Available June 24, 2025.

Pre-order coming soon.

Home at Last

Chapter 1

 

Somewhere in the dark, she heard it. A low, pitiful moan of deep pain that rippled through her and left a cold sweat in its wake.

Not again.

Meg McKinley threw back the covers and searched frantically, the sound propelling her through the house. She pushed through the front door and continued across the lawn, her feet moving swiftly until the wet grass gave way to cold, unforgiving pavement.

There, in the middle of the darkened road, she found the twisted wreckage. A car, its metal crumpled and torn. The red glow from the tail lights dimming as the lights slowly died. Steam rose and sizzled in the cool air and she shivered.

Frozen in place behind the wreckage, she knew without seeing that the driver’s side had been crushed, the driver silent in the still air.

From the passenger seat came the low moan again. The guttural sound tore through the air, as alien as it was recognizable. An animal sound broken by precious moments of silence.

She tried to escape it, tried to turn away to find help, but her feet refused to move.

On and on the moaning continued until finally it fractured, a huffing of breath, and then silence.

Blessed silence.

Meg’s hand flew to her mouth of its own volition, trapping the gasp inside. Her throat squeezed in horror as she comprehended both the meaning of the silence and her profound relief of it.

The hissing of the engine faded to a mere whisper. And in concert, the glow from the dash and headlights dissipated and then winked out, leaving her trapped in the darkness with nothing but the pungent smell of gas and oil mixed with the sickening sweetness of hot antifreeze.

She was alone.

And then the screaming began.

High pitched and terrorized.

Meg slapped her hands over her ears to shut it out. She frantically tried to move, but her feet were anchored to the road as effectively as if she’d been strapped neatly to the earth.

“No. No, no, no, no, no…” she pleaded for the screaming to stop. “Please stop, please stop, please stop.”

She tugged her feet with all her might, but to no avail. She was trapped. Forced to bear witness to the pitiful screams.

Her body shook uncontrollably, so hard her teeth chattered.

“Please stop,” she begged. But the screams continued. “Stop, stop, stop.” She tried to focus on the litany of words coming from her mouth, but all she could hear were the terrorized screams.

She shook her head, her palms still pressed tightly to her ears, but nothing blocked the cries.

“Easy there.” A new voice, warm and soothing, spoke against her ear. “Easy now. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

The words penetrated her brain over the screaming and she reared to the side, lunging hard into the safety of that voice, fighting to escape the horrific scene.

Something soft pressed against her cheek and she reached for it, desperately gripping the spongy softness and burying her face in it, even as the screaming continued.

“Here now,” the gentle voice crooned.

She sobbed and lurched towards the voice, still clutching the soft bundle.

Her feet gave way suddenly and she found herself free-falling, tumbling sideways and hitting the ground with an abruptness that snapped her teeth together.

She lay there a moment, gingerly running her tongue over her aching teeth. Pushing herself upright, she peered through the darkness for her savior and found herself face-to-face with the floral-patterned couch she’d fallen asleep on. She stared at the print, willing her brain to comprehend the sight in front of her.

Realization dawned, and she dug the heels of her palms into her eyes, wishing she could blot the remnants of the nightmare from her brain as quickly as she’d woken from it. Her limbs trembled and her stomach pitched. Extricating herself from the blanket, she pulled herself onto the couch and curled into a tight ball.

Not again.

She’d hoped by coming here that she could finally put a twenty-five-year nightmare to bed. Or at least relegate it to a bad dream.

A horrific one.

That part would never change. But maybe, just maybe, it would stop eating her from the inside out.

Raising her head, her gaze scanned the small spartan cabin she rented.

The dirty gray light of early dawn seeped through the bare windows and illuminated the cabin in a faint haze. A handful of painted cabinets lined the kitchen wall over a linoleum topped counter and single sink. Next to it, a small two-person table hugged the far wall.

