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  “Here,” he said as he handed them to me. “I figured they wouldn’t be comfortable to sleep in, so I got you covered up and then took them off. It felt wrong to look since you were passed out. But now that you’re sitting there open to the world I gotta say babe, sweet panties.”

  Holy shit. I want to die. I grabbed my jeans out of his hands so hard I’m surprised they didn’t rip in half. I stood up to slide them up my legs and realized not only was Justin standing there grinning at me, but he was shirtless and wearing only flannel pajama bottoms. His feet were bare. I finally got to see what working on the farm can do to a person and I must say, I liked it. His chest was wide and his abs were rock solid. I had a personal trainer who kicked my ass six times a week for an hour and I didn’t even look close to as good as he did.

  I tried to pretend I wasn’t staring at him but it was pretty hard when I’m sure there was drool running down my chin. Somewhere between high school and now he had gotten some sweet ink done. His chest and upper arms were covered with some sort of tribal design. The thick black lines swooped and swirled across his chest, running down his shoulder to his elbow. He’d been wearing a t-shirt each time I saw him recently, but the short sleeves must’ve been enough to keep it covered. I would’ve never guessed he had this done. I wanted to trace the entire thing with my tongue from top to bottom.

  It was time to get out of here. I needed a little space before something happened I wasn’t ready for.

  “Justin, I need you to take me home now,” I said quietly.

  He looked like he was having the same thoughts as he stared at me. His eyes were still on the legs my jeans had just covered up. I could see his chest moving in and out like he was trying to steady his breathing. He took a deep breath in through his nose and brought his eyes up to mine.

  “Yeah,” he whispered.

  Chapter 7

  Justin

  Two weeks had passed since my date with Lil and I couldn’t seem to get her out of my head. The day I walked into the bar I was so tired. It was hot and humid outside and I’d been baling hay all day. I had to drive through town to drop off a check with one of my landlords and thought a beer would taste perfect.

  When I saw Lil sitting on that barstool my heart stopped. Damn, this woman had me tied in knots for years. Me. Mr. Tough Guy who only showed emotion with my fists. But I had to keep my feelings buried. I wasn’t ready for her to know that it tore me up when she left. And the fact that we had barely kept in touch through the years just twisted that knife a little further. So instead of the welcome home she deserved, I was a dick. I wanted her to feel as awful as she’d made me feel all those years.

  Then, after the incident in the grocery store, something inside me snapped. I suddenly felt the need to protect her. And a new emotion sprung in me – worry. I worried about her being alone and mobbed again. I worried about why she felt she needed to keep me at arm’s length. I worried that her stupid ass brothers would tell her how I felt. A few years back, I joined their table to play cards at the bar and ended up getting completely shitfaced. The alcohol made me talkative where I let it slip that I was remodeling my house for her. Apparently I had shared with Michael, when he drove my drunk ass home that night, my undying love for his baby sister. Thankfully, not one of them gave me shit about it ever again.

  I’d waited years for this chance. I kept telling myself when she first left I would give her time to do her thing and then I would go to Nashville myself and bring her home. But in no time her dream came true, signing the record deal only a couple months after moving out there.

  When she called to tell me she landed the deal with RCA, I was surprised. I remember asking her how the hell it could happen so quickly. She blew me off with some story about fate and luck and how she was in the right place at the right time.

  I called bullshit on that instantly. I knew Lil was good, but come on. Even some of the best performers out there had to put years and years into that shit before it paid off for them. Yet here was my sweet little Lily who had to struggle a whole seven weeks before signing a multimillion dollar deal and starting on her first record. Something was up, but I knew I’d have to tread lightly to get her to trust me enough to find out the story.

  “Hello?” I heard in my ear. Funny how it only took one word out of her mouth to make me smile

  “Hey, Bright Eyes,” I said. “We still on for tonight?”

  Being the first home football game, I asked Lil to go with me. I hoped she knew this meant being seen together and that everyone in town would know she was with me.

  It only took a day after the grocery store incident to become public knowledge she was back in town. The shitstorm that followed her for the next ten days was almost too much for me to handle. I wanted so badly to go to her. To tell her I would protect her if she just let me in. But I didn’t. She could be so damn stubborn sometimes, and I knew it would piss her off if I jumped in to fix all her problems.

  At least the majority of the locals calmed down after they found out she was here to stay. Granted, the paparazzi still followed her around like stray dogs but I knew that wouldn’t last long either. Once they saw she was out doing boring day to day errands they would give up and move on, too. There wasn’t enough going on in this tiny little town to keep them interested in sticking around.

  “Yeah, Justin. I can’t wait actually. But I’m a little nervous.”

  “You don’t have to worry, Lil,” I said softly. “I would never let anything happen to you.”

  That was the truth. I would go to every extent needed to make sure no one hurt her. Other than the incident in Alabama with the stage collapse, I could tell something else traumatic had happened and I’d be damned before I allowed her to get hurt again. “I guess I’ll just have to keep you right next to me all night,” I teased. “Damn, it sucks to be me sometimes.”

