Home Is Where the Heart Is (Welcome To Redemption)

Home Is Where the Heart Is

by

Donna Marie Rogers

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Welcome To Redemption, Book 5

Used to the finer things in life, heiress Melinda Spalding is thrown for a loop when her brother relocates to the Midwest. Her parents even expand their business to the small town and put her in charge of the project. Discovering she likes “Mayberry” and its quirky inhabitants is almost as shocking as her growing attraction to the local auto mechanic. But L.A. is where she belongs…or is home truly where the heart is?

Drew Porter learned early in life how heartless women can be—and when snooty “Lindy” Spalding skids into his life and nearly makes roadkill out of his dog, she seems worse than most. An unlikely bond between their pets gives him an intriguing glimpse behind her pretentious exterior. While his heart wonders if there more to her than meets the eye, his head tells him to run as fast as he can in the opposite direction.

Dedication

~~~

To the GGBA, some of the best friends a writer could have.

Barbara Raffin. Your support and keen GMC sense have been invaluable—Thank you.

Chapter 1

“You know, Bianca, I never thought I’d admit this to anyone, but I’m sort of glad to be back.” Lindy Spalding exited the highway and turned left onto Salvation Avenue. “I know it doesn’t look like much at first. Charming in a gag-me-with-a-spoon sort of way. But I have to confess, I haven’t been able to get the place out of my mind.” She rolled up to a stoplight and cast her snoozing passenger a quick glance. “Come on, sleepyhead, I’d like you to see this. The snowfall really is quite spectacular.”

Bianca’s eyelids finally lifted, and those big baby blues glanced out the window with disdainful boredom. Her nose crinkled as if she smelled something foul. Lindy couldn’t help but laugh.

“I know, believe me. That fresh air is hard to get used to. But you’ll adjust.”

Lindy drove slowly down the snow-covered road, a reluctant smile settling on her face as she passed
Coffee To Chai For
, the shop owned by her brother, Matt, and his girlfriend, Carrie. Her smile faded as she neared D.P. Tire & Auto. Half expecting to see that freight train of a dog race out in front of her, as it had on her first visit to the tiny Wisconsin town, Lindy breathed a sigh of relief when she made it past without incident. Even if a tiny part of her had hoped to catch a glimpse of its ‘too-hot-for-his-own-good’ owner, Drew Porter.

“You’re an idiot, Melinda,” she muttered to herself. With any luck she’d be able to avoid the big bully until she headed home in spring.

For some inane reason, the thought of leaving again when she hadn’t even officially arrived back brought an ache to her chest. She had mixed feelings about Redemption—part of her wanted to stay, part of her thought she was nuts for even thinking it. Frustrating, to say the least.

Feeling a pair of hostile feline eyes on her, Lindy cast her grumpy passenger a sidelong glance. “Now don’t you look at me like that. I told you we’d be here for a few months; it’s not like you didn’t have advance warning.” She let out a heartfelt sigh. “Look, you know I’m only doing this because Daddy guilted me into it. But I promise, as soon as I get the plant in order, it’s back to L.A. and civilization.”

And daydreaming about a certain auto mechanic with the most incredible ocean blue eyes she’d ever seen.

Following Salvation Avenue as it curved left and led into Wyndhurst—the oldest section of town according to Matt—Lindy snatched her MapQuest directions off the seat and tried to read them without taking her eyes off the slick road. Just her luck the rental company hadn’t had a single car with a GPS system. She knew to watch for an old abandoned church on the left, then the town’s cemetery a mile or so past the church. The house she’d purchased to live in while in Redemption should be about three miles north of the cemetery on the right. Lindy tossed the MapQuest print-out back on the seat and glanced at her odometer.

As she crested a hill, a colossal white Victorian seemed to rise up out of the earth, majestic and beautiful, like something Norman Rockwell would have painted. Lindy stared in awe as she drove closer and the charming house came into view.

Much bigger than she’d expected, it sat in the center of a huge, snow-covered lot surrounded by trees. A thick stand of tall pines lined the far side of the house, while several deciduous trees peppered the front yard. Such a sight her new home made. Breathtaking was the only word to describe it. Watching the swirling snow drift down, Lindy felt a pang of some indefinable emotion.

Lord, she hadn’t even stepped out of her car, and already she was going soft.

Damned Mayberry.

Matt’s Jeep and a black Dodge Ram sat in the driveway. Giving herself a mental shake, Lindy pulled in behind them and killed the engine. Keys and purse in hand, she opened the door of her dark gray Cadillac DTS rental car and stepped out onto the slick road, being careful not to let her white, calf-length leather coat touch anything. The temperature was holding steady in the low thirties, so the snow was rather slushy, and she cringed at the thought of having to toss her brand new white eel skin boots.

A quick glance at her watch confirmed she’d made great time from the airport. Not quite two-thirty; the sun shouldn’t set for a few hours yet. Plenty of time to get settled, then head back into town for dinner and some shopping. Since she’d arrived nearly two weeks early, she doubted Matt had had a chance to stock the house with any food or necessities.

“Okay, girl, time to go check out our new home.” Lindy reached inside to press the button for the trunk, then plucked Bianca from her pet carrier. The sassy feline meowed another grievance over her new lot in life, but allowed herself to be cuddled against Lindy’s chest. “Don’t worry, we’ll be in a nice, warm house soon, and I promise, the first thing I’m going to do is dig you out a can of food.”

Bianca gave Lindy’s chin a lick, mollified for the time being.

