The Road Home Page 10

… All of the life lessons I have learnt in my time travelling; the customs of different cultures, the art of bartering, how some phrases in one country could be considered offensive in another means little when it comes to negotiating lessons in love. Meeting someone for the very first time but feeling like they’ve known you your whole entire life is like hanging by your fingers nails on the edge of the cliff outside your comfort zone and it’s more thrilling and exciting than any sky-diving or bungee jumping expedition in New Zealand or America…

  Hugging the piece of paper to my chest, I force the air into my lungs and back out to hold the tears at bay. Silently I scold myself to get it together.

  … I have regrets, everyone does, but meeting the most incredible person who has taught me so much is not one of those. To her, I owe all the answers I have ever asked myself because now I know that home is where you feel alive. It has never been a somewhere; it has always been a someone who I hadn’t known I was looking for until I had found her.

  Laying the pages down gently I knew I had made up my mind, I had the answer and there were no doubts in my mother’s voice that was going to change it. My hand pauses at the lamp switch, scanning my childhood bedroom filled me with nostalgia of the kid I’d been when I was growing up, a girl so frightened of disappointing my mother she did everything she was told to do, which included accepting the marriage proposal of a guy who I had dated but never loved enough to marry because that was what had been expected of me. No longer did the feelings of being inadequate plague me, instead, I fall asleep with Gabe’s words swimming in my head and a smile upon my lips. I couldn’t wait for the sun to rise because tomorrow was going to be the best day of my life. I was fearless and prepared to stumble into the unknown because I knew I only had to worry about disappointing myself and for the first time in my life I was more than okay with that.

  ~ CHAPTER thirteen ~

  I had woken early, I didn’t want to risk sleeping in past Gabe’s check out time. I needed to get things in order as quickly as possible, which meant sitting down with my parents and facing the music. I had already been up for hours, running purely on caffeine and adrenaline as I threw things together in an overnight bag. Toiletries and books, phone charger and shoes had overflowed the edges of the canvas bag. When I had heard my parents stirring I had left the bag sitting on my bed to speak to them in the sitting room.

  “I needed you both here because I have something to tell you.” I can see the hopeful look in mother’s eye, she had sent Gabe away and she thought that was the end of it with him. “Gabe has asked me to go with him when he leaves.” The look quickly disappeared when I spoke again, replaced by disapproval and disgust.

  “Oh, here we go again.” My mother scowls before crossing her arms. “Go where exactly?”

  “I don’t know,” I bite my lip before flailing my arms wide, “Everywhere. Wherever we want to.”

  My dad says nothing, silently standing behind my mother where she is seated on the gold trimmed floral antique chaise; the very same one Amelia and I were never allowed to sit on as children in case we defaced it with kiddy grime. His face is hard to read.

  “What about finishing your degree, Emerson? You think we spent good money on your education just so you can throw it all away? I can assure you that we didn’t. We tolerated your phase at working the dead-end job at that café because we knew you would settle down once you and Mark were married and now here you are, throwing it in our face again.”

  I should have known it would’ve been about the money for my mother and what she was losing out on by not having Mark as a son-inlaw.

  “Mum, I love you, I do but I’m leaving with Gabe this morning.”

  “Emerson, you’re being ridiculous. You know nothing about this boy. He has nothing to offer you, he’s a hippy, a vagabond, a drifter. He has nothing, Emerson. How do you plan on supporting yourself? I can assure you we won’t be footing the bill once you step outside that door.”

  “I don’t care about these things, he understands me. I can be myself with him and right now that is all that matters to me. I’m old enough to make up my own mind. There is so much work out there if you know where to look, I’ll be fine.”

  “No.” Her lips were pinched in a hard straight line, “You are not leaving this house, Emerson, you will marry Mark as we planned and that is final. He has more to offer you and this family than some uncouth boy you met when you were out discovering yourself.”

  “I’m not in love with Mark and I won’t be marrying anyone I don’t love because it is convenient to you. I’m sorry but it is the way I feel and it isn’t open for negotiation.” Standing up to my mother invoked a heady and dizzy feeling within me. I was bursting with pride because finally I was taking something I wanted, and I wanted it more than anything else. If it meant my mother was about to disown me then that was my cross to bear and I would deal with it as I needed to.

  “Emerson –,”

  My dad places his hand on her shoulder, silencing her with the simple touch. “Emmy, we trust that you know what you are doing and Gabe seems like a nice boy. You will always have a home here, so if you go and realise down the track that it isn’t what you really want then you call us. We will get you home, no questions asked.” And just like that, the situation was deescalated, it is the first time I had ever seen my dad shut my mother down and it almost causing my heart to burst. “There are a couple of conditions, Emerson, and then you can go with our blessing.” At his words my mother’s mouth open and closed like a fish gasping for air on the sand, my dad silencing her once again with merely a look.

