Who Says You Can't Go Home?: A Camden Lake Novel, #1

By Andria Henry

What if your path forward leads you back home?

 

When Toronto party girl Kylie is fired from her perfect job, she's forced to do the one thing she never wanted to do: go home. Returning to her sleepy hometown is her definition of failure. She drags herself back to the lakeside town of Camden with her tail between her legs, and she'll do whatever it takes to get back to the big city.

 

When Derek runs a routine traffic stop on a speeder, the one person he never expects to see in Camden again is Kylie. In fact, he barely recognizes her. She doesn't look like the quiet, sweet girl he had a crush on in high school.

 

Kylie's brother offers her a job back in the city if she can prove she's changed her ways. She finds the perfect opportunity, but it means working with Derek to save the town's waterfront. Can she look past their feud and get the job done?

 

Can she avoid falling in love with him and complicating her plans to return to the big city?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Champagne Book Group
• Release date: May 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781957228655

Book preview

A person and person kissing Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Who Says You Can’t Go Home?

ANDRIA HENRY

CHAMPAGNE BOOK GROUP

Who Says You Can’t Go Home?

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Published by Champagne Book Group

2373 NE Evergreen Avenue, Albany OR 97321 U.S.A.

~~~

First Edition 2022

eISBN: 978-1-957228-65-5

Copyright © 2022 Andria Henry All rights reserved.

Cover Art by Erica Christensen, Ink Cover Designs

Champagne Book Group supports copyright which encourages creativity and diverse voices, creates a rich culture, and promotes free speech. Thank you for complying by not scanning, uploading, and distributing this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher. Your purchase of an authorized electronic edition supports the author’s rights and hard work and allows Champagne Book Group to continue to bring readers fiction at its finest.

www.champagnebooks.com

Version_1

For Mom and Dad who raised me

to be a small-town girl.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Camden! This book accidentally became a love letter to my own hometown. The setting will look very familiar to anyone who grew up with me, including the townhall, the football field, and the beach.

And while the characters in this book aren’t based on any single person from back home, there are many shout outs to the types of friends I had in high school and the types of people who populate these quintessential small towns.

I hope you enjoy the little slices of Canadiana that I’ve included and can picture yourself visiting Camden during the cottage season and enjoying all the quaint charm it has to offer. I hope you cheer for Kylie and Derek as they try to come to terms with their pasts and move toward their future.

Dear reader, I hope you love them.

~Andria

Chapter One

Kylie Martin slipped through the shiny elevator doors at the last moment, heading up to the administrative floor of the Toronto Children’s Hospital. As the doors closed, she shuffled around the other riders, painfully aware she hadn’t had time to shower that morning. Hopefully, she didn’t still smell of night club and spilled tequila. Her long brown hair was a little greasy, so she’d pulled it back into a braid. All the makeup in her bathroom hadn’t completely hidden the dark circles underneath her eyes, but at least her Carolina K blouse was clean and unwrinkled.

Her phone said 9:35 AM. Damn. The meeting was at 9:30 but considering she should’ve been there an hour early to prepare, she was very, very late. She’d have to wing her presentation, but her brain was foggy with fatigue. When the elevator doors slid open on her floor, she ran out and around the corner toward the offices of Public Relations and Fundraising. The floor-to-ceiling windows let in far too much light that early in the morning.

You’re late. Julia, the department’s administrative assistant, shooed Kylie toward the meeting room. You better get in there.

Kylie gave Julia a worried glance and took a deep breath before opening the door to the glassed-in meeting room. As she entered, everyone in the room stopped talking and looked at her.

Ms. Martin. Her boss, Michael, was standing in front of the presentation board. Have a seat. Folks, this is Kylie Martin our Social Media Coordinator. She’ll be the one announcing the sponsorship to the public and following the renovations and your company’s involvement over the next few years.

