Home is where you are, p.1
Home Is Where You Are, page 1
home is where you are
COURTRIGHT RANCH
BOOK 1
HARPER FAITH
contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Ainsleigh
Chapter 2
Gentry
Chapter 3
Ainsleigh
Chapter 4
Gentry
Chapter 5
Ainsleigh
Chapter 6
Gentry
Chapter 7
Ainsleigh
Chapter 8
Ainsleigh
Chapter 9
Gentry
Chapter 10
Ainsleigh
Chapter 11
Gentry
Chapter 12
Ainsleigh
Chapter 13
Gentry
Chapter 14
Ainsleigh
Chapter 15
Gentry
Chapter 16
Gentry
Chapter 17
Gentry
Chapter 18
Ainsleigh
Chapter 19
Gentry
Chapter 20
Ainsleigh
Chapter 21
Gentry
Chapter 22
Ainsleigh
Chapter 23
Ainsleigh
Chapter 24
Ainsleigh
Chapter 25
Gentry
Chapter 26
Ainsleigh
Chapter 27
Ainsleigh
Chapter 28
Ainsleigh
Chapter 29
Gentry
Chapter 30
Ainsleigh
Chapter 31
Gentry
Chapter 32
Ainsleigh
Chapter 33
Ainsleigh
Chapter 34
Ainsleigh
Chapter 35
Gentry
Chapter 36
Ainsleigh
Epilogue
Coming Soon!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
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If you love a charming cowboy with a teasing smile, a tender heart, and a way of making you fall one page at a time—this sweet, swoony romance is for you.
prologue
AINSLEIGH
“Get in the car, Ainsleigh,” Aspen, my best friend since freshman orientation, demanded from the front door.
“I’m coming,” I shouted from across the house. I didn’t want to leave the comfort of our house. I wanted to stay here blissfully unaware of what I knew I was about to discover.
My heart didn’t want to accept what my gut told me was the truth.
I knew something was up with Kyle, my boyfriend of six months, but I kept making excuses for his behavior.
There was no way he’d cheat on me. I’d known him since freshman year, when he pursued me endlessly.
Maybe he wasn’t answering his phone because he was studying.
Maybe he wasn’t replying to the numerous text messages I’d sent because he’d fallen asleep.
There were so many other reasons that he could have for not responding, but my gut just knew what my heart refused to accept.
A chill spread throughout my body as I stepped into the crisp Virginia air.
I got in the backseat of Aspen’s car, and Dylan, my other best friend, rode shotgun. None of us spoke a word on the short five-minute drive to Kyle’s fraternity house. I knew they were giving me time to calm my nerves and prepare myself, but I wished one of them would crack a joke or something to take my mind off the rampant thoughts.
We pulled up to the house, the yard packed full of cars, as music blared from inside.
I didn’t even know they were having a party tonight. Kyle never mentioned it because he knew this wasn’t my scene. I could go out to a bar or club, but I hated being in a space with his fraternity brothers. They were all selfish jerks who talked poorly about the girls, as if women were just conquests for them to mark off a list I was sure they kept.
“Let’s go find Kyle,” Dylan said, the tone of his voice wary.
He opened my door, grabbed my hand, and squeezed as he helped me out.
My legs shook the whole way to the house.
Why the secrecy about this party?
If he’d just told me, I wouldn’t have been worrying for the past couple of hours because he was late to the plans we’d made.
A few of his fraternity brothers gave looks of shock as I walked into the house. They looked at me then at each other before turning and taking off in the other direction.
I pulled away from Dylan and sought them out. My gut told me that the direction they were headed was where I’d find Kyle.
We went downstairs, passing people in the hall I swore would whisper to themselves as soon as I passed them, like they knew some big secret that I didn’t.
Only I did know.
I just had to see it with my own eyes before I could accept it.
We rounded the corner to the game room, where Kyle and I would hang out often when the rest of his brothers would go out on the town; Kyle was always the designated brother to go and get anyone who got too inebriated to drive.
There sat my beloved boyfriend of six months on the couch, a beer in his hand—something he swore he never drank—with a half-naked woman on his lap. His hand nestled on her lower back above the skintight skirt she wore. Their mouths tangled in passion as if they were the only two in the room.
Aspen went to move around me, surely about to give him a piece of her mind, but I held my hand out to stop her.
He wasn’t worth any of the words she’d lash him with.
