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The Way Back To Erin
Cerella Sechrist
He didn't feel at home anywhere…except with herFifteen years ago, Erin crushed Burke Daniels by choosing his brother over him. Now, after being left at the altar by his fiancée, Burke’s back in Findlay Falls trying to put his life back together—and falling for his now-widowed sister-in-law all over again.He skipped town when Erin broke his heart. But after bonding with her son—his nephew—and realizing he still loves her, Burke doesn’t know how he can ever leave Erin again. Even if she tells him he has to…
He didn’t feel at home anywhere...except with her
Fifteen years ago, Erin crushed Burke Daniels by choosing his brother over him. Now, after being left at the altar by his fiancée, Burke’s back in Findlay Roads trying to put his life back together—and falling for his now-widowed sister-in-law all over again.
He skipped town when Erin broke his heart. But after bonding with her son—his nephew—and realizing he still loves her, Burke doesn’t know how he can ever leave Erin again. Even if she tells him he has to...
CERELLA SECHRIST lives in York, Pennsylvania, with two precocious pugs, Darcy and Charlotte, named after Jane Austen literary characters. Inspired by her childhood love of stories, she was ten years old when she decided she wanted to become an author. As a former barista, Cerella is a coffee snob who can spend hours discussing the finer points of a good Italian roast. She’s been known to post too many pug photos on both Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cerellasechrist/) and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.ca/cerellasechrist/). You can see for yourself by finding her online at cerellasechrist.com (http://www.cerellasechrist.com).
Also By Cerella Sechrist (#ud202ade5-d063-59e8-b4a5-985d137fa226)
A Song for Rory
Harper’s Wish
The Paris Connection
Gentle Persuasion
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
The Way Back to Erin
Cerella Sechrist
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08088-0
THE WAY BACK TO ERIN
© 2018 Cerella Delbaugh Sechrist
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“Why did you come back to Findlay Roads at all? You missed Gavin’s funeral. And then six months later you showed up here, as if nothing had changed.”
“That is not fair,” he snapped, rising to his feet. “Everything had changed.”
“Not for you! You’d barely been home in years—”
“I lost my brother!” He cut her off. “My best friend! You think you’re the only one who has grief to manage? You’re not alone in this, Erin. You’re not the only one who misses him.”
“But don’t you see?” she murmured, the words raspy. “You’d already left years ago. You had all this time and distance already. How can you possibly know what it felt like to lose him, without a choice?”
“But I do know.” Burke’s words sounded hard to his own ears. “You forget that I lost both my parents without a choice. And then my brother, too.”
Erin’s jaw clenched, and he could tell she was holding back what she wanted to say. He knew the expression well.
When she finally spoke, she said nothing more about Gavin but rather warned him, “Just don’t get so close to Kitt that you break his heart when you leave.”
With that, she turned on her heel and headed back inside, leaving him to wonder just whose heart she was really worried about him breaking.
Dear Reader (#ud202ade5-d063-59e8-b4a5-985d137fa226),
Grief is a tricky thing. It has no timetable. It will catch you unawares, lulling you into a false sense of security one hour, only to strike you savagely with the reminders of your loss in the next.
Grief is no stranger to the characters in The Way Back to Erin. With the death of her husband, Erin has had to dig her way through the years that have passed, remaining strong for herself and Gavin’s son, Kitt. When she faces the threat of losing the Moontide Inn, which has been her home and safe haven for years, her grief is rekindled. Her struggle to reconcile her shattered dreams with the return of Burke, a love she laid to rest many years ago, is at the heart of this story.
When my editors suggested the title to me, something settled in my spirit. The Way Back to Erin encompasses so much of what this book is about. Not only is Burke finding his way home and back to Erin after his own losses, but Erin is finding her way back to herself, defining who she is without Gavin, who was the foundation of her existence for so long. What she learns is this:
Grief will tie you up, cut you deep and hold you down. But it will not keep you there forever.
For whatever you have personally lost, I am sorry. And I hope that sooner rather than later, you find your way back home.
If you’d like to share your story with me, I would love to hear from you. Contact me through my website at cerellasechrist.com (http://www.cerellasechrist.com), online via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/thecerellalife) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/cerellasechrist), or by mail at PO Box 614, Red Lion, PA 17356.
Cerella Sechrist
To Haley Sechrist: sister-in-law, fellow barista, “buffet buddy,” TV fan, cake lover and general partner in crime (remember to hide the evidence, especially when it involves cookie crumbs!)
Thanks for all the coffee, conversations, tears and laughter. But especially for being family.
Acknowledgments
Much gratitude to editor extraordinaire Karen Reid as well as Victoria Curran and the rest of the Harlequin Heartwarming team for all their hard work and support. You all have shaped Findlay Roads into the best little fictional town in Maryland.
Special thanks to my fellow Heartwarming authors, who are some of the most supportive and encouraging people I have ever met, with extra kudos to my blog partner, Loree Lough, for the phone chats, brainstorming sessions and support, and to Kate James for her patience, organization and general superwoman skills.
