, and one whom the ladies on staff loved to drool over. Their comments about him always made Ashlyn laugh under her breath, because she knew Bradford hated the attention.

Yet, he was also in a position to wield his authority at the hospital and could most assuredly call a halt to her work for the night.

I won’t be much longer. I just finalized my rounds. The last patient we operated on, from the municipal building collapse, is stable and doing well. BP was steady and so far, no signs of infection. Now, I only have two reports to log before I can clock out and get some shut-eye. How about you? Ashlyn angled her head, hoping she could switch the focus away from herself.

Nice try, Ash, he grunted and turned, propping on the counter next to her and crossing his arms over his broad chest. But not before he raked his fingers through his dark blonde hair. It never would lie down in any particular style, giving him a ‘just rolled out of bed’ look. He returned to the only task he seemed to be focused on at present. Studying her.

"Yes?" she drawled, feeling a more genuine smile grace her lips.

That’s more like it. He nodded in approval. Go home, Ash. I’ll finish these reports for you.

There is no need for that. I can complete a little paperwork and you know it.

Ashlyn. His voice dropped even deeper with his singular word warning.

She wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Or so Ashlyn told herself. She’d squared off with more doctors in her young life than most in her class. Given her age and perceived fresh-faced innocence, most thought it a joke of some kind that she was always several steps ahead of those around her. It was no small thing to be a prodigy who could breeze through the kind of advanced courses in her sleep, which gave the other students fits.

Yes, she could certainly hold her ground against any colleague, but every time Bradford used that voice with her, Ashlyn felt herself yearning to comply with him. To lean on him and actually let someone else take some of the responsibility away. What would it feel like to do just that for an hour or two, she wondered?

Bradford watched as Ashlyn effectively snuffed out the yearning and hope flashing in her radiant hazel eyes. He knew that she was even more of a loner than he was, determined to push her body to keep up with the brilliant mind which lay under those long, silky brown locks she liked to keep secured in a clip when she was on duty. Which was almost always.

The young lady never seemed to want to go home, never had a date to his knowledge, nor sought out one-night stands to take the edge off as most did. Through years of dedicated study of the lovely doctor, Bradford had learned that Ashlyn was an only child, hundreds of miles away from her original home in Bakerston, Georgia, and simply breathtaking when she let her guard down.

Her smile – the one that truly came from her heart – lit up her entire face when she allowed it to surface. And it wasn’t that she was cold or aloof on purpose. Quite the opposite was true. Besides her consummate professionalism, she was also the most compassionate doctor he’d witnessed in many a year. She never left a patient who wanted to talk, always made time to soothe worried family members, and knew every staff member she came in contact with.

She actually saw people. And it was that empathy which made her extraordinary aptitude and genius even more remarkable. Ashlyn wasn’t just book smart, as some would say. No, she was conscious of the heart and the human condition. And that, combined with her IQ, made her simply astonishing in his humble opinion.

Not to mention the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous and apparently oblivious to the effect she had on the opposite sex. And even a few of her own gender, whom he’d caught checking her out over the years. It was as if the physical stirrings most yearned for, simply didn’t tempt Ashlyn away from her professional goals.

Though Bradford admired her dedication, he also knew that something had to give. Ashlyn couldn’t continue to define herself through what took place within the rooms and corridors of the hospital. There had to be a life for her outside of this place, and the more time went by, the more he wanted to be a part of that life with her. He wanted to be the one to share in her discoveries and watch her blossom in ways she never had, to his knowledge.

The silence between them began to stretch out a little too long for Ashlyn’s comfort. She could read between the lines like any other woman, and what she’d noticed in Bradford’s eyes with increasing frequency of late, was more than she wanted to delve into. They were colleagues and very good friends. Anything more than that, would muddy the waters too much for her.

It was time to take him up on his offer and bow out for the night. Time to go home.

You know, she began, setting the mug of coffee down and rising from her chair, I think you’re right. I am pretty tired. Thank you for your offer of help with these last two reports, Brad. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.

With that, she smiled at him again and turned from the corner of the nurses’ station she’d tucked herself into to work. Ashlyn didn’t look back as she made her way to the end of the long corridor. She stepped into the doctors’ lounge, glad to actually be so close to leaving the stress of it all for a little while.

She went directly to her locker and took out her small toiletry bag, jeans, a t-shirt, and a fresh set of underwear. Experience had taught Ashlyn to always drive home alert, no matter the hour. And a quick shower would most certainly revive her enough, so that her fatigue didn’t jeopardize her safety while on the road.

Her hand was poised on the locker door, ready to close it and head for a free stall, when she heard her personal cell vibrating in her lab coat. Ashlyn reached into the garment’s front right pocket, where she always kept her phone. She took it in hand and looked at a number on the display that she didn’t recognize. But the area code was from her hometown in Georgia, and seeing that made Ashlyn’s blood run cold. Only one person there had her number.

