Prodigal: A Small Town Second Chance Romance

By Pippa Prince

A Broken Heart... 
Liz McAllister has built a life for herself in Shiloh. Ready to take her father's place at the head of his firm, the last thing she needs right now is a distraction.

Especially one in the form of the guy who ditched her on prom night all those years ago.

Good thing she's over him.


A Second Chance... 

Zack Carpenter has finally come home to Shiloh, ready to make things right. His family will forgive him eventually, surely. 

Probably. 

And Liz... one look is enough to convince him it's time to win back the girl he left behind.

The small-town streets of Shiloh are heating up fast, but there's more than just history keeping these two apart.

Prodigal is a sweet and sexy standalone novel with no cheating, no cliffhanger, and a guaranteed HEA. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pippa Prince
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386431541

Book preview

Zack

Iknow this feeling. This was what getting called to the principal's office felt like, back in the early days anyway. Embarrassment and resentment, with a little contrition and a lot of defiance mixed in.

Of course, in later days, it was more a badge of honor for me. The Navy had a different definition, but that hadn't bothered me at the time.

I'm not real big on contrition. Defiance always suited me better.

Which, when I get down to it, is pretty much the reason my family is here. I defied my father's wishes, not to mention the wishes of everybody else.

Staring at the heavy blue door marking the front of my mother's house, the shame creeps up my neck, burning like fire. This time, I'm not here to flash my punk ass at the man.

This time I'm here to make things right.

Christ, I hate having to talk about money. Given my colossal cock-ups, I'm good with it. You'd think talking about it would be a cakewalk.

Not here, though.

I know I'm going to have to go in soon. The food needs to be put away and my sister is already glaring at me from the living room window. She, more than most, knows I'm being chickenshit.

That doesn't suit me either, and this time it's enough to get me moving. It's not like I haven't been here in a while, I think, as I grab the groceries and head up the porch steps. I was here yesterday helping Shan replace the fan under the hood of the stove. I'm here for meals, running errands for mom.

But like it or not today is money day. My fucked-up youth is the entire reason for today's visit, and it's time to make things right.

Shit. Being court-martialed by the Navy was easier.

But that is the whole point of coming back to Centerville, isn't it? Time to un-wreak the havoc of my youth.

Hey, Shan.

You got the problems of the world all worked out? she says, in true older-sister fashion. 'Cause God knows you were out there long enough.

There's coffee in here. I hand her the bag.

Well, that's something, anyway, she says, following me through to the kitchen.

After Dad died, Mom moved into this tiny old farmhouse on the edge of town. It had once stood alone on the end of the street, but suburban creep had made its way out to this edge of Centerville. Nowadays Mom has a smattering of neighbors who like to observe the nice weather by spending time on their oversized front porches. I was glad for it, for her and my sister. At least if I wasn't here, they wouldn't be alone.

Although, if I don't get my shit together, they might not get to stay.

Which brings us back to the purpose of today's visit.

Mom is washing garden vegetables in the sink when Shan and I come through with the groceries. I set down my bags and go straight to the sink to take over.

You're going to wear yourself out, I say. She smiles and kisses my cheek.

Not with you around, she says, and just like that, the guilt guts me again.

That's why I'm here, I say, keeping my back to them as I finish washing up the vegetables she'd brought in from the neighborhood community garden. Since I'm going to be around from now on, I need to know exactly how bad it is.

I hear Shannon pause in her work at the counter to my right.

We're fine, Zack. The edge in her voice is sharp.

Fine, maybe, but that doesn't change the facts. And since I gave up cowardice along with my other vices, I shut off the water and turn to face the two women who mean more to me than anybody in the world.

I know you don't have much reason to trust me. I can't blame you for that, but I also can't change the past. I'm here to make it right, I say, aiming this last part at Shannon.

The fact is, if I don't find a place soon, I'll have to start cutting in to the down-payment money to keep up my end of things here. Or else I'll have to get a job with somebody else, and I don't expect those are thick on the ground around here these days. Certainly not for me, Shiloh's long-lost bad boy. I could barely get a hello on the street since I'd come home a few weeks ago. Under the circumstances, I doubted a job offer was in the cards.

Shannon cleared her throat, which meant she was about to lay into me about something. My sister has tells for days. Teaching her to play poker was easily the fastest money I've ever made.

Let me get this straight, she says. You want to open a gym, do the personal training thing and all, here in Shiloh. Like, to stay.

Yes. If there was enough interest, I thought I'd be able to offer MMA training, and sparring too, but I know better than to interrupt Shan when she's winding up.

And you're going to use your cut from the gym to pay mom's medical bills.

That too, but I was referring to the inheritance money. This gets a noise out of my mother, at last. I don't look at her yet, because I don't want to see the disbelief or regret I know must be there.