He wasn’t worth anything at all.
One lone tear fell down my face as I took in the sight before me.
His fraternity brother beside him whispered something in his ear, then Kyle’s shocked expression met mine. He moved so fast the girl in his lap fell to the floor.
I didn’t withhold my chuckle as she got the karmic justice she deserved.
“You have got to be kidding me!” I screeched.
“Ainsleigh, I can explain,” Kyle shouted from across the room as he threw the beer bottle into the trash and made his way over to me.
There was nothing to explain. Who knows how long this had been going on? I wasn’t about to let him try to slither his way out of it.
“Don’t even waste your time. I was worried something happened to you, so I came over to make sure you were okay. To my surprise, whoever her name is has been keeping you company just fine. Enjoy your life, Kyle.”
I took one long look at the future I thought I’d have before I turned and walked away.
one
AINSLEIGH
A FEW WEEKS LATER
Inever thought I’d be back in my hometown, let alone for this reason.
Jobless and still wondering what I was meant to do with my life.
Yet, there I was, returning with my tail tucked neatly between my legs.
Everything had been mapped out for me four years ago, with my parents supporting my dreams of going to college only two hours from home. But when I lost her, I lost a huge piece of myself, and I hadn't been able to stand the pitying looks or the quiet whispers that had followed me as I walked down Main Street. I hadn’t been able to stand the heartbreak in the love of my life’s eyes as he tried so hard to have me lean on him so we could overcome our loss together.
I just couldn’t.
Even my family’s ranch, which had always been my solace and safe space, suddenly felt suffocating to me when all I could see was grief.
So, I ran.
My family was devastated when I suddenly left town, but I needed to leave Haven Valley to find myself. Where before, I wanted to stay close and work on the family ranch, I had found myself so badly needing to forge my own path outside of the expectations my family had for me, and that included making a future away from their six-hundred-acre ranch.
But after all this time, I had zero success finding a job, and my time had run out.
I broke myself out of my pity party for once and took in my surroundings. I wasn't sure I’d ever felt as conflicted as I did at that moment, standing in the busy airport.
People bustled around, hurrying to their destinations, greeting loved one s with their warm smiles and hugs. I smiled as a little girl rushed to greet her father, who knelt and caught her in his arms as he pretended to fall over from the sheer force of her running into him. Her childlike laughter filled the room over the sounds of suitcases being pulled across the tile floor. My heart ached at hearing her laugh. There was nothing better than the laughter of a child, but even the sweet sound couldn’t break me from the trepidation I felt at being back in my hometown.
My feet stayed rooted to the spot. I couldn’t make myself move to grab my luggage off the carousel to my right. My heart raced and skin grew clammy as I felt the anxiety sweep through my body. Nervous energy filled me, my body grew hot, and my breaths came harsher and uneven as the panic attack threatened.
If this was the reaction my body and mind had from just being at the airport, I couldn’t imagine how I would react when I finally stepped foot back on the ranch.
The sound of the carousel carrying the luggage from my flight broke me from my thoughts. I shook my head and walked over, waiting for the bright pink suitcase my mama bought me to come into view.
My bag finally came around on the conveyor belt. As I leaned forward to grab it, someone bumped me from behind, causing me to almost fall on the still-moving belt in front of me. A hand wrapped around my waist seconds before I fell face-first. My whole body tensed at the thought of some stranger having his hands on me.
Whoever it was righted my body and made sure I was steady before letting go. A hand reached around and grabbed the luggage that I’d reached for before it got too far out of sight. I brushed down my clothes with shaking hands before I gained the courage to turn around and face my savior.
“Thank you,” I mumbled as I turned around.
“No worries, darlin’. Not goin’ to complain about assistin’ a beautiful woman in need.”
The man smiled as I grabbed the pink suitcase from his grasp.
I smiled up at the stranger. He had a Southern accent, but from the looks of his suit and tie, he was more of the city type.
“Thank you. You saved me from completely embarrassin’ myself in front of all these people,” I said, grateful I didn’t face-plant.
“You from around here?” he asked as we both stepped away from the conveyor belt and toward the exit of the airport.
“About two hours from here. You?”
I didn’t really care, but talking with this stranger staved my nerves as I was about to be ambushed by a slew of hugs from my mama.
“About the same,” he replied just as we reached the sliding doors.
