Take the Long Way Home (20 page)

But Quinn had just said he loved her. Not
just to her but in front of those two ladies giggling and gossiping
and augmenting their make-up at the mirror. If the taller one added
any more mascara to her lashes, her eyelids might fall off from the
weight.

The shorter one smiled at Maeve. “He’s hot,”
she said. “If you don’t want him, we do.”

I want him,
Maeve thought. She reminded herself that he hadn’t
come to her shop, that he’d made love to her last night and then
romped off to be a football star with his old girlfriend. Today had
been a big day for her, too. He’d told her he would come, and he
hadn’t.

She hadn’t gone to his big day, either.
Maybe he was as hurt as she was. Not that she could have gone, not
that she could have left her store for a minute, let alone for the
hours a football game would have taken.

Football meant nothing to her. It had been
so important to him, and she’d dismissed it. The thing that had
defined his life ten years ago was as relevant to her as a mirror
to a blind person.

Yet despite that, he’d just said he loved
her.

She pushed past the ladies and stumbled out
into the alcove.

Into Quinn’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, just as he said,
“I’m sorry.”

“Wait.” He pulled back. “What are you sorry
for?”

“Today was your big day, and all I could
think about was that you left this morning, and I didn’t hear from
you again. You just vanished. And it was all about me. I was so
busy being hurt—”

“Whoa. It’s okay.” He ran his hands over her
hair, smoothing it, twining his fingers through the long, straight
locks. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I really wanted to come to your
store.”

“You had more important things to do.”

“Nothing was so important that you should
have wound up hurt.”

“I should have been understanding. I know
you’re a superstar, people here worship you and—”

“I don’t want their worship,” he said.

She leaned back and peered up at him. His
beautiful blue eyes were shadowed with worry. “What do you want?”
she asked.

“You. Your honesty. Your cookies. Your…I
don’t know, your down-to-earthness. Is that a word?”

“I don’t think so.” She smiled, even though
she realized tears were coursing down her cheeks again. Surely her
tear ducts should have dried up by now.

He used his thumbs to wipe her tears. “I’ve
made you cry.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve made myself
cry. I’m used to people disappearing on me, Quinn. My mother did.
My father did. I guess I just assumed you did, too.”

“I’m here.” He bowed and kissed her brow.
“I’ll never disappear from you, Maeve. How can I disappear? When
I’m with you…” He brushed her forehead with a kiss. “This is home.
You’re my home.”

She leaned into him, savoring the strength
of his arms around her. “Did you mean that—what you said
before?”

“About wanting your cookies? Yes.”

“The other thing.”

“That I love you?” He kissed her again, this
time a light kiss on her lips. “Yeah. I meant that.”

“I love you, too.”

“Then we’re both home,” he said, his arms
strong and secure around her.

She sank against him, knowing that the tears
dampening her cheeks now were happy tears. She was home. Quinn’s
embrace was home.

She held him close,
treasuring this feeling of security, of safety, of
belonging.
Thank you,
Harry
, she thought with a contented
sigh.
Thank you for bringing me
home.

***

The Inheritance
Series
is a collection of
individual novels linked by the will of Harold Hopewell.
Billionaire Harold Hopewell traveled the world, encountering people
and letting their stories touch him. In death, he is giving back,
leaving an unusual will filled with life-altering bequests to the
people he met along the way. Read
The Inheritance
Series
, and let their stories
touch you.

***

 
Judith Arnold is the
award-winning, bestselling author of more than ninety published
novels. A New York native, she currently lives in New England,
where she indulges in her passions for jogging, dark chocolate,
good music, good wine and good books. She is married and the mother
of two sons.

For more information about
Judith, or to contact her, please visit her
website
. Feel free to check
out her
other
books
and sign up for her
newsletter
.

If you
enjoyed
Take the Long Way Home,
I hope you will consider posting a review of it
online. Thank you!

Don’t miss the other books in the Magic
Jukebox series:

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juvenile justice system. Now he’s dedicated his life to helping
other troubled kids. He has no business even looking at a
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once they’re bewitched by the jukebox, he and Diana must change
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They have nothing in common—except the jukebox, which plays “True
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her. When the jukebox plays “Wild Thing,” that wildness infects
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Heat Wave

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air-conditioned Faulk Street Tavern. It’s there that high school
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the Magic Jukebox starts playing “Heat Wave,” and a hot wave of
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Moondance

Cory Malone and Talia Roszik married as
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traveled to Brogan’s Point for the occasion. But Cory’s and Talia’s
plans—and their emotions—are thrown into turmoil when they hear the
Magic Jukebox play “Moondance.” Can a single song make them forget
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