The cabin had a roof and four walls and not much else. But it was quiet. And until this morning, it had been safe from the nightmares that had sent her here.

She breathed in the faint musty smell and concentrated on the dark image of the tree visible through the window. The image held for one hopeful moment, before it blurred, fractured by flashes of torn metal and faint screams as remnants of the nightmare echoed in the silence.

A sob bubbled out of her throat.

Once the nightmare broke through, it was relentless. And she only knew of one way to burn it from her body.

Rifling through her suitcase, she pulled out what she needed and dressed quickly in the near darkness.

Images played like a movie in her mind.

She slipped her feet into running shoes and tied the laces.

Easing her way out the front door, she twisted the key in the lock behind her and tucked it into the side pocket of her leggings.

Red pines loomed like giant dark sentinels in the pre-dawn light as she skirted the soft spot in the front porch and down the wooden steps to the dirt driveway.

Not bothering to stretch, she took off at a brisk pace, following the tire tracks to the road. She turned onto the dirt road, gravel crunching beneath her feet as she headed for the county road.

Reaching pavement, she turned up the hill, away from the small town of Ferry Falls and headed west on the two-lane county road that cut through the deep woods surrounding the small northern Minnesota town.

Images from the nightmare swirled in her head and her legs churned faster, the air gasping from her lungs, burning, searing. She ran to escape. She ran for salvation.

Two miles down the road, the familiar ache started in her leg.

Meg smiled grimly, breath heaving between her bared lips. She drove the pace a little faster, leaning hard into the pain that radiated and burned down her left thigh. As she focused on the pain, little by little, the tearing of metal, the screaming, and the omnipresent silence began to fade.

The pain intensified until she began to bobble as she ran, limping over sensation that had gone beyond burning and now seared right down to the bone.

Still, she ran. Blindly driving forward, leaning into the physical agony.

The pale gray of early dawn gave way to sunlight that clipped the tops of the towering red pines before the last tendrils of the nightmare faded and her mind went numb.

Her lungs gave out and she staggered to a stop on the shoulder of the road. Her hands gripped her knees as she heaved and sucked air. For long minutes, she focused solely on her breath. On getting enough and getting it under control.

As the desperate urge for oxygen eased, she straightened, automatically shifting her weight to her good leg.

Looking around, she didn’t recognize her surroundings.

Once again, she’d pushed too far, too fast. She groaned softly as she realized she’d left her cell phone in her purse on the counter.

Not that it mattered much, because who would she call? Of course, Bria would come pick her up. So too, would Annie. But how fair would it be to drag her new friends out of bed to save her from herself? To have to explain herself and the demons she ran from?

No. She shook her head and looked around. The woods were quiet except for the increasing trill of birds waking to the sun.

Familiar cramping rolled down her left leg and she massaged the outside of her thigh.

She had no idea how many miles she’d run, but she was in for a long, slow, and painful walk home. The sooner she got home, elevated, and put ice on the leg, the better. Turning, she headed back the way she came, keeping her hobbling steps slow and careful.

She’d just about made it to the bend a mile down the road when she heard the rumble of a vehicle approaching from behind. The engine downshifted, and she limped to the far edge of the shoulder, realizing with sudden clarity just how isolated the location was. The dense woods along the road wouldn’t give her any protection and it wasn’t like she could outrun anyone in her condition as it was.

Regretting not taking the time to grab her pepper spray, she steeled her spine and turned to face the large black truck as it slowed to a stop in the lane next to her.

“Where you going, Trouble?”

Equal parts of dismay and heat washed through her as her eyes slid closed, shutting out the man staring at her through the open passenger window.

Of all the potential people who could find her on the side of the road, it just had to be TJ Maddox. Why him? It could have been anyone else in the world driving down that stretch of road. But no, he had to be the one to find her at her weakest.

She opened her eyes and the familiar and entirely unwelcome jolt of electricity zipped through her as she stared at Bria’s older brother. “I’m running.”

