Homegrown: A Place to Heal, #3

By Laura Browning

Homegrown… 

Allie Bryan has a gift for growing things…

She's counting on it to help her make a new start in her hometown. Two years after the accident that killed her best friend, Allie returns to Mountain Meadow in the hope she can heal the rifts with family and friends. But not everyone is ready for the truth of what happened the day that Hannah Brandt died.

The man most at fault is getting out of prison early and seems hell-bent on making Allie's life miserable.

He's not the only one who has it in for her. Hannah's brother Nick doesn't want Allie re-opening wounds that have barely begun to heal. He was her childhood crush, but now he believes the worst of her.

Unraveling the web of lies in which Allie is entangled can help her put the past behind her and build a future with the one man who truly loves her. It will also threaten to destroy them both.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laura Browning Books
• Release date: Jul 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223599739

Laura Browning

After graduating from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, I worked for more than two decades in television news, both on camera and behind the scenes. It's a fascinating, exciting business. However, I've always loved making up my own stories rather than reporting the stories of others. So, I changed gears and began teaching English. The altered pace allowed me to ramp up my love of writing fiction. When I'm not writing or teaching, I enjoy spending time with my husband and son on our small farm in North Carolina. In addition to a menagerie of animals, we have an ever-expanding garden of fruits, flowers, and vegetables.

Book preview

Chapter One

Deep breath and go . Allie Bryan pulled open the door to her new job and what she hoped would be a fresh start doing something a whole lot closer to what she truly loved—landscape design. Okay, so she was starting on a little smaller scale, but she didn’t mind as she followed her boss through the facility.

I always keep flowers and greenery for some of the more common arrangement requests in the cooler back here, Leah Allred said over her shoulder as she led the way into the back room of the floral shop section of Mountain Plants.

Allie’s gaze skittered around the organized clutter of Leah’s workroom. This was a new venture for Allie, one she hoped would prove more fruitful...and lasting...than the last two jobs she’d held since the accident.

With a slight start, she realized Leah had stopped and was looking at her, waiting for her to speak. She gulped. I-I’m sorry. I got distracted. This is all so overwhelming.

Her boss smiled, a gentle curve to her lips that seemed to say she understood. Allie relaxed.

It can be a bit intimidating, Leah agreed. You mentioned you had some experience doing arrangements?

She nodded. Yes. It was part of my therapy. Nothing super complex.

Leah waved her hand toward the supplies. Why don’t you make a sample for me? Mother’s day will be here in another week. I have specific orders we’ll work on together later, but there are always walk-ins, so I keep some pre-made selections.

She gazed around, her mind already spinning with possibilities. All right.

Her boss gave her another smile. I’ll be out in the nursery. We have more ornamentals coming in, and I want to make sure they’re all put where they will do best until someone gives them a forever home.

Allie smiled and nodded. As she watched Leah weave her way through the shelves of supplies to the side door, she thought again how lucky she was to have landed a job with such a kind business owner. Who talked about giving plants a home as though they were sentient beings? She shook her head and turned to the inventory surrounding her.

She would make a bouquet for her own mother, not that it would ever be something her mom would see. That would take more of a miracle than Allie could envision even if she was back in her hometown.

She studied the shelves with the glass vases, settling on a lower profile, square container. It resembled the wavy blocks people sometimes used in bathroom windows. She cut a cube of floral foam in a brighter shade of green than most of what was on the shelf and fit it to the vase.

Her next stop was to study what flowers and greenery were available in the cooler. Her mother had always preferred yellows and oranges to pinks and reds. Allie chose orange striped tulips and yellow lilies as the central focus of her arrangement, adding smaller blossoms in golds and deeper shades of orange as well as some bells of Ireland. The cuttings would add some height and contrast.

Over the following few minutes, she trimmed and placed each flower, shifting a piece here and there until it was exactly where she wanted it. The task absorbed all of her attention, and being able to concentrate on what was right in front of her was relaxing. After tucking in some ivy sprigs, Allie stepped back to evaluate the overall effect. She was aiming for what would appear to be a cascade of flowers.

