McKenna Homecoming Page 4

  And she didn’t want to do that anymore.

  She’d vowed to change when her father had died, but when the scary moment had come, she’d retreated. Again. That was no way to reclaim her life, to move forward.

  Aunt Bea opened the back door and poked her head out. “Is Alec gone?”

  Leah nodded.

  “It’s so nice to see that young man again. I used to think you two would get married.” Aunt Bea sighed. “Ah, well, life throws you curveballs and sometimes you just have to find your own way to get from first to home.”

  Leah laughed. “What’s that mean?”

  A mysterious smile curved across her elderly aunt’s face. “You’ll figure it out, I’m sure. You always were a smart girl. Always knew the right answer.” Then she brightened. “So, do you want to go shopping? Or is there

  something else you need to do?”

  Leah’s gaze went to the side gate, the same one that Alec had used a little while earlier. “There is one thing I have to do first. But I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

  “Take your time,” Aunt Bea said. “Some things need a little time to make right.” Then she ducked inside and shut the door.

  Leah raced out to the street, but Alec’s car was gone, and so was he. Disappointment filled her. She stood there a moment, so sure it was too late. She’d lost him.

  Then she took one step to the right, another, and soon she was hurrying down the sidewalk, detouring onto a well-worn path that cut through the woods at the back of her aunt’s neighborhood, her steps increasing with every passing second until she emerged in a clearing.

  The soft gurgle of a stream reached her ears first, chased by the lazy call of crickets and the sweet melody of nesting birds. She rounded the corner, and there, sitting on a wide, flat rock at the side of the creek, was Alec. Her heart leaped.

  “Somehow, I knew you’d be here,” she said.

  He turned, and a smile burst across his face. “It used to be our favorite spot.”

  She skirted the low-growing ferns and took a seat on the opposite side of the rock. The water below tempted her, and she kicked off her shoes and dipped her toes into the cool stream. “I came home a few times in the past couple of years to visit Aunt Bea, and at least once during each visit, I found myself here. Partly to think, and partly to see—” she gave him a smile, and with a leap of faith, decided to be honest with him and take a chance “—if you would be here.”

  “You missed me,” he said.

  She nodded. “I thought about you a thousand times. I wondered if you had met someone else, if you had moved on—”

  “I’ve never met anyone like you, Leah.” His blue eyes held honesty, sincerity. “And I’ve never forgotten you.”

  “When I saw you again at the reunion, it scared me, even though it’s what I’ve wanted for so long.” She let out a long breath. “You weren’t the only one who bailed that day at graduation. I did, too, on us.”

  “Leah—”

  She put up a hand to stop him. “I did. To be honest, I was glad you didn’t come with me, because I was so in love with you, and I was afraid that if we went to California together, we’d end up living together or married. Committed.”

  He grinned. “Isn’t that the goal?”

  “It was, but I was afraid at the same time that I would fail at it. I grew up in a family where commitment was a loose word. My father was never there, my mother was off pursuing her photography career, and I ended up living with my aunt Bea.”

  “Like I did with my grandmother.”

  She nodded. “We’re pretty similar creatures, Alec. When I went to California to take care of my dad, I wasn’t just looking to help him, I was looking for answers about why he wasn’t there for me, for my mom. About what else in the world held such appeal that he rarely came home for me.”

  “And did you get those answers?”

  She shook her head. “He never liked to talk about himself or the past, and he died that way, too. I never felt close to him, even at the end. I came back here to start my life over, and realized I didn’t have one to start over. I had gone ten years without pursuing my own dreams, and now I’m scared.”

  “Scared of what?”

  “Of more failure. I’ve made excuses for years—my father needed me too often for me to work on my book, or I’m too old to go to college. Or—” she met his gaze, her pulse thundering in her veins “—that the feelings I had back in high school were nothing more than infatuation.”

  “And now? Do you still feel that way? Scared? Unsure?”

  She glanced at the meandering stream that wound its way through the woods before disappearing around a bend. “Do you remember the day we followed the stream?”

  He nodded. “We wanted to see where it ended up.”

  “We must have walked three miles that day and we never reached the end. Heck, this stream could go all the way to California for all I know.”

  “Maybe I should have gotten a boat for graduation. Then I could have followed it to you.”

  She laughed. “I used to hate that I didn’t know where the stream ends up, but after the past few days, I realized it’s part of the appeal. Part of what I love about this place. It’s a mystery, one I may never solve. And I have to be okay with mysteries. With not knowing if my book will sell or if I’ll like college or if—” she raised her gaze to his “—we’ll stay together forever.”

  He cradled her hands. His touch warmed, comforted her. “If you’re willing to take the risk, Leah, I’m willing to stick with you for the next hundred years.”

  She took in a deep breath and realized if she kept on putting off the risks in her life, she would lose out on all the wonderful rewards. She had to believe in herself, in her own worth. She bit her lip, then let out a breath, and when she did, a sense of peace draped over her. Things might not work out perfectly, but she would be okay. “I am willing to do that. With you.”

  “Really?” He grinned and drew her to him in a long, tight embrace. “Oh, I love you, Leah,” he said, his words warm against her hair.

  “I love you, too, Alec.” And she did. He’d been the one man she’d never forgotten, never gotten over. Her first kiss, her first love, and now her last love. She drew back and lifted her gaze to his. “I always admired you because you were such a risk taker. The one who charged down the field, sure of success even when there were a dozen linebackers in front of you.”

  He chuckled. “Maybe not quite a dozen.”

  “You weren’t afraid of failure, that’s the point. And I don’t want to be, either.”

  “Oh, I’ve been afraid of failure.” His thumbs traced the back of her hands. “Of failing you.”

  “You won’t. If you keep doing one very, very important thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  She leaned into him, feeling her smile spread across her face and her heart lighten as she took the biggest risk of all and allowed herself to fall in love. “Kiss me.”

  “My pleasure,” Alec said, then he leaned in and did just that.

  THE END