  My eyes dart between my dad and mother and back again, nodding I wait to hear what the conditions are.

  “You call us, every week. You tell us where you are and where you are going. And finally, you always come home for Christmas. Gabe is welcome too.”

  “Thank you, Daddy. Thank you.” I leap out of my chair, with a squeal I wrap my arms around the first man I have ever loved. Regaining my composure, I step back. “Yes. I promise.”

  Before I exit the sitting room completely I turn back to face my dad, “Daddy, why weren’t you happy the night Mark proposed to me? Everyone else was happy but you.”

  “I knew in the end he wouldn’t make you happy, Emerson.”

  I nodded, I now knew he had been right all along.

  Taking the stairs two at a time I rush back to my room to finish packing. I felt liberated and the smile on my face couldn’t grow any bigger. The smile falters slightly when I turn to find my mother standing in the doorway of my room.

  “Mum, I don’t want to start an argument with you. So please –” She cuts me off.

  “Emerson, I know I’m hard on you and I’m sorry if that makes you feel like I don’t care or love you the same as I do your sister. You are my oldest and I expect more from you, whether that is fair or not it’s still the truth.” She steps further into my room and takes a seat on the bed, shuffling my bag along a little to make more room for her to sit.

  “But just because I expect more from you doesn’t mean I worry about you any less. You leaving with this boy frightens the life out of me but your dad says he’s a good man. As uncomfortable as I feel about this idea, I do trust your father’s judgment. He’s never been wrong before, he’d told me Mark wasn’t the right man for you but I didn’t listen. I’m not going to let you go with my blessing, but I’m not going to let you go without you knowing I love you so very much, Emerson.”

  For the first time in my entire life I see my mother cry and it almost breaks me.

  “I love you too, mum.” Going to the bed I wrap my arms around her and hold her for the count of a life of hearts beating, mending and paving the way to a new relationship between us.

  Moving apart she takes my hand, placing the keys to her Prado. “This should have been your car a long time ago Emmy, your father and I are surprised on how long that old piece of metal has survived.” Looking down at the keys in my hand and then back up at her I can still
see the tears glistening on her bottom eyelashes but the smile on her face makes her look beautiful and youthful. “I made sure there was a house key on there, so you always had something of a place where you are loved.”

  “Thank you.”

  Standing she kisses my forehead and walks out of my bedroom without another word, leaving me to finish packing.

  Saying goodbye to my parents had been harder than I anticipated and if I weren’t already running late to meet Gabe before check out I may have succumbed to another round of tears with them. The car had so much more room than my little beetle. Looking at it now parked next to where I sat caused a little pang of guilt that she was being left behind. Squaring my shoulders and exhaling a deep breath I press the button on the remote to open the automatic garage door, putting the car into gear I pull smoothly out of the garage. The view in the rearview mirror was different this time; I wanted to look back because there were a lot of beautiful memories surrounded by those walls.

  ~ epilogue ~

  Meeting the family Gabe had in Perth had been a whole different experience than I’d been expecting but that may have been because of who my own family were. His stepmother was gorgeous and insisted on hugging us, a lot. She had opened her home to the both of us as if we hadn’t just been meeting her for the first time but had been returning. Gabe was the spitting image of his father and the two of them ended up getting along like they’d never been apart. Admittedly, in the beginning, it had been awkward but as time passed they had begun to reconnect, he’d even suggested a few places we should consider checking out whilst we’re travelling.

  The night before we were planning on leaving we were sitting around a firepot in the backyard, everyone else had already gone to bed for the night so it had just been the two of us sitting out. Snuggled into the crook of Gabe’s arm I felt happy and content, a wave of peace enveloped us in the moment we were watching the glow from the flames dance.

  “I know we need to backtrack a little but I want our next stop to be Esperance. I want to take you there so you can see it for yourself.”

  “I would like that.”

  “Em, when it comes time to settle down, this is the place I think I would like it to be for us.”

  “Yeah?”

  The sun had begun to set as we sat on the still warm sand, watching as it begun to dip beyond the horizon. “Yeah, little Gabrielle and Emmett would love it here.”

  He wrapped his arms tighter around me as I leaned back in against his chest. I was happy he got it, the feeling this place invoked in me, he felt it as well.

  “I love this, being here with you in this place, Gabe.”

  It had taken us eight weeks of travelling across central Australia via Ayers Rock but we were back in Sydney, the wind was swirling and creating havoc with my untamed hair, but the view from the top of the bridge was breathtaking and was worth every knot the wind had created.

  I had kept my promise with weekly calls to my parents, they didn’t believe it when I told them my plan to climb the bridge when we got back to Sydney, and they knew my irrational fear of heights so to say they were surprised was, to say the least. They weren’t the only ones, Gabe had been floored when I had suggested it to him as we were driving down from seeing the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, which had been Gabe’s idea because he’d wanted to, and I air quote “have a whole bunch of fun”.