  “Shut up, Justin,” she giggled. Then her voice dipped lower as she whispered into the phone, “Actually that sounds kind of nice.”

  The blood in my chest ran warm with her admission. “Yeah it does, honey.”

  The feelings I had for her for all the years she was gone had only grown since seeing her in person. And with the media hell out her parents’ front door, we had a lot of time to spend on the phone catching up.

  I told her all about the farm and the improvements I had made. I knew my Dad was proud of the way things were going, but I wanted Lil to be proud of me too. My livestock was thriving, and the grain prices the last few years made me more money than my parents ever made on the farm. I was constantly looking for ways to buy or rent more land. I now had two employees working for me during planting season and harvest. Dad had retired, and while he came out to the home place every day to see what we’re up to, his farming days were over.

  I told her all about the house. I not only remodeled the existing home but also added on two additional rooms and a porch. The porch was amazing. It ran the whole front stretch of the house and then wrapped around the side all the way to the giant, two level deck near the back. It was fucking awesome. A bitch to build, but nothing that five buddies and a couple cases of beer couldn’t tackle over a weekend. Since money was flowing steadily and I didn’t have a family to support, I spared no expense in buying the best of the best when redoing the house.

  And to be honest, I had the picture of Lil in my mind every step of the way. I tried to think of what she would choose. I knew if there was ever a chance to convince her to come home and be with me, I didn’t want her coming home to a dump.

  “Okay, so how’s the situation at your parents’ house?” I asked, refusing to call it her house. I had every intention of making it clear that she was moving in with me as soon as possible. The only problem was that I knew she had the tendency to be a little hot headed at times, and if I charged in there firing off orders she would more than likely kick me in the balls and walk away.

  I just needed to get my point across before she did something stupid, like buy a different house. O
r worse, start building.

  “You should be good to go,” she answered. “Most of the paparazzi have given up. There are one or two guys hanging around still asking me why I quit the business. Even after I’ve told them all hundreds of times I just didn’t like it anymore, they won’t let it go.”

  Vultures. All of them. I had to hand it to Lil, she kept cool and calm the last few weeks where I would have unleashed hell. Every newspaper, late night talk show, daytime talk show and rag magazine had ripped the poor girl to shreds. First, they said she had a drug induced nervous breakdown and her parents forced her home or they would have her committed. Then, they changed their tune and said she was being shown up by younger talent and too jealous to play the game anymore. A few days later, she was stuck up and thought she was too good for Country Music. And the last one was the kicker. She had officially been kicked out of the business by everyone in the city of Nashville. Apparently, it only took twelve years for everyone to find out that she ‘couldn’t hack it’ and they forced her to quit. Never mind that she had countless nominations and awards to her name. She was a seven time Grammy winner for Christ’s sake!

  It took every ounce of restraint not to beat the living shit out of each and every one of them. My fighting days were long over, but I would resurrect them in a heartbeat to protect my girl.

  “I’ll be at your place shortly after six. We’ll grab a bite to eat at the café in town before we head to the game.”

  There was silence from the other end of the line.

  “You still there?” I asked.

  “Justin, I don’t know about that,” she answered. I could hear the hesitation in her voice. “Do a lot of people still go to the café before games? It just makes me nervous to be around so many people in a small space.”

  Damn it.

  “Lillian, you cannot live like this forever. I won’t let you hide away and not live your life. It’s bullshit.”

  I heard her sigh on the other end.

  “I will make sure you are safe. Always. Do you understand what I’m saying? Okay, this is not the conversation I wanted to have over the phone,” I stopped to take a deep breath. “Lillian, I take care of what’s mine,” I started.

  “WHAT?” she yelled through the phone. “Justin James DeLuca you did not just say that to me. If you think for one second that I will put up with that stupid alpha male crap then I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “Lil—”

  “No, Justin, I played that game once upon a time and I got burned. Fucking burned. And I will. Not. Ever. Let it happen again,” she yelled at me.

  “Baby--”

  “Now do you understand what I’M SAYING?” she yelled again.

  Damn. Damn. Damn it.

  This was not the way I wanted this to go.

  “That’s not what I meant, honey,” I said cautiously. I knew it. Something went down when she first went to Nashville. I had to go in easy with her about this or it would backfire and blow up in my face. The past two weeks of us getting to know each other again would go completely to waste. “Lillian, listen to me. I care about you. A lot. I didn’t know if I would ever have another chance to be a part of your life. I have no idea what happened to you in Nashville, but I will tell you that is not what’s happening here. I care about you, Lil, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you feel safe and loved. Always.”

  My heart was beating a hundred miles an hour. If this woman didn’t turn my insides in every which direction, I don’t know what did. She acted so tough at times, but I knew she was just a scared girl needing someone to take care of her. I wanted to be that someone so badly it hurt.

  I heard her sniffle.

  “Bright Eyes,” I whispered.