The glare from his eyes and the cool tone of his voice made Kylie want to shrink and hide under the table. Across from her sat two older women in sharp pant suits. One of those suits was a blue satin Alexander McQueen piece, and she almost drooled. They were the representatives of a large telecom firm in the city and were there to discuss donating the funds to renovate a wing of the hospital.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she thought of the notes on her desk. She debated slipping back out of the meeting to go and get them, but it would mean admitting her screw up. She’d have to improvise.

~ * ~

Kylie!

Her body jerked awake. She was disoriented for a moment, forgetting where she was or what was happening. Michael was standing across the table from her. They were in the meeting room.

Oh god.

Sometime during the meeting, she’d fallen asleep. Dread crept up from the pit of her stomach.

Oh no. Oh please no.

What the hell was that? Michael’s arms were folded over his chest. The two women were gone.

Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Michael. Kylie held her burning cheeks with sweaty palms.

You might’ve cost us the sponsor. What’s wrong with you?

Michael, I—

Are you sick? Are you coming down with something? He threw up his arms. I can’t be mad at you if you’re sick, but I’m really mad right now.

Her heart sank thinking about lying to him. No. I’m not sick.

Then what happened? You sounded like you hadn’t prepared for this meeting at all and then right after your terrible presentation you fell asleep.

Was it obvious? She winced.

You were snoring. Look, you’ve been great at this job, but lately you’ve gotten sloppy. Today was the last straw. The Board of Directors will have your head for losing this sponsor for us if we aren’t able to renovate the orthopedics wing.

Okay, I can fix this. I can write a formal apology. Maybe send a gift basket to the sponsors. I mean really, it’s kind of funny when you think about it. I’m sure those women are laughing about it right now.

I can assure you, they’re not laughing. Michael rubbed his forehead then leaned on the conference table.

Her stomach turned to lead. If only the office floor would swallow her whole. She lost the sponsor? This was a huge setback for the hospital. They desperately needed to renovate the severely outdated department.

I’m so sorry.

Me too. His voice softened. But you’re fired.

~ * ~

A week later, Kylie turned up the volume on her car radio as an old Backstreet Boys song came on. It had been two hours since she drove out of Toronto, and another twenty minutes since the highway off-ramp to the long and winding road north to Camden. With the open windows letting in the mild mid-May air, she could almost forget she was driving back home to the tiny lakeside town.

Since leaving after high school, she’d only been back for holiday visits. Now that she’d lost her job, she was running back to her parents for help. Without income or savings to pay the rent, the friend she shared a condo with kicked her out faster than a flash sale at Holt Renfrew. It was humiliating and a little bit terrifying.

She pressed the button for her car’s hands free. Call Brad.

Calling Brad, the onboard computer said.

The phone rang three times before the answering service kicked in.

Hi, you’ve reached Brad Martin. I’m not available at the moment. Please leave a message or contact my administrative assistant, Keith, at Martin Greene Logistics.

Beep.

Bradley. Kylie put on her best helpless voice. It’s your baby sister again. This is the third time I’ve called, and it would be super awesome if you could hit me back. Since I can’t get a hold of you, I’m heading to Camden to stay at Mom and Dad’s. If you didn’t want me crashing at your place you could say so instead of ignoring my calls. I love you, stupid face.

She pressed the button to disconnect, and the radio switched back on.

The upbeat song lifted her spirits for the moment, and the drive was almost enjoyable. The road wound through woods, past open meadows, and around a couple of smaller lakes. Her brain stopped stressing out for a minute, and she listened to the music and breathed in the fresh air.

As the tension in her shoulders began to release, a flash of red and blue lit up her rearview mirror and she cringed at the whoop whoop of a siren.

Was I speeding?

Checking the speedometer, she’d taken the car a full forty kilometers per hour over the speed limit.

Oh, man.

~ * ~

Constable Derek Carson watched the silver hatchback pull onto the shoulder and stop. He was technically off duty now, but on his way to do something unpleasant and could stand to put it off for a few more minutes. Plus, speeding like that on such a winding road was a terrible idea. Out-of-towners never understood how dangerous it was to speed through this area until they jumped the guard rail and wound up in the lake. Or worse, didn’t see a cyclist until it was too late. As the area’s sole law enforcement, he was more than happy to dole out tickets to reckless drivers on his roads.

Stepping out of his Ontario Provincial Police cruiser, he smoothed his hair back to put on the black uniform hat of the O.P.P. He needed a haircut, but he’d been so busy lately. As he approached the vehicle, he could see the driver’s hands on the wheel.