She stared at the phone momentarily, before she snapped herself out of her stupor and answered before her voicemail did so for her.

Hello? Her voice came out sounding more hoarse than she’d wished it to.

Hello. Am I speaking with Dr. Gary? Dr. Ashlyn Gary?

It was a male voice asking. He sounded somewhat familiar, but Ashlyn couldn’t exactly place him.

Yes, you are. This is Ashlyn Gary. With whom am I speaking, please? And how did you get this number? There. That sounded stronger, she nodded to herself, pleased with her effort.

The man sighed, ratcheting up her already frayed nerves.

Ashlyn, this is Craig Williamson calling from Bakerston. I don’t know if you remember me or not. I was always a grade ahead of you in school. Played football and baseball.

Yes, I remember you, she said and moved backward to sink onto a green vinyl couch. Many of the doctors on staff crashed on it from time to time when a cot wasn’t available. What has you dialing my number this early in the morning, Craig?

She had asked the question as calmly as she could, but Ashlyn already knew. There was only one other person in Bakerston whom she kept in contact with anymore. The only one she loved above all others. Her mother. If Craig or anyone else from back home was dialing her personal cell, then something was horribly wrong. The room began to tilt on Ashlyn as she awaited the words to come.

Well, now I work for the sheriff’s department.

I see.

And though I wish to God there was a better way to tell you this… in person… I have to say that I’m calling with news that is not good, in any way, sugar. Are you sitting down?

I am. Her words continued to come out succinctly, but they had taken on a brittle edge. As if a strong wind could blow them away, like a dried out leaf on a cold, autumn day.

Ashlyn, your mother was taken to the hospital in Bakerston tonight with chest pains and a suspected heart attack. But before she could get to the ER, she expired, Craig said solemnly. The first responders did everything they could, but she was already gone by the time they wheeled up to the doors there. Is there someone with you or someone you can call on right now?

Um… Ashlyn stammered and rested her forehead in her hand. How many times had she been in the same position poor Craig was in? Having to tell families that their loved one hadn’t made it through a delicate surgery after a car crash or other horrific accident. There was no good way to say the truth, and she greatly appreciated his caution and the compassion she could hear in his voice.

But still, Ashlyn felt suddenly disconnected from all reality. She had just talked with her mother three days ago and she’d seemed fine. This simply could not be happening, and her mind raced to catch up with Craig’s pronouncement.

Ashlyn, talk to me. You’re too quiet, sugar. Is there someone with you? Do you have a spouse or partner you can call on? A friend up there in Boston?

I’m still at work, actually. I can get one of the nurses here to drive me home. Her voice sounded thick to her ears. Ears which had begun to ring as the room swirled.

Craig sighed again and Ashlyn could imagine him sitting all by himself at some small desk, rubbing his head in the same way she was massaging hers. Both of them trying to muddle their way through this terrible conversation.

What do I need to do, Craig? For her, I mean?

Oh, Ashlyn, I’m just so sorry. I know she was all the family you had left in the world. Listen, your mother is in good hands right now at the Beachum Mortuary. Take your time getting back down here. You’ve got my number on your cell now, so call me once you get into town and I’ll help you get all of her affairs in order. How does that sound?

Like my worst nightmare come true, she wanted to say. But what came out of her mouth was, Yes, that sounds like something I can do. Thank you, Craig. I’ll be in touch.

All right. You do that. I’ll be waiting.

Thank you, Ashlyn muttered again and then drew the phone away from her ear. She ended the call and stared at the screen, unable to move.

There was no one now. No one. It was all Ashlyn could manage to think in the moment, as her entire world came crashing down around her.

CHAPTER 2

Craig stared at the phone in his hand after ending his dreadful long-distance conversation, with none other than Ashlyn Gary. Talk about a night filled with unexpected events, he thought sadly. He hadn’t heard Ashlyn’s voice in a decade now, yet she still sounded the same as the last time he’d seen her. Kind. Sweet.

He let out another heavy sigh. Since he had learned of Mrs. Gary’s passing, he hadn’t been able to do much else. She, like her daughter, was a loving and gentle soul. Always there for her neighbor, never with an unkind word, and always there to help out when someone needed her. Just an all-around good person.

And Craig knew that Mrs. Carolyn Gary spoke often of her intelligent and gifted daughter. Her only child, who had left Bakerston at the tender age of sixteen to begin her college studies and set her feet on the path to becoming the surgeon she longed to be. Now it sounded as if that daughter, Ashlyn, would have no one, Craig thought.

