No Place Like Home: The Coming Home Series, Book 1

The easiest—and hardest—decision she’ll ever make starts with a kiss.

Coming Home
, Book 1

In high school, Bianca Charleston was a nobody. An overweight wallflower, so invisible that Cole, the boy she had a crush on, never even knew she existed.

Things have changed, and she’s finally ready to show off her new bombshell look. Sort of. Maybe. After a one-sided pep talk with her cat, she takes a deep breath and flies home to help out with the annual hospital carnival. Cole is there, too—and he still has no idea who she is.

FBI field officer Cole Johnson doesn’t have an easy job, and his nights are usually booked solid. Then in walks Charlie, a blonde with killer…everything. Suddenly he’s mentally clearing his schedule for a rare night out.

While Charlie doesn’t do one-night stands, somehow after-dinner dessert is served up against the wall of her hotel room. But happiness will have to navigate an emotional minefield of preconceived notions—and a couple of not-so-secret stumbling blocks.

Warning: Contains a former ugly duckling, and a big-hearted FBI agent who knows how to get his money’s worth at a kissing booth. Plus, a little black dress that comes off a whole lot easier than Dorothy’s ruby slippers.

No Place Like Home

Jennifer Kacey

Dedication

To my Mum—For loving me and believing in me and teaching me that I can accomplish anything over the rainbow.

To You—How does forever sound?

Acknowledgements

To everyone who had a crush in high school and wondered what if…

Chapter One

Bianca Charleston, whom everyone called Charlie, toed open the door to her apartment, juggling shopping bags, her keys, and her cell phone squashed against her shoulder. “Kia. Get your buns up and answer the phone. I have the best story ever.”

Several clicks sounded in her ear as she kicked the door closed.

“I’m up. I’m up. It’s not like I just got off the last of a three-day, twelve-on-twelve-off schedule at the hospital.” Her best friend yawned through the phone. “So, what is so important that it couldn’t wait until after my beauty sleep?”

The groceries clunked against the counter when Charlie set the bags down and she grabbed the phone before it slid off onto the floor. “It’s eight o’clock at night and you don’t need beauty sleep. You’re gorgeous already.”

“Uh huh. Sweet-talking is my kryptonite. You know this.”

“Yes, I do. And you’re smart and kind and save people for a living. Plus, you’re my hero and—”

“Gah. All right. My defenses are sufficiently low. What happened, Charlie?”

“I have arrived.” She went and set her purse down on the table and then un-bagged the groceries.

“Have arrived where?”

“To that ethereal place of awesome I’ve been trying to get to since we graduated high school.”

“Oh, that place.” A chuckle filtered through the connection. “And how did you know you achieved this holiest of all holies?”

“A guy just bit it in the parking lot.”

“Of your apartment?”

“No, the grocery store. I was still dressed from the last day of school—”

“Hottest teacher ever.”

“Now look who’s sweet-talking. So, I was digging in my purse for my grocery list and when I looked back up this guy was walking out. This
cute
guy. He had a bag in each hand. Glanced up at me. Then away. Then his head snapped back again and he kind of half turned to follow me in.” She paused for effect. “Then he tripped over his own feet and went down.”

“How awesome and horrible.”

They laughed together and Charlie closed her eyes and smiled. “Some random guy thought I was pretty enough to do a double-take.”

“I’ve been telling you this for a long time.”

“Yes, but you’re my best friend. It’s in the handbook somewhere you have to tell me I’m cute. Like my mother telling me. It doesn’t count.”

“Thanks.”

“Come on. You know what I mean.” Charlie’s cat showed up and wove a figure eight around her feet. “Lord Voldemort, what are you doing? Are you hungry?” She picked him up and scratched between his ears.

“Love that name. Cracks me up every time you say it.”

“Me too. Especially since he’s such a black ball of cream puff.”

Kia sighed. “I can hear him purring all the way up here in New York.”

“Dallas is way better than Buffalo. I’m telling you.”

“Not. It’s the first week of June and it’s already how hot there?”

“Ninety…something. You know I like it hot.”

“Hot is one thing. Cooking an egg on the pavement is not my idea of a good thing. With all that blonde hair you’d make the perfect snow bunny. You need to come home and see me this winter.”