Delicate hands with ornate nail polish and shiny jewelry.

He marched up to the driver’s side and tapped on the glass.

What seems to be the problem, officer? The driver sounded chipper.

She was done up like she was on the way to a red-carpet event with meticulous make up behind her pink sunglasses and a poofy white fur jacket. Her white smile was gorgeous, but the red lipstick was a bit too harsh. Brown hair hung in long waves.

Where on earth is she going looking like that?

Do you know how fast you were going?

Was I speeding? I’m so sorry, I didn’t notice. It’s such a nice day, and I had some good driving music on. I’ll slow down I promise. I’m sure you have much more important things to do, saving lives and such.

Was she trying to flatter him? That never worked.

License and registration please.

Yes. Of course. Her shoulders slumped.

He took the documents from her shaky hand and went back to his cruiser. Using the on-board computer, he checked the plates and license. Kylie Martin? From high school?

Wow. She’s…different.

He hadn’t seen Kylie around since the summer after graduation, but it was a surprising amount of change. She wasn’t a Camden girl anymore, that was for sure.

He scribbled out the ticket then stopped. It was a harsh penalty, but really, she wasn’t a local anymore and she was driving dangerously. Bracing himself, he took the ticket back to her car.

Two hundred dollars? she screeched.

And three demerit points, he added. She leaned toward the window to glare at him.

Yeah. Maybe that was a jerk move. But she could clearly afford it.

You can pay in town. He spun on his heel and walked back to his car.

The silver hatchback eventually disappeared over the next hill as he sat there staring. Maybe he shouldn’t have given her those demerit points. They were classmates after all. And she was only going to her parents’ house for a visit, he assumed. She looked so out of place. Good, of course, but more like a magazine model than a real person.

Sighing, he flipped the roof lights off and pulled the cruiser back onto the road. He needed to get out to Rose Corners to talk to Councilwoman Bette McDonald. The odd encounter with Kylie Martin wasn’t helping his mood either.

Bette’s yellow brick century home had an extensive garden out back. Derek checked there first, hoping to extend the time before he had to knock on her door.

The older woman was kneeling by a bed of bright green spring lettuce. When she saw him, she pulled her soil-covered gloves off.

Hello, Councilwoman.

Bette insisted on being addressed as Councilwoman. She had been sitting on the town council for as long as he’d been alive, so he supposed she deserved it.

Officer Carson. She smiled in that pursed-lipped way of hers and stood up from her lettuce plants, brushing soil off her pants. To what do I owe this pleasure?

I’ve brought you some research here on how the water treatment plant will negatively impact the ecology of the lake. Derek held out a manila envelope.

Bette took a deep breath, and he braced himself for the inevitable.

Derek, you’re young, and you’ve only been on town council for a few months now, but usually once council has voted on something, we consider the matter closed.

Yes, I understand. He continued to hold the envelope out to her, but she didn’t lift her hands to take it. But the scientist the council hired to do the assessment agrees with me that the plant isn’t the best solution for our water quality problem.

It was the hundredth time they’d had this argument, but as her son-in-law was set to receive the contract to build the water treatment facility, she wasn’t interested in the science. Finally lifting her hands, she pressed the envelope back toward him with a ‘tsk tsk’ and then loaded his arms with a bag of asparagus from a collection on the ground.

Give Cate my best, she said in a patronizing voice, then patted his cheek like he was a child and promptly returned to her gardening.

After his run-in with Kylie, Derek didn’t have it in him to push Bette any more today, so he took his cue and left. It was time to get home for supper anyway.

Back in the village of Camden, he drove down a narrow tree-lined street to the yellow-sided house he shared with his sister, Cate, and her son. Charlie jumped off the tire swing that hung from the large maple in their front yard and ran over to hug Derek’s legs as soon as he climbed out of the cruiser.

Charlie was tall for a four-year-old, but his bouncing blond curls made him seem like a baby still. Derek scooped him up and swung him around until he squealed with delight, and then encased him in a strong hug.

You missed supper, Uncle Derek, Charlie said with his lips pursed.

Sorry buddy. Derek ruffled his curly hair. I come bearing gifts, though. He reached into the back seat of the cruiser and withdrew the bag of asparagus.

Ew! Charlie scrunched up his face and wandered back to his swing.