“Is that what you call it?” A glint of humor threaded the challenge in his clear green eyes and damned if her body didn’t clench in response, even as irritation sat bitter on the back of her tongue.

Not him. Anyone but him.

She glared at him, resenting the visceral attraction rippling through her body.

Everyone else in Ferry Falls was polite and gave her space. Not him. Not with her. He was suspicious and didn’t bother to hide it. He agitated, irritated, poked, prodded, and dug below the surface until he found a tender spot and then stuck his thumb in it just to watch her squirm.

He leaned back against his seat. “You look like you’re about done.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

She stretched her neck to the side and subtly balanced her weight on her good leg. “Yes, really.”

He glanced briefly in the rear view mirror. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

So he could interrogate her all the way back to her cabin? Not a chance in hell. She’d hitch a ride with the next car that came along. “I don’t need one.” She shifted onto her left leg and it threatened to buckle.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

She raised her chin a notch. “Not today.”

He tipped his head to the side. “Old injury then?”

“Something like that.”

“Why run if it hurts?”

“Why let it limit me from doing something I enjoy?”

One dark brow lifted. “Is that what you call it? You don’t look like you’re having much fun.”

She pressed her lips tightly together to keep from telling him what he could do with his opinion.

“Get in.” The words were soft, but the underlying message wasn’t. He was going to throw her in the truck if she didn’t get in under her own power.

Anger slipped through her, and her jaw tightened around her clenched teeth. You’re not the boss of me. Words her nine-year-old self hurled at a bully foster brother rose in her throat and she swallowed them down just before they passed her lips. “I’m an adult, TJ. I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

He put the truck in park and leaned across the seat. “You’re obviously hurt and you’re a good seven miles from town. Leaving you out here to struggle on your own is not an option. Either you get in, or I’ll follow you all the way home to make sure you get there in one piece.”

Nearly everything inside her clamored to defy him. To tell him where to stuff his order. The tiniest other part begged her to crawl into his truck, curl into him, and let him take care of her.

She stiffened.

No matter what her traitorous body felt in his presence, TJ Maddox was the last person she needed to become involved with. God knew he wouldn’t want her in his truck anyways if he knew what she was running from. “I’m fine.” The words belligerent, her only fall back.

She turned to go and her left leg buckled underneath her.

Slapping a hand on the side of his truck, she grabbed for purchase before she went down. Frustration burned at the back of her lids and she ground her teeth.

She hated being weak. Hated even worse that he, of all people, was seeing her like this. Her cheeks burned as she stared at the black paint on his door and waited for the smart-ass comment she was sure was coming next.

Instead, silence stretched between them.

A long moment later, she raised her eyes and glanced through the open window at him.

His jaw was tight beneath the shadow of whiskers. His fingers flexed around the the steering wheel as he stared back at her. Another moment passed and then his chest rose and fell as a soft growl rolled out of him. “I’ve had a helluva night at the end of a helluva long shift. Right now, I want nothing more than to go home and face plant in my bed for the next twenty-four hours. But there’s no way I could sleep knowing you are out here struggling along by yourself. So can you take some pity on me and get in the damned truck?”

She stared at him, taking in the details she’d missed initially. His usual tan had washed pale and strain edged his eyes. And instead of its usual starched crispness, his sheriff’s deputy uniform looked rumpled and worn, like he’d put in a long hard night.

She glanced back down the road even as pain burned its way down the side of her leg, making it clear it wasn’t going to hold up all the way back to town.

She’d be foolish to keep going on her own.

Stop being stubborn Meggie Girl.

She jerked against the unbidden memory.

But of course, she was being stubborn. It was her number one fault. The very one that had led her here to this very moment, if she was being honest.

Swallowing down every last instinct warning her that tangling with TJ Maddox would be her undoing, she reached for the door handle and gave it a tug.

 

Available June 24, 2025.

Pre-order coming soon.

 

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