  We’d hauled our butts out of bed at the crack of dawn to climb the bridge. It was freezing and it was still dark and I was having some serious second thoughts about the idea. But Gabe had taken my hand and reassured me that no one was going to plummet to their death today. With that reasoning, how could I argue and definitely not when he smiled at me in that overly sexy way he does. It warmed me from my head down to the curling of my toes when he looked at me that way. A fact he was well aware of.

  “Em, there has been something that I have been wanting to tell you.” His hands were holding mine, which was shaking from the cold. “I heard back from the Sydney Gazette. You remember the paper I wrote that first freelance article for?” How could I forget, that article was tucked safely inside my diary in the glove box of the car. I still took it out on days where the road stretched on for kilometres and read the words all over again.

  “Well, I wanted to be on top of the world with you because I’m on top of the world. The Editor called yesterday and has given me a publication date for that article. She has also offered me more space in the gazette. They’ve asked me to write at least another six pieces for them.”

  “That is amazing, Gabe. I’m so happy for you.” Squealing I throw myself at him and wrap my arms around his neck.

  Gabe’s arms wrap around my waist, holding my body to his. “How’d I get so lucky to find you?”

  Bringing my eyes to meet his, “I was in distress remember and you were my white knight.”

  Chuckling he bends down to rest his forehead against mine. “You’re too freaking adorable, Em. I love you. .”

  “You love me?”

  “God yes, you are home for me, Emmy.”

  “I feel exactly the same way.” Regardless of being over one hundred metres in the air, I felt like I was floating on Cloud 9.

  THE ROAD HOME PLAYLIST

  Automobile – Kaleo

  Save Yourself – Kaleo

  Jubel – Klingande

  Scars To Your Beautiful – Alessia Cara

  Home – Gabrielle Aplin

  Free – Rudimental

  Glass House – Kaleo

  Sleep On The Floor – The Lumineers

  The Cave – Mumford & Sons

  Mess Is Mine – Vance Joy

  Call On Me – Starley

  True Companion – Marc Cohn

  Standing Still – Jewel

  Just A Kiss – Lady Antebellum

  Life Is A Highway – Rascal Flatts

  Sunshine & Whiskey – Frankie Ballard

  Coming Home – Sigma ft Rita Ora

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Annie works in logistics by day and by night (and on weekends) she is a romance novelist, a wanderer and creator.

  She lives in Tasmania, Australia with her husband and fur babies, dreaming of a country lifestyle where she can turn up in a work uniform of warm and toasty pajamas, with a coffee and her only work colleague is her kelpie dog, Digger.

  The Road Home is Annie’s fourth release.

  NEVER TOO LATE – a Willow Bay Novel

  Gretna James was supposed to be planning the perfect wedding, but when a tragic accident takes the man she loves, wedding plans turn into funeral preparations. Now she's alone, her heart an even bigger mess than the house they were renovating for their future. That is, until she hires a local builder to put her broken home back together.

  Matt Gilford hadn’t been looking for someone to fill the hole in his life, not until a chance call has him landing the opportunity he couldn’t turn down. He knows this could be his chance at a happy ending, but with Gretna still mourning a devastating loss, will he be able to fix her broken heart before it's too late for them?

  A GOOD GIRL’S RULE BOOK

  Holly Valentine has grown up with old fashioned rules, instilled in her by her own mother and grandmamma. Rules a good girl should live by. Rules she had grown to resent.

  When she accepted a job as a paralegal at Cooper, Saunders & Associates she had no idea that every rule in the book was going to be tested.

  Wyatt Stone is a suit clad lawyer at Cooper, Saunders & Associates by day and a rock star with Chasing Nation by night.

  With his dangerous mix of good looks, sex appeal and confidence that has women falling at his feet, he has no problem with playing by his own rules.

  Until he meets Holly…

  Some rules are made to be broken, right?

  BEHIND ENEMY LINES

  I remember the exact moment my life changed forever, how many people can say that? I can pinpoint that specific moment and describe it as enursha, the precise moment of impact as our car hit the tr
ee.

  My name is Asha Jeffery, I’m not who you think I am. I’m not a good man. I’m dishonest and self-righteous. I lie, a lot - for my own protection and I fight; not for my protection but for yours. Well, that’s how I choose to justify the bruises and beatings and I’ll more than likely only tell you what I think you want to hear.

  For my whole life, I believed in one thing and reality was something completely different.

  All of it is turned upside down when I meet sweet and beautiful Lily Greenwood. My lies are about to catch up with me, but first I am desperate for answers and I must breach the enemy lines.

  Coming Soon…

  SWEET BLOSSOM

  STALK ME!

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  Email: anniereynoldsauthor@gmail.com