Charlie, you don’t know what you like until you try it, came a voice from the white front porch. Cate was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, with a damp apron tied around her waist and her blonde bob tied back in a messy ponytail.

"But Mommy, it’s green." Charlie stuck his tongue out at her.

She frowned at Derek. And what took you so long? Charlie couldn’t wait any longer, so we ate without you.

Sorry. He carried the bag of asparagus into the house. But you’re never going to guess who I ran into.

Chapter Two

Maybe she’s on the lam from a shady business deal gone bad. Cate dunked her hands back into the soapy sink to grab another dish.

Really. Derek took a plate from the dish rack to dry. Maybe he shouldn’t have told his sister about running into Kylie.

Or she had an affair with her boss and needs to hide to raise their love child in peace.

You watch too much TV.

Why else would she be in town when it’s not Christmas?

She’s probably just visiting her parents or something. Derek put the plate away.

Well did she say anything to you?

Mostly she apologized for speeding then yelled at me when I gave her the ticket.

She’s lucky you didn’t throw her in jail. She flicked dish water at him.

Speeding isn’t exactly an indictable offense.

I’ve seen you throw folks in the cell for less. Someone endangering the citizens of Camden by driving like that? She side-eyed him. Are you going soft?

What? No. He took another plate to dry.

Wait, are you still sweet on her? It’s been like ten years.

Did you just say, ‘sweet on’? Am I eighteen again? No. She seems to be even more of a snob now than she was back in school.

She huffed and fished around in the soapy sink for the cutlery.

Besides she’s so…different. I didn’t even recognize her at first.

But she looked good, right? She grinned and bumped her hip against his.

She looked, well, like too much.

Uh huh.

Derek loved living with Cate and Charlie. He loved being able to provide a home and stability for them. When he’d moved back to Camden for the O.P.P. position, he bought the house and invited her to move in with him. She had backup in raising Charlie, and since she loved cooking, he didn’t have to live off microwave dinners. It was a good arrangement all around.

You should have given her a tougher fine then.

I gave her the toughest fine I could. He picked up a glass to dry.

I wonder how long she’ll be in town for, she mused as she drained the grey water from the sink.

While Derek might have been curious to know what Kylie had been up to all these years, he certainly wasn’t about to tell his baby sister that. Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll be gone again in no time.

~ * ~

Kylie drove down the hill leading into the valley which contained Camden and Camden Lake. The lake was sheltered enough to be calm most days, but large enough to provide for a lot of fishing, water skiing, and canoeing in the summer. The town wrapped around the narrow end of the lake and cottages and summer homes dotted the rest of the shoreline.

Passing the old limestone high school building, she entered the village proper. The town was quiet for such a beautiful day. On the football field nestled beside the lake, a couple played fetch with their golden retriever. Past the football field, was the newly renovated town library. In keeping with the local charm, when they’d built it, they added a deck on to the back of it overlooking the lake and furnished it with Muskoka chairs.

Turning right at the large grey limestone building that housed town hall and township offices, she came to her childhood home. Next door to the town hall, her parent’s two-story house had a steeply pitched roof and mauve siding. The trim and front door were painted dove grey, and two flower beds in the front were already boasting an impressive collection of white and yellow tulips. As Kylie pulled her rumbling car into the driveway, she breathed a sigh of relief.

It had been a hard week since she was fired, and subsequently lost her apartment. She’d packed up everything she could fit into her hatchback and sold off the rest of her stuff to pay for gas and food. The drive from Toronto to Camden had been long and dull, and the run in with Derek Carson had been the cherry on top of that particular sundae. She shuddered, remembering her mortification at getting caught speeding, by him of all people.

Now that she was home, she could relax a bit and get her bearings. Her stomach growled in anticipation of her mom’s cooking. Maybe she could convince her mom to make her inside-out ravioli, like she used to whenever Kylie needed cheering up as a teenager. Or even better, maybe her mom would make a giant stack of mouth-watering German apple pancakes.

Kylie grabbed a couple of smaller bags from the back seat, the rest could wait until tomorrow, and lugged them up the flagstone walkway to the front door. The door was locked. Frowning, she shifted her