Welcome Home: The Chronic Collection, #3

By Amanda Kimberley

Sage Price comes from the small town Shiner, TX and her dreams about making it as an interior designer are just as big as the state itself. Upon graduating high school, she can't wait to leave the town and Stetson West behind.

Stetson ripped her heart out the day of their high school senior graduation when he broke up with her as they were standing in line to receive their diplomas.

He was her first love, and even though she becomes successful enough to have her own show Date with Design on The Home Network where she designs the interior of homes all across the US, she still never feels like she's made something of herself. How could she when the only person in her life that mattered got away?

Stetson West was always a rugged outdoorsy type who enjoyed getting his hands dirty on his ranch. But all of that was BC, before collision with a land mine. Now his prosthetic leg is a daily reminder of what he can't do.

He's been able to overcome a lot, especially with now having the strength stand on his own with his new leg, but dating just seems like a waste of time for someone like him.

Jennifer left him while he was still in recovery. And once he got home, all the others seemed to talk to him out of pity. A new leg gave him a lease on life—but not in love. It wasn't until the day Sage walked back into his life that he was willing to try to open what remained of himself after the bomb destroyed his chances at a normal life.

The only real question left was if he'd give into his phantom pains or would he try to heal what remained in his heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Kimberley's Publishing & Designs
• Release date: Jan 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393481478

Amanda Kimberley

USA Today Best Selling and award-winning author Amanda Kimberley has written in various genres in the course of almost four decades. Her nonfiction blog, which focuses on the chronic disease fibromyalgia, has garnered recognition from various organizations, including Health Magazine. Naming her blog, Fibro and Fabulous, a top blog for fibro sufferers. Amanda has also written for medical magazines and sites like FM Aware, The National Fibromyalgia Association’s magazine, and ProHealth. When Kimberley is not writing nonfiction, she enjoys penning romance. Her first Furry United Coalition story, The Turtle and the Hare, earned the 2020 Summer Splash Book Awards of Ink and Scratches for Best Romance. Her Forever Series Books, Forever Friends, and Forever Bound were featured in 2015 and 2016 on the BookCountry website, a division of Penguin/Random House as editor’s picks. She has also been featured as a USA Today Happy Ever After Hot List Indie Author with Claiming My Valentine, a Best Poet of the 90’s ranking for an anthology, and has had a #1 PNR ranking with Immortal Hunger and Hearts Unleashed. Amanda Kimberley is a Connecticut native that now lives in the warmth of Northern Texas with her zoo consisting of her husky, tuxedo cat, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, a tank of fish, two daughters, and a husband. When she is not writing you can find her cooking whole foods for her pack. She also enjoys reading, hiking, and gaming. Amanda Kimberley is a Connecticut native that now lives in the warmth of Northern Texas with her zoo consisting of her husky and cocker spaniel dogs, her tuxedo cat, two hamsters, a rabbit, a tank of fish, two daughters, and a husband. When she is not writing you can find her cooking whole foods for her pack. She also enjoys reading, hiking, and gaming.

Book preview

Welcome Home

WELCOME HOME

AMANDA KIMBERLEY

Copyright © 2020 by Amanda Kimberley

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Before You Go…

If You Like Welcome Home You Might Like…

Chapter One

Chapter Two

You Might Also Like…

Chapter One

Chapter Two

About the Author

Also by Amanda Kimberley

Thank you, Readers

ABOUT WELCOME HOME

Sage Price comes from the small town Shiner, TX and her dreams about making it as an interior designer are just as big as the state itself. Upon graduating high school, she can’t wait to leave the town and Stetson West behind.

Stetson ripped her heart out the day of their high school senior graduation when he broke up with her as they were standing in line to receive their diplomas.

He was her first love, and even though she becomes successful enough to have her own show Date with Design on The Home Network where she designs the interior of homes all across the US, she still never feels like she’s made something of herself. How could she when the only person in her life that mattered got away?

Stetson West was always a rugged outdoorsy type who enjoyed getting his hands dirty on his ranch. But all of that was BC, before collision with a land mine. Now his prosthetic leg is a daily reminder of what he can’t do.

He’s been able to overcome a lot, especially with now having the strength stand on his own with his new leg, but dating just seems like a waste of time for someone like him.

Jennifer left him while he was still in recovery. And once he got home, all the others seemed to talk to him out of pity. A new leg gave him a lease on life—but not in love. It wasn’t until the day Sage walked back into his life that he was willing to try to open what remained of himself after the bomb destroyed his chances at a normal life.

The only real question left was if he’d give into his phantom pains or would he try to heal what remained in his heart.

CHAPTER 1

W hat am I going to do, Serge? We need something good to get our ratings up for this new season. Sage said as she surfed through the potential videos that fans had sent into the show. A lot of these lack substance. Most of them aren’t even trying to entice us with a story about themselves anymore. I would rather pick someone that really needs some help. I want to make a difference in a person’s life—ya know?

They definitely lack a lot of luster, but what can we do? We are in a slump with the economy. And everyone seems to be feeling the pinch. Happens every time, but I too don’t want to do the same old, same old.

She flicked through a couple more videos until her eyes rested on one from a blonde in her former hometown. She begged to have her uncle get a makeover of his living space because he was coming home from the war as a disabled vet. She didn’t look much past the first minute of the video—she didn’t need to. Her heart, which she always relied on, was the true producer for her home show. And at the moment, it was telling her to pick this video among all the rest.

What about this one? We could put a spin on it. Something like I’m coming home to welcome this vet back?

This is perfect! I love the angle you are going with this. Kinda like you're both coming home for the first time in a long time. I’ll contact this woman, Daisy Johnson, and get back to you with the details.

Sounds good, Sage mumbled as she pretended to busy herself with some design ideas for the show.

She didn’t want to admit it to herself or Serge just yet, but going back home was the last thing she wanted to do. It may have been a decade, but her heart still had the marks to prove Stetson West stomped the beat out of it. She knew their love wouldn’t last much past the first couple of months of Freshman year of college, but she didn’t see the breakup coming so fast and hard on the day of their high school graduation. 

Who breaks up with someone as you are standing in line to receive your diploma? I mean, really? Who does that? She shook her head. Stetson West does.

She let out a lengthy sigh as memories of him and her parked at Green-Dickson Lake on lazy Sundays flooded her mind. She closed her eyes and could almost remember his kisses. So attentive and tender, and his tongue always tasted like mint toothpaste. She ran her fingers over her lips as a memory of them kissing while skinny dipping in the lake junior year entered her mind. It was definitely one of their more memorable dates.

She let out another sigh and screwed her eyes shut to try to bite back the pain of missing what once was.

This is crazy, Sage! He’s not into you anymore! And besides—even if you happen to run into him, which is a slim chance given your work schedule—he’s probably got a wife and three kids by now! You’re only