Should she add a bow? As she studied the arrangement, she heard the bell over the door jingle.

No bow, she decided.

Hello? Leah? The deep, masculine voice sounded familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place it. She wiped her hands on her apron. Her boss would probably have to help whoever this customer was, but Allie couldn’t hide back here. Leah had made it very clear she would need to wait on customers sometimes, though most of her job would be behind the scenes.

She would have preferred all of her work to be that way. The days when she was at all comfortable dealing with people had ended two years ago. She blew out a nervous breath.

Just a moment, she called, hoping she sounded brighter and more confident than she felt. Trailing a finger over one of the ivy sprigs in her arrangement, she whispered, I’ll be right back.

She dusted her hands as she stepped into the front of the store. The lack of response from whoever had walked inside finally had her slowly raising her eyes.

What are you doing here? she blurted without thinking.

I could ask the same thing. Nick Brandt’s brown eyes had gone cold and as hard as blocks of coal.

Allie clenched the material of her apron in her fingers and lifted her chin. I work here.

Here I was hoping you would stay in Roanoke forever.

This is my home, she whispered.

I can’t imagine it’s one with many ties to family...or friends. The last words had an edge it was impossible to ignore.

Allie’s mind spun back to the day of the accident. It had happened right at Mountain Meadow’s town limits. Nick had been the first officer on the scene. She had managed to crawl from the wreckage. Hannah, Nick’s sister, had been trapped inside and died before they ever got her out.

Your boyfriend’s still behind bars. Must be lonely for you. His eyes held not one hint of warmth.

Allie didn’t want to talk about Mason Kittinger. She had put him as far from her thoughts as possible and didn’t want any reminders...of him or Hannah.

I’ll find Leah for you. She shifted toward the door leading to the nursery.

If she’s out in the nursery, I’ll locate her myself. I don’t need your help.

She let her gaze slide away, watching as he turned and stalked outside. Nick looked as intimidating as ever and every inch Lieutenant Brandt, second in command of the Mountain Meadow police department.

At one point back in middle school, Allie had nursed a very unrequited crush on her best friend’s older brother. Good thing that was in the past. He would never look at her as anything other than the person at least partially responsible for the death of his sister.

Chapter Two

Why had she come back ? Nick couldn’t stop the question nagging his thoughts in the following days. When Allie didn’t return to her parents’ house after the accident, he had nosed around enough to discover where she was, and she was unlikely to be welcomed home.

Nick, you might want to take a look at this. Gone were the days when Jake Allred, Nick’s boss, referred to him as Brandt more often than not. They had become fairly close friends over the years. The seriousness of his chief’s tone now made Nick tense. It couldn’t be welcome news.

Jake handed him a letter, which he quickly scanned. They’re granting Kittinger a sentence modification? What the hell!

Exactly my thoughts, but his attorney filed the necessary paperwork within the time frame. Jake removed the cap from his head and tapped it against his thigh. It says he’s supposed to be under electronic monitoring and is required to do community service.

Nick's initial flush of anger faded, leaving in its wake a cold, empty rage. He killed my sister. He and Allie Bryan are the sole reason Hannah isn’t halfway through med school right now.

Your parents will be receiving this notification as well. Not ideal timing so close to Mother’s Day. Do you want to stop by their place?

Nick examined the contents of the letter again. Yes. Dad’s no doubt at work, but Mom will be a wreck if she gets this and no one’s around. I should head over there.

Nick?

He raised his gaze to his boss’s steady stare.

Make sure Alyssa Bryan knows about this. She was a victim in that accident too.

He started to say something sarcastic about Allie but clamped his jaw tight. His bitterness toward his sister’s best friend was no secret. He nodded.

I’ll do that on my way back from talking to my mom. You’re right about the timing. It couldn’t suck much more than it does.

As Nick drove to his parents’ home, he supposed he might have asked Jake to handle letting Allie know, but that would have felt as if he were shirking a duty. Not something he was comfortable doing.