And you actually expect to make a half-million dollars off this place? Shan's incredulity shouldn't hurt, as realistic as it is. It does. I shake it off. Run-of-the-mill skepticism is still better than I deserve from her.

Yes. With client subscriptions, plus merchandise sales, sponsorships, and a few other contributing factors, I expect to see that beyond, plus enough to cover overhead. I also expect not to sleep for the next five to ten years to make it happen.

When one wakes up from a nasty five-year gambling bender only to find one has stolen nearly half a million dollars from a sick mother, one does whatever it takes to make things right. The work is nothing—it will probably cost me less sleep than my monstrous self-indulgence has these last ten years.

Even if I pay the money back in time, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to them.

Shannon has held off all this time, and I can tell it's taking a toll. I finally bring my gaze to hers.

Well, Shan?

Zack...

I'm ready for it. Whatever she can sling at me, I've certainly earned it.

There's a place on the square for sale right now. Corner of Main and Sycamore.

Okay. That, I did not expect.

The old five-and-dime store closed? It’s right on the town square. How had I missed that?

The five-and-dime store closed before I graduated high school, doofus. It's been a half a dozen things since, but most recently it was Miss Morely's quilt store. She passed away last year, and now her heirs have finally put the place up for sale.

Holy shit, I breathe, my heart beginning to pound.

Language, says my mother. She's been silent this whole time. I finally get the nerve to look at her.

Is this okay with you, mom? You haven't said much.

I'm glad to hear something's lit a fire under you, kiddo. She smiles. I won't turn down the offer of help, especially if it keeps you home this time.

I don't say, It'll be better this time. I don't say, I promise.

I don't say anything else except, Thanks, Mom.

She's heard me say all the other things too many times before.

If Shannon's information is correct, and it's the building I'm thinking of, this could be exactly what I'm looking for.

Shiloh is built like any other standard Midwestern town, in that one can find the middle of it by finding the square. It's sectioned off by the four roads that run around the primary government building in town. For Shiloh, that's City Hall. There's more traffic through the square than damn near any other part of town and for my plan to work, traffic is absolutely crucial.

Shan, do you know any of the heirs' names? Or who their lawyer might be? Maybe I can get ahead of the realtor and finagle a better price. Or maybe, with the economy down the way it has been these last couple years, just maybe they're having trouble finding a buyer.

No idea, she says, and now there's a bit of a smirk in her voice. Smirking Shannon sets off my littler-brother radar.

But you know something.

Maybe. Full smirk this time. Shit. That never bodes well.

Spill it, or I'll take the coffee home with me.

She rolls her eyes at that.

Nice trick, since you've been sleeping here she says. Maybe it’s not worth mentioning, but rumor has it the only interested buyer who's looked at the store was the McAllister Group.

The smirk of the older sister never lies. The name McAllister sucks the wind out of the room and I suddenly feel the urge to sit down. If the upstanding citizens of Shiloh had good reason to avoid me on the street, anybody named McAllister around here would have good reason to boot me out on my ass entirely.

Right, I say. Right, okay. So I definitely need to keep this under wraps for now, then. If you hear anything else, let me know, please. I'm going to go drive over there and take a look around.

What about breakfast? Setting aside the fact that I came here specifically for a meal, my mother shares the universal maternal need to feed everybody at all times.

Sorry, mom, I say, kissing her on the cheek as I pull on my jacket. Duty calls. I'll check back in after while. Don't overdo it, okay?

She and Shannon wave me off, and I point my battered truck toward the middle of town.

It takes all of about five minutes to find what I'm looking for. My sister’s gossip—ahem, intel—has, for once, not led me astray. The corner store still has enormous display windows running the length of both sides. There aren't too many people out at the moment, so I cup my hands against the glass and peer inside like a kid at a damn candy store. The hulled out space looks enormous from here, but I know the square footage would be just enough for the large cardio machines, free weight set, and sparring mats.

The excitement gets to me and I'm grinning at my own reflection in the glass when a posted notice near the door catches my eye.

AUCTION

8:00 AM

DECEMBER 1st

---

Sonofabitch.

That's next week.

An auction takes away the possibility of a quiet, direct sale away from town gossip. On the other had, it could mean I get this place for a seriously great deal. I catch my ear-to-ear smile in the glass. This could be exactly the break I need to get this place off the ground. Finally, something is going the way it's supposed to.

Elizabeth

J erry, make sure you light a fire under your team on that lighthouse project. There's no reason it should take an extra two months.

My dad's kind of a dick sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I love him. He's been a good father to me. But he's a hard man to work for. I have to admire him, though. He built this company from the ground up when I was a kid, and it's been good to our family. I don't know if we qualify as wealthy because of it, but we joined the country club when I was in grade school and they haven't kicked