  “Thank you, Justin,” she said softly. “I’m sorry I blew up at you. I’m just nervous. Since I signed with the label, nobody has really cared about ME. The real me, not the celebrity. Look, I gotta run, but I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

  “Okay, honey. I’ll be there later to pick you up.”

  I hung up the phone and finished getting everything ready. She didn’t know it yet, but going to the café and the football game was only the beginning of what I had in store for her tonight.

  As we walked up the grassy parking lot to the football field I put my arm around Lil and kissed her temple. The café was a success. Everyone was polite and mostly just left us alone. The people who did come to chat talked about the weather, my farm, what they thought of the football team, or to welcome Lil home. Not one person asked her for an autograph or picture.

  “You’re amazing,” I said into her ear. It took all my restraint not to pull her behind the concession stand and get after it. My luck, some slimy photographer would catch us and then she’d have to deal with a whole new shitstorm.

  I saw the blush creep up her neck and into her cheeks. Then she stuck her tongue out and said, “Am not.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “Such class, Bright Eyes.”

  We walked to the fence along the sidelines where most of my crew hung out, including my two best friends, Evan Wakefield and David Lyons. I was happy the majority of people knew Lily from high school so the introductions were pretty minimal. But there were a few guys that met their wives in college or other towns and came back to live in Glenview. Thankfully, they were all very polite and didn’t make a scene over meeting Lil.

  And of course, there were what I called the leaches. The girls who had yet to marry, or were already divorced, and basically came to social events like this for a hook up. I admit, it was a relief to not have to work very hard at that shit in the past; but now, I was afraid it was going to come up and bite me in the ass. I hadn’t been much of a choirboy since high school. I had basically spent the last twelve years burying my feelings for Lily in other women. She didn’t need to hear all the details of that shit.

  I tried to stick close to her and keep alert. If anyone approached her for an autograph or a picture I made sure to stare them down until they walked away. I was a pretty big guy and I knew I could be intimidating. I used that to my advantage as much as possible.

  We stood around shooting the shit with my friends. Lil was catching up with a few girls she used to hang out with in high school. They were being really cool so I let her have a little space. It was nice to see her happy and relaxed. She even ventured to the concession stand with them to grab a soda. I got myself in a position where I could see her and everyone around her.

  “Dude, chill the fuck out,” my buddy, David, said to me as he leaned against the fence that separated us from the field. “Seriously, it’s not like she’s nine years old and you need to make sure no one steals her.”

  “Shut up, Lyons,” I snapped. “She’s a walking target. I’m just making sure people leave her alone. Maybe if you gave two shits about a girl they’d stick around longer than a week.” That seemed to shut him up. David had a worse track record than I did with women. He was after the quick lay and then he was done. Since high school, I think he’d only introduced me to one chick. Not that I cared, but it was still strange that he always kept women at arm’s length. At least I had the excuse that my girl left town on graduation day. As far as I knew, Lyons had no excuse.

  Then there was my other buddy, Evan, who got married at age twenty only to have his wife tell him a year later that she didn’t love him after all. She left town the next day and that was it. He’s been actively trying to replace her ever since. Evan was a serial dater and fell in love with every girl he met, it was impossible for him to be alone.

  I looked back to the concession stand and saw Johnny Trellis stroll up to her. Jesus, of all the people here, why him? I will never forget the party in high school where he had his hands all over her ass. I was so fucking pissed that night, I ended up getting in a fight with some dumbass freshman. I remember the whole thing like it was yesterday. I had gone outside to fill my beer cup when I heard the little shit talking about wanting to hook up with Lil. I turned around
and punched him right across the jaw. We tumbled to the ground and it took a couple guys to pull me off him. Lil and I left after that and drove around back roads the rest of the night.

  Johnny said something to Lil and she threw her head back and laughed. He flashed her a smile and leaned in closer. Fuck no. I needed to shut this shit down, pronto.

  I jogged over to where they were standing and put my arm around Lil.

  “Hey baby, do you need help carrying anything?” I asked.

  “Um, no, I think I got it.”

  I gave Johnny a glare but he just looked at me with a smug smile. He knew what he was doing.

  “DeLuca,” he greeted me.

  “Trellis,” I nodded in reply.

  Time to wipe that smile off your face, dickwad.

  “Okay, honey,” I said as I kissed the top of her head. “Hurry back.” I gave her a playful swat on the ass and turned to walk away.

  There, Trellis, take that fucking hint. She’s mine, damn it.

  Lyons was standing there with a smirk on his face when I got back to the fence.

  “I don’t wanna fuckin’ hear it.”

  “Yeah. Sure. Whatever. So when’s the wedding?” he joked.

  I shot him a glare to shut him the hell up. Lil was on her way back and definitely didn’t need to hear that shit. She would run straight out of this town and far away from me. Even though I hadn’t talked with her much all those years she was gone, I did follow her interviews. And I shamelessly admit to buying any magazine that had her on the cover. While she mostly dodged the relationship questions all together, she was not hesitant to let it be known that she never wanted to get married or have a family. Maybe it was all just for show, but I didn’t need to find out by some jackass teasing me about it and having her run and hide.