Lindy held tight to Bianca as she carefully made her way to the back of the car, doing her best not to step in the muddy slush. All she really needed was her small Louis Vuitton, which held her toiletries and Bianca’s food and dishes. She plucked it out, closed the trunk, and started for the stone path still visible through the thin layer of snow.

A loud “W
oof!”
split the silence. Lindy’s head shot up just as a suspiciously familiar beast leapt off the porch and raced straight for her, big pink tongue lolling out of its mouth.

“Bo, get your ass back here right now!”

Lindy saw Matt jump off the porch in hot pursuit, then everything happened in warp speed. Bianca went wild trying to claw out of Lindy’s arms, then broke free with a loud squeal a split second before Bo went airborne straight at Lindy, hitting her square in the chest and knocking her back into the snow. The big ox sneezed in her face, then scrambled to his feet and barked his fool head off before running after Bianca.

Stupid dog! Lindy tried to take a breath, but couldn’t draw air into her lungs, and sat up in a panic.

Matt dropped to his knees beside her. “Try to relax. You just had the wind knocked out of you.”

Seconds after he said it, she was able to draw in a huge lungful of cold, crisp air. Matt started to help her to her feet when someone ran up and grasped her other arm.

“I’m really sorry about that. Are you all right?”

Drew Porter.

He wore a red flannel shirt with a white T-shirt beneath, and a well-worn pair of jeans. His slightly mussed, sinfully dark hair brushed his collar, and those ‘take me now’ blue eyes gazed at her with concern. Lindy thought him to be about the sexiest sight she’d ever seen.

Oh, boy, not a good sign.

She pulled her mental safety cloak around her and gave an angry swipe to the front of her coat, dislodging his hands. “Peachy,
Lou
,” she groused, calling him by the wrong name just to annoy him—as she had the last time they’d met. “Your mongrel of a dog just ruined my brand new, fifteen hundred dollar leather jacket.”

* * *

Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, Drew managed to drag his eyes up from the two very large muddy paw prints stamped on her chest. Her lusciously ample chest. Man, did that dog have great aim. And great taste. Melinda Spalding was even prettier than he remembered, if that was possible. Her shiny blonde hair flowed well past her shoulders and those gorgeous eyes, whiskey brown and hypnotic, had kept him lying awake at night on more than one occasion over the past six months.

He recalled their first meeting last summer when she’d skidded into town in her expensive sports car and nearly turned Bo into roadkill. Okay, to be fair Bo had darted out in front of her and caused her to swerve. Didn’t mean she’d had to scream at him like a banshee—even if she had been breathtaking in her fury.

“It’s Drew. And I’ll pay for the thing, just send me the bill. Christ, who spends fifteen hundred dollars on a jacket anyway? You could feed a family for months on fifteen hundred dollars.” Seriously, the crap rich people wasted their money on was beyond him.

Her eyes narrowed. “Keep your money. I wouldn’t want you to have to sell your truck to pay me. By the way, Spalding contributes annually to more than thirty charities, so you can keep your snide comments to yourself as well.” She swung back to glare at Matt. “What the hell is he doing here anyway?”

Matt gave Lindy a hug and grinned at Drew over her shoulder—the shit.

Wrapping an arm around her, Matt explained, “Drew’s been helping Caleb and me get the house ready for your arrival. Which, I might remind you, was supposed to be the week after next. Any particular reason you’re so early?”

She cast Drew a quick glance, which he found rather interesting. “I think it’s pretty obvious,” he teased. “She missed me. Ain’t that right, Hot Stuff?”

“Yeah, like a cold sore.” Lindy stepped around him and snatched her bag out of the snow, cleaning it off with quick, furious swipes. Instead of answering Matt’s question, she veered off in the direction Bo and her cat had headed. “Bianca! Come on, baby, it’s freezing out here. Mommy wants to get inside.”

Mommy?
Drew shook his head, but kept his mouth shut.

They all stared in open-mouthed shock when the Great Dane appeared from around the side of the house carrying a very docile white fluff ball in his mouth by the scruff of its neck.

Lindy let out a yelp of outrage and turned to glare at him. “Aren’t you going to do something? That beast you call a dog is slobbering all over my precious baby!”

“He won’t hurt the thing, don’t worry.”

She looked so indignant it was a wonder her eyes didn’t cross. “That ‘thing’ is a purebred Persian.”

Bo released the cat, and it immediately started rubbing against his front legs, purring as loudly as a souped up Charger.

Drew winked at Matt. “Bo’s got a way with the ladies.”

“Too bad his master doesn’t.” Lindy turned to meet his gaze, hers holding a hint of challenge.

Nothing Drew liked better than a challenge. “If I want a woman badly enough, I get her. That you can count on.” He dismissed her and looked to Matt. “Come on, I’ll help you bring her bags in.”

Muttering under her breath, Hot Stuff hooked her fancy bag over her shoulder, scooped up her cat, and marched through the snow toward the house.

Drew gave his head a shake as he eyed the amount of luggage in the trunk. The very spacious trunk. By the time he and Matt had it unloaded, Drew counted fourteen pieces—not including the one she’d carried in herself: six large suitcases, three small, two duffle bags, and three hanging suit bags. It took them two trips to get everything inside, and since the master bedroom—which she’d had remodeled with a Jacuzzi tub and a skylight above it—was on the third floor, it was two very long trips.

Matt gave him a thump on the back. “Thanks, man, I appreciate it. And I owe you dinner. Nino’s sound good? I’ve got a taste for one of their beef sandwiches.”

“Wish I could, but I have to pick Hannah up from work. Her car blew a tie rod, so I’m gonna work on it tonight. Raincheck?”