The drive to the brick ranch he’d grown up in didn’t take long. Getting anywhere in Mountain Meadow never took more than a few minutes. In fact, with the right shortcuts, sometimes it was faster on foot. Not much had changed about the house except a subtle air of neglect that had never existed until two years ago, as if the heart had gone out of his parents when Hannah had been killed. What made it more painful was the glimpse he had of Allie’s family home just three doors down. Things had changed for them as well, but their daughter was still alive.

Nick left his cap on the dashboard of the cruiser after putting the vehicle in park. Mom must have seen him. She stood in the doorway as he approached. All it took was one look at her face to see she had already received the news.

Nicholas, she managed that one word before bursting into tears. Nick folded her slight frame in a tight hug. This woman who had been the center of his universe when he was a kid now needed him as an anchor.

Is Dad on his way home?

His mother nodded. Nick relaxed a bit. Both his parents had been crushed by the accident that had killed Hannah, but his dad seemed to have pulled out of his grief faster. Getting back to work had helped. His mom had retired from the county’s school system and now was at too much of a loose end. Too much time to grieve without any avenue to move forward.

How can they do this? his mother asked, raising tear-filled eyes to him.

It’s legal. Kittinger’s attorney filed all the paperwork within the timeframe allowed by the state.

But it’s not right! That boy killed Hannah. His mother spun away from him, her fist clenched at her sides. I wish Allie had never started dating him! He was a terrible influence.

Nick might have taken it a step further, wishing Allie and Hannah had never become such close friends. But they had shared everything from the time they started kindergarten.

Did you have a chance to read the entire letter, Mom?

She shook her head. I didn’t read much past it saying he would be released in a week.

He’ll have GPS monitoring.

One of those bracelet things?

Yes. He glanced around the house, saw everything inside at least was as neat as ever even if his mother’s flower gardens had gone to hell. He stepped into the kitchen. You want a cup of coffee?

If you’re making one for you.

As he measured the coffee and started the machine, he took a deep breath. The order also requires him to do community service work...here in town.

When all he heard was dead silence, Nick turned and found his mother staring at him. Here? In Mountain Meadow? she whispered.

Yes. Here...or around the county.

Oh, Nick. I never imagined that awful young man coming back here. I don’t know if I can handle that. Why would they let him out?

Sometimes it’s a matter of what organizations need volunteers. He poured the coffee into two mugs, adding cream to both. His mother had always taken it that way. He had adopted the habit in an effort to help mask the sludge masquerading as coffee at the police station. He was going to need to leave soon since he had to share this news with Allie. He supposed she must be at work, with it being just a couple days before Mother’s Day.

How long ‘til Dad gets here?

His mother checked her phone. Just a couple of minutes. Do you need to go?

He swallowed the rest of his coffee. Soon.

No way would he leave until his dad had arrived. So he chatted about work, relieved when he heard the garage door, and his father stepped through the portal. His dad looked like an older version of Nick, not quite as tall, but his sandy brown hair still didn’t have a lick of gray in it. After giving him a hug, Nick stepped back. I don’t know that there’s much I can do about where Kittinger is assigned to do community service, but I’ll do my best to see if it can be as far away from us as possible.

Thanks, son. I’ll walk out to the car with you.

The universal signal his dad still had something on his mind, something he didn’t want his mom to hear.

When they reached the car, Phil Brandt put his hand on Nick’s shoulder. Your mom’s been doing better lately. I’m afraid this could be a setback for her with Alyssa being back in town as well.

I don’t think Allie will be around, but you should know she’s working for Leah at Mountain Plants.

Hmm. Hate to hear that. Leah’s done a wonderful job with the business, but we might have to start going to the big box store for our yard. His dad backed up a step. I know you need to leave, son.

I’ll see you Sunday.

Nick had already made arrangements to take them out to breakfast before his shift began. He had taken the day shift so Jake could spend Mother’s Day with his wife and kids.

His dad waved as Nick backed out of the drive. Instead of heading back to the station, which is what he would have preferred, Nick turned the cruiser in the direction of Mountain Plants. The place was bustling. Not only was it almost Mother’s Day, it was also prime time for people to clean and prep their yards and gardens for summer.