When he had asked her if she had a spouse or a partner, Ashlyn answered that she would find a nurse to take her home. It confirmed what Craig had gleaned from Mrs. Gary over the years, when he would run into her in town and inquire about how Ashlyn was doing up in Boston. Carolyn had always said that Ashlyn was married to her career and that she lived more at the hospital than her own apartment.

Ten years it had been since Ashlyn was home. Ten years that another soul had purposefully remained married to his job too, avoiding home quite often, as though it carried the plague with it. Ten years since Craig knew things had gone horribly wrong between Ashlyn and his best friend, Logan Hatcher, driving them both away from their hometown and each other.

Maybe this would be the catalyst, he thought, that would bring them back together and force them to speak to each other. Such good people had to find a way to communicate and lay the past where it belonged. Because from where he sat, Craig thought that neither of them had really moved on from whatever had happened that day so long ago. And it was past time.

He lifted his cell and scrolled through his contact list until he hit on Logan’s number. Craig knew that he was one of the few people who had it, and he only used it when necessary, never knowing where in the world Logan might be at any given moment. His friend was still on active duty with the SEALs, and he most often let his messages pile up until he was back stateside. Only then, did Logan catch up with his family and friends.

Craig placed the call and leaned back in his old rolling chair. It squeaked and protested having his bulk weighing against it, but he knew it would hold. He had assumed the relaxed stance far too often to worry over the seat now.

He was preparing to leave his message when, to his utter surprise, Logan answered.

Hey, man! What’s up so early in the morning with you? Logan’s voice rang out loud and clear, letting Craig know that he was wide awake and definitely not on a mission.

Sounds as though you’re just as awake as I am, Craig responded in kind.

Tell me about it, Logan chuckled. Craig knew he was scrubbing his hand through his short, midnight hair right about now. No, seriously, what’s up? You never call at such an odd time.

No, I don’t. There was no masking the heaviness in Craig’s voice now, and he knew his friend had just picked up on it.

Talk to me. Now, Craig. Logan issued the directive and then fell silent. It was one of the reasons they got along so well. Neither man minced words when things were serious. They had fun together, hiking, camping, hunting, and playing sports, but when the chips were down, they could always count on one another. No matter what.

Someone back home passed away suddenly tonight, Logan. Someone we both know and think the world of.

Who was it?

You sittin’ down?

Just say it, man.

Carolyn Gary.

Silence. Logan nor Craig said another word for over a minute as Logan processed what he’d just heard.

Finally, Logan broke through the quiet. Have you called her yet?

Ashlyn?

Now it was Logan’s turn to sigh. Who else, Craig? That’s why you’re calling me, isn’t it? You’ve already talked to her.

Yeah, I just got off of the phone with her. She was actually still at work, at two in the morning, he added with a clear tone of disapproval. Ashlyn agreed to come on down to Bakerston as soon as she could. To put her mother’s affairs in order and see to the funeral.

Logan muttered a dark curse under his breath. Did she say if she was coming alone?

She didn’t indicate she had anyone, Logan. Same as the last time I asked her mother about her. I think Ashlyn’s only real relationship is with her patients up there. So, what are you thinking? You comin’ home so you can see her after all these years?

Craig waited and when Logan didn’t utter another word, he knew it was now or never. Time to push a little.

Logan, this is past due, buddy. You know it and I know it. And truth be told, Ashlyn knows it too, or she would never have avoided Bakerston for so damn long. Get your ass back home and see the girl. Even if it’s only to talk and make peace with each other. I’m tired of seeing the two of you in hiding.

"Hiding? Did you actually just tell me that I’m hiding from a girl I haven’t seen in ten damn years?" Logan couldn’t mask the incredulous tone that spilled from his lips in a heated rush.

You bet your ass I did, Craig retorted dryly.

Now listen here…

No, you listen, Craig countered. Whatever happened that day, whatever went wrong between the two of you, stuck to you both like tar and stopped you from moving forward. I know you, Logan, and I know you’ve never looked at another woman the way you looked at Ashlyn all those years ago. You have plenty of female companionship, sure, but you haven’t had one meaningful relationship since you left that girl behind. Now, do as I said, and get here. See her, talk with her and then, God willing, you both can let it go.

Craig stopped talking and let his words sink in. He knew that Logan wanted to fight him on this with everything he had, yet he also knew his friend had heard him. Really heard what he’d said, at long last. Still, he waited and said nothing more.

Logan sighed and said in a quieter voice, All right. I’m on leave right now anyway, and Dad’s been after me to drive down for a visit. I’ll come home. I’ll talk to Ashlyn.

Good choice. Craig smiled.

Shut up, Logan grumbled. You know damn good and well you would have driven up here to Little Creek and forced me into your vehicle had I said no.

"Damn straight. That’s