Back Then

By L.P. Maxa

THE WAY LOVE GOES

From the time Booker was nine years old, he didn't know exactly what his life would be like, but of one thing he was absolutely certain: he'd been living it with Macie until the day he died.

Macie felt the same, but for over four years, Booker disappeared without a word.

To say Macie was devasted is an understatement.

Which explains why, when she receives Booker's texts, she ignores them.

Until she can't.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781957295541

L.P. Maxa

L.P. lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, daughter, three rescue dogs, and one adopted cat. The first group of chickens met with a sad and unexpected death. They have been replaced. The dwarf goats are a story for another day. And now there are ducks. Writer, business owner and office manager, L.P. says she loves to read as much as she loves to write. Reading a good book is her reward after writing one. In her spare time—ha!—she fosters puppies for a rescue organization based in Austin. Connect with L.P. – lpmaxa.wordpress.com facebook.com/pages/LP-Maxa/1442560722667127 twitter.com/lpmaxa instagram.com/lpmaxa

Book preview

Text to Love Stories

The Right Wrong Number

RiffRaff Records

Royalty

Legacy

Infamy

Loyalty

Sanctuary

Piracy

Certainty

Inevitably

Finally

The Devil’s Share

Play Nice

Play Dirty

Play Fair

Play Softly

Play Hard

Play For Keeps

St. Leasing

Mouth Watering

Breath Taking

Jaw Dropping

Heart Stopping

Soul Crushing

Earth Shattering

Mind Blowing

Other Novels

Happy Place

Stumbled into Love

Rescued

The Forever Weekend

The Ideal

www.BOROUGHSPUBLISHINGGROUP.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Boroughs Publishing Group does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites, blogs or critiques or their content.

BACK THEN

A Text To Love Story

Copyright © 2023 L.P. Maxa

All rights reserved. Unless specifically noted, no part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Boroughs Publishing Group. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of Boroughs Publishing Group is illegal and punishable by law. Participation in the piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights.

ISBN: 978-1-957295-54-1

To all the ones who came home,

and to all the ones who never got the chance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Another Text to Love Story. Thank you to everyone who read and shared and loved The Right Wrong Number. So many of my Texas girlies rallied behind my text only idea, and it gave me permission to write Back Then.

These little books packed full of heart and dialogue are my absolute favorite, and each one feels like an indulgence of epic proportions.

Thank you to my husband and my girls for being proud of each book I put out.

Thank you to my mom for demanding to read my works in progress.

Thank you to Boroughs and Michelle for letting me do what I love.

Thank you to the small slice of Texas where I grew up, and thank you to my first love. So much of this book is wrapped in a veil of truth, and it feels like a little love letter to my hometown.

BACK THEN

A TEXT TO LOVE STORY

Contents

Also By

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Back Then

Playlist

About the Author

About the Publisher

"'Cause in a life where we work out,

our love's hotter than a summer day"

-Flatland Cavalry

Booker + Macie

Booker: You up?

Booker: Hey, Macie girl, you awake?

Booker: I really need you to open your eyes, pretty girl.

Booker: MACIE.

Booker: I get it. I deserve your anger. But I would love more than anything to hear from you.

Booker: I hurt you. But I never meant to. If you’ll give me a chance to explain… Please, baby.

Booker + Macie

Booker: Sometimes when the stars are out and everything is quiet, I close my eyes and pretend I never left. I would’ve done so many things differently, Macie, but I can’t change the past.

Booker: I can only beg for a piece of your present. And that’s what I’m doing, baby, I'm begging you to talk to me.

Booker + McCall

Booker: She won’t answer me.

McCall: Can you blame her? In her mind you left without a word four years ago. Disappeared in the night like some kind of cat burglar.

Booker: Cat burglar? Is that the official term, Detective McCall?

McCall: Sure. Did you tell her where you are? Did you tell her what happened?

Booker: No.

McCall: Still lying to the girl, I see.

Booker: You mean still protecting her?

McCall: Sure.

Booker: Has her number changed by any chance?

McCall: Nope.

Booker: Think you could help a cousin out and get your bestie to talk to me?

McCall: Nope.

Booker: Asshole.

McCall: Maybe try telling her the truth for once, and I bet she’ll answer you. She may hate you, but she’s not heartless.

Booker: I don’t want her pity.

McCall: Beggars can’t be choosers, my friend.

Booker + Macie

Booker: I know you aren’t speaking to me. But these messages say read, so I know you’re seeing them. And I know you have the same number because I checked with McCall.

Booker: Macie, baby, you can ignore me as long as you want. I won’t stop trying, though.

Booker: I can do this all day.

Booker: All week.

Booker: All month.

Booker: I have nothing but time.

Macie: Are you fucking kidding me?

Booker: Hi, baby.

Macie: What the hell do you want, Booker?

Booker: I wanted to talk to you.

Macie: Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk to you.

Booker: I know. I know you don’t want anything to do with me. But I had a really bad day and I just… It made me think of you.

Macie: You had a bad day, and it made you think of me? How fucking sweet. After four years, that’s what made you finally reach out to me? You are such an asshole.

Booker: Four years, three months, and five days. But who’s counting?

Macie: You left without telling anyone, without saying good-bye. Up and joined the Marines with no explanation. And now suddenly you need me because you had a shitty day? How selfish can one person be?

Booker: You have every right to be angry with me.

Macie: I’ve moved so far past angry, I can’t even see it.

Booker: What’s worse than anger?

Macie: Indifference. Bye, Booker.

Macie + McCall

Macie: Your dickhead of a cousin texted me in the middle of the night. Actually, he texted me several days in a row like a psycho.

McCall: I don’t really know how to respond to that. Did you talk to him?

Macie: No. Basically, I told him to fuck off.

McCall: That’s fair, and I’m sure exactly what he expected to happen. He knows you.

Macie: He said he had a shitty day and he wanted to hear from me.

McCall: Did he happen to tell you about his shitty day?

Macie: No. I didn’t ask.

McCall: Okay.

Macie: Okay? That’s it? Why, all of a sudden, do I feel like there’s something I’m missing?

McCall: Uh, because I was purposefully vague and intriguing to draw you in?

Macie: What’s going on, McCall?

McCall: Booker was in an accident. He woke up a couple days ago, and he’s laid up in a hospital somewhere in the Middle East. His mom is flying there now. They’ll only let immediate family in.

Macie: He WOKE UP? Was he in a coma? What the actual hell, McCall? How come no one told me?

McCall: You’ve made how you feel about him, or any mention of him, extra, super clear, Mace.

Macie: I’m mad at him. It doesn’t mean I want him to die. Jesus. What happened?

McCall: Far as we can tell, it was a training exercise that went bad. Bullet grazed his skull and as he went down, he landed in some razor wire that was piled up nearby.

Macie: He was shot.

McCall: Grazed.

Macie: But he’ll live?

McCall: He’ll live. He’s pretty cut up, and they had to remove some skull splinters from some dangerous areas. It’ll take rehab, and a lengthy