The revolving doors opened, and we stepped out into the Texas sunshine. Taking a deep breath, I relished in how fresh the air smelled and the warmth of the sun against my skin. I missed the air here. Often, I would close my eyes as I laid on the grass at the college and imagine I was laying in one of the fields and taking in the smells and sounds of the quietness around me. Only, I wasn’t here, and something would always break me free of the thoughts I longed to take part in.
Humidity in Virginia wasn’t as bad as it was here in Texas. And in May it was ungodly hot already.
“Safe travels,” I said to him as we stood on the pavement in front of the slew of cars waiting to pick up travelers.
“It was nice meetin’ you. You sure you’re good to get to wherever you’re goin’?” he asked, genuine concern crossing his face.
“I’m sure. Thank you, though.” I smiled as I touched his arm to reassure him. I’d always been the type to reassure people through touch, even a stranger. I’d been warned numerous times I’d end up on an episode of some show about being kidnapped, but that was just who I was.
I pulled back, wary of invading his personal space.
“It was a pleasure meetin’ you,” he replied with a grin.
I smiled, nodded, and pulled my phone from my back pocket.
A message from my ex, the current thorn in my side, sat unread. I refused to open it. Refused to entertain his excuses.
I didn’t see my mom or dad or any of my siblings, and I didn’t know why any of them weren’t waiting for me at the exit.
I opened the text thread to my mom and sent a message to find out where she was.
Me: Mom, where are you? I’m at the exit.
The message said delivered then read almost immediately. Three dots appeared and then disappeared.
An email notification appeared at the top of my screen as I waited for her reply.
I’d been waiting for responses from the companies I’d interviewed with before graduation, and my hands shook as I clicked on the notification. The contents of this email would determine my fate. If I went back to Virginia, or if I stayed home to reevaluate my plans.
Mom: I’m so sorry. Your ride should be there any minute.
My ride? What in the world was going on? And why wouldn’t she just tell me who was picking me up?
Me: What do you mean? Who’s coming to get me?
Unlike the last message, my mom didn’t read my text immediately. I tapped my foot on the concrete and looked around for anyone familiar. I hated that she didn’t elaborate. I hated not knowing anything because I needed to be prepared. Call it a flaw, but having structure and well-thought-out plans calmed me, especially after everything that had happened to lead me away from here.
Without a response from my mom, I took a deep breath and clicked on the email notification.
Please be good news.
Just as I was about to read the contents, a familiar voice called out, thick in a Southern drawl, causing my heart to speed up in a way it hadn’t since I left.
“Hey there, butterfly.”
Goosebumps covered my whole body at just the sound, causing me to shiver even in the Texas heat. I knew I’d see him eventually. The town was too small. I’d just hoped I’d have a few days to get acclimated before I had to lay eyes on the man whose heart I broke four years ago.
I hope he doesn’t notice my reaction to him.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I blinked rapidly to keep them from falling. I took a deep breath and counted to five before I squared my shoulders, readying myself to face the man I’d left all those years ago.
two
GENTRY
My lungs seized, and my heart pounded against the ribs that enclosed it—a hollow organ that ceased to beat since she’d left me. I thought the two-hour drive had given me enough time to prepare for seeing her after four years of her being gone.
But I’d been wrong.
Just at the mere sight of her, I couldn’t breathe. My heart constricted, and I struggled to get air into my lungs as I fought the urge to turn around and run.
It’d serve her right if I did just that.
My stomach felt like I just got sucker punched in the gut by a heavy weight champion. I thought I’d put our past behind me, but seeing her again, the pain came rushing back full force.
She was still just as beautiful as the last time I’d seen her. The day before she’d taken my heart and shattered it without any regard.
A letter.
A letter was how she’d said goodbye.
After everything we’d gone through, I was only worth a few scribbled words on a piece of paper torn from a notebook.
She couldn’t even do it to my face. She’d had her brother Holden, my best friend, pass it along to me long after her flight had left the ground.
“Gentry,” she whispered. Her mouth opened and closed, but no other words escaped.
“Yeah, butterfly.”
“Please don’t call me that,” she said so low I could barely hear. She looked down at her phone and typed with the speed of lightning as her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head as if to ward off the threatening tears. Her head looked to the sky after she finished typing. Her lips moved, but no sound escaped. I couldn’t read what she mouthed, but once she finished, she looked at me, her eyes still glossy, but she appeared more composed.