You all warm my heart.
Additional thanks to fellow author Lisa Lawmaster Hess for our Starbucks writing sessions and helping my characters find their way through this story.
Finally, to my family and friends, who always provide me with the best character fodder.
I love you all.
Contents
Cover (#u4b94d26f-276b-570e-b15e-74172e16868b)
Back Cover Text (#u5da6d5e8-bc87-5f9f-a17c-51d9db42a930)
About the Author (#ud5b17ae4-39a1-5b6a-ab55-ad937d1054e8)
Booklist (#u71ad3deb-a5f2-52d8-ad4d-a3f2ace7e2c2)
Title Page (#u2c467848-9844-5d72-9a95-61911394124e)
Copyright (#ue6e9f21d-b58a-5a87-b303-1cd9f2ee870f)
Introduction (#ud3ad196c-fdae-5c56-83ed-cf63667982df)
Dear Reader (#u87fc1476-31e4-5e8f-9f2c-02e5e91a6516)
Dedication (#u60bece3f-7978-52a6-9f91-21adf06e10b0)
CHAPTER ONE (#u37b4a812-bfe9-5654-9fd7-b88e2341679b)
CHAPTER TWO (#u87851f15-77eb-5806-8f41-bab04ebcf634)
CHAPTER THREE (#u390f55bc-209a-5c0c-b61d-b00c400c02d3)
CHAPTER FOUR (#uf0690bf0-d71f-5ab4-8750-67bc46a1b394)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u4fa6f40a-cf8e-5a20-b6a8-774abff2ab95)
CHAPTER SIX (#u131f29af-c537-5e8c-a067-0dbe6176cf62)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ud202ade5-d063-59e8-b4a5-985d137fa226)
WHEN THE CLOUDS first rolled in, Burke had felt disappointment. Thirty minutes later, he wondered if the weather had known what was coming well before he did and had conspired to provide an appropriate backdrop to the day.
As he stood there with the June rain pouring down, soaking through his tuxedo and slipping down the back of his neck, he shivered. The guests had retreated, taking shelter in the tent where the reception was to be held. He felt like he should take charge, make an announcement, tell them to go ahead and enjoy the dinner that had already been bought and paid for. But his father-in-law...no. He brought that thought up short.
Allan Worth would not be his father-in-law after all. Not since Tessa had failed to show up, disappearing from the Delphine Resort where their wedding was being held.
She was gone, as completely as the sun. The rain pelted his face, but he stubbornly remained outside, welcoming the hammer of the elements. It soothed his disappointment, his embarrassment, his confusion.
Tessa didn’t want to marry him. Or so the note in his clenched fist claimed. It was a paltry offering with no excuses. Just two simple lines.
I can’t marry you. I’m sorry.
Burke raised his eyes and looked toward the portico of the hotel where his and Tessa’s closest family members and friends congregated. Paige, Tessa’s oldest sister, was gesturing wildly. Though he couldn’t read her lips, they were moving at a fast clip, probably worrying more over the blow to the family’s reputation that a runaway bride would deliver rather than the fact that Tessa had disappeared. Harper, Tessa’s other sister, had her arms wrapped around their mother and was staring at her cell phone screen, as though willing it to ring.
Allan Worth was nowhere to be seen. Tessa’s father was likely doing damage control among the guests, apologizing for the inconvenience, offering refreshments. Like Burke should be doing. But he didn’t have the strength to face the expressions filled with sympathy, the strange condolences for someone who hadn’t died yet had disappeared just the same.
He shifted his gaze from the small crowd on the portico and caught sight of Molly Callahan, Tessa’s niece by marriage, playing tag with several other children, oblivious to how the rain stained their fine dress clothes. His lips tugged upward at the sight, and he wished he could abandon his dark mood and join them.
He searched the group of children for his nephew, Kitt, and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t see the little boy among them. Ever since his father’s death two years before, Kitt had become a very serious child. Running through the rain wasn’t something he’d take part in.
Burke moved his eyes back to the portico and found his nephew seated at Great-Aunt Lenora’s feet, the old woman’s hand absently stroking his hair. She leaned down and said something to the boy, but he didn’t respond.
Burke’s heart twisted anew. Not for his own loss but for his nephew’s. Would Kitt never laugh again?
Then again...would he? Between his brother’s death almost two years ago and now Tessa’s defection, he didn’t think there was much to smile about these days. His eyes continued to scan the group gathered on the portico, the kids scattered around the lawn, and the guests huddled in the tent, drawing into the center to avoid the rain that was blowing in through the open flaps.
It wasn’t until he saw her approaching that he realized he’d been looking for her in particular.
Erin. His brother’s widow, braving the downpour to get to him. Funny that no one else had bothered.
When she reached his side, she held out an umbrella, and he almost—but not quite—laughed at the sight. She’d picked her way across the grass, letting the deluge soak her, and hadn’t opened the umbrella. What good would it be to either of them now?