As he exited the car, several people called out a greeting, one of the upsides to small town policing as far as Nick was concerned. It was a whole lot easier to establish relationships if people already knew police officers and saw them out and about frequently.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust as he stepped inside. Nick pulled off his sunglasses and slid them over his cap. A fresh-faced teenager he recognized as the daughter of the fire chief was behind the counter, waiting on customers and exchanging friendly banter with them. It reminded him a little of Allie...at least as she and Hannah had been back in high school.

Until everything had changed.

Hi, Lieutenant Brandt, Sophia greeted him with a smile. Do you need something for Mother’s Day?

Actually, I was looking for Allie Bryan. She here today?

Sophia hitched her head toward the back. She’s making arrangements. I can go get her.

Nick smiled. If you wouldn’t mind, can I step back there to speak to her?

Oh, sure. Leah won’t mind.

Nick gave her another grin as he stepped behind the counter and headed for the door that led to the back where he knew Leah did all the flower arranging. He paused in the doorway, studying Allie while she was still unaware of his presence.

A scarf covering part of her forehead held her hair off her face, which only highlighted her high cheekbones and dark brows. She had always been a cute kid who’d only gotten more beautiful the older she got. And completely unaware of it. As if she sensed his presence, Allie’s bright blue eyes lifted and widened. What animation had been present as she worked with the flowers in front of her disappeared to be replaced with both wariness and weariness.

She set the floral knife she’d been using on the table in front of her. Nick noticed a slight tremor in her fingers.

Do you need Leah?

Was that hope he heard. No. I came to speak to you.

Her fingers fluttered over the greenery in front of her. We’re a little busy. Is it something that can wait?

Did you know Kittinger was getting out?

The question came just as she was reaching for her knife again. Ouch!

The knife clattered to the table and her left hand wrapped around her right index finger. Nick moved forward.

What the hell? Did you cut yourself?

She backed away from him, holding her hands against her chest. It’s nothing. A nick—I mean scratch. I’ll put a bandage on in a minute. What about Mason?

He watched her. He’s been granted a sentence reduction.

He wasn’t sure what reaction he expected. Happiness, surprise? Instead, her face went pale as if the news were a shock...and not a pleasant one.

He’s getting out next week.

But not coming back here, right? It sounded as though she wanted reassurance.

He shook his head. The judge is requiring GPS monitoring and community service. Here.

Allie sat on the stool behind the worktable. She blinked a couple of times as if her mind were still trying to absorb what he was saying.

I thought you would be pleased by that news. Why was he needling her? He needed to remember he was here in an official capacity.

She sent him a side-glance that was anything but friendly. You don’t know anything about me.

I know you and your damn boyfriend are the reason my sister is dead. So much for remaining professional.

Mason wasn’t— she halted abruptly, stood and walked over to the first aid kit on the wall to retrieve a bandage. Thank you for letting me know. If that’s all, I should go back to work.

She had her back to him. Something was different about the way she stood from what he remembered. Nick dismissed it and let his gaze rove over the cooler behind her where a multitude of arrangements crowded inside.

Are all those orders you’re filling? he asked. A change of subject might help him back on track.

She glanced over her shoulder at him before turning her attention to the cooler. Most. There are a few Leah and I have made for people who walk in and need something last minute.

Nick was starting to feel some regret for how he’d dropped the news about Kittinger. It was obvious she hadn’t welcomed it.

I need something for my mom. What would you recommend?

She stepped over to the cooler and extracted an arrangement that was all orange and yellow with some ivy stuff stuck in it.

She would like this. Your mom always had the most beautiful flowers in her yard. There was a wistfulness in her tone he couldn’t miss.

Thanks. He didn’t mention his mother’s gardens were in as much disarray as all their lives.

Sophia can ring it up for you.

She wouldn’t meet his eye. Guilt? Probably. Before he stopped himself, Nick said. Stay away from Kittinger, Allie. He’s bad news.

She gave a brief nod without looking at him and went back to sorting the flowers in front of her.

Nick picked up the arrangement and headed out. Allie was hiding something, and he was going to find out what it was.

Chapter Three

Somehow, Allie managed to make it through the remainder of the day. If anyone had asked her what she had done all