“My blonde has a purple streak in it now and I’ll think about it.” She automatically said the words she always said when her best friend mentioned going home.

“Purple. You are totally the horse of a different color.”

Charlie smiled, loving that her best friend got the
Wizard of Oz
reference. “Yes I am. It’s delightful, and on the last day it’s not like they would fire me.”

“Tsk tsk. What would your mom say?”

“She’d roll her eyes and grimace but not say a word. Love her consistency if not her enthusiasm for my follicle rebellion during the summer.”

“Where’s she at? Vacation, you said? Her summer cruise?”

Charlie set her kitty down and poured some dry food into his bowl. Didn’t take him two seconds to sit down in front and bury his face in it. “Caribbean, I think. Or Alaska. Hmm… Those are a ways away, huh?” She scoured her brain but just couldn’t pick between the two. “Dad made sure before he died to set her up for a cruise every summer with all the places they wanted to go together. And this summer I just don’t remember. She was so excited.”

“Has she met anybody? With how wicked smart she is, and beautiful, I would have thought she’d snag somebody years ago after you guys lost your dad.”

“Nope. Doesn’t seem to be looking either.”

“She could just be a pollinator.”

“Pollinator? As in dip your wick here, there and everywhere looking for the right flower?”

“Yep. It’s pretty fun!”

“That’s funny. Wrong but funny.”

“Come on, you know it’s awesome. Oh never mind. You weren’t even like that in college. You graduated early and got your teaching certificate ridiculously fast after that.”

“I had things to do. Being in school was awesome to learn what I needed to, but in teaching? Nothing compares to being in the classroom. Especially when you’re talking about public high school in downtown Dallas.”

“Oy vey. I truly can’t even imagine what it is to teach there.”

“There’s never a dull moment. I’ll tell you that much.”

“Do you love it? I mean really love it?”

Charlie thought about it for a few seconds. “I love…teaching in general. It’s amazing. Unfortunately, the public school system politics and teaching to the test can be tiresome on the most rested of days. I’m really glad it’s summer time. I needed a break to recharge.”

“Signed a contract for next year?”

“Right before I left. Have till mid-July before it’s official.”

“Given any thought to applying to that charter school here in Buffalo? I still think you’d be a perfect fit.”

Shrugging probably didn’t translate all that well over the phone. “I’ve looked into it. It’s amazing. Exactly what I’d like to be doing, especially since it’s an arts academy. It’s perfect.”

Kia paused before speaking. “But?”

“Buuuuttt.” She drew out the word and nibbled her bottom lip. “The application process is ridiculously stringent—”

“Which means you’ve already filled it out almost completely.”

“Possibly,” Charlie kind-of admitted. “I need references as well and I have a big fat goose egg when it comes to Buffalo and references.”

“Am I chopped liver?” Kia wanted to know, her words accompanied by another yawn.

“Of course not.” Charlie clamped her mouth shut because she hadn’t asked Kia and if the roles were reversed, Charlie would be more than a bit miffed Kia hadn’t approached her. “And I have to have more than one. Two required. Three recommended.”

“Surely you know more people here than just me?”

“Of course. As the girl I used to be.”

“And you aren’t that girl anymore.”

Charlie smiled. “No. Thankfully I most definitely am not. I feel cute now, which I love. And confident.”

“You know what you should do with this newfound realization of your hotness?”

“What?” She put a few groceries away, grabbing a bowl to scoop some cottage cheese into and a plate for the rest of her meal.

“Come to the carnival.”

Charlie’s spoon clattered to the floor and Lord Voldemort made a beeline for it. “No, kitty.” She put it in the sink—the spoon, not the cat—and tried to take a silent deep breath.

“Before you automatically say no, hear me out. You wouldn’t need a hotel because you could stay with me. You could meet with some people in town who knew you before and make some contacts on getting a reference for the charter application. And as head chairperson for the Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital Carnival Committee, I formally invite you to come support this most wonderful charity event.”

“While I thank you for the formal invitation, I just can—”

“In a week and a half, thousands of people will be coming together to raise money for the local hospital with the mostest. There’s going to be amazing food, entertainment, hay rides.”

“Where are you going to do hayrides in Buffalo? And where are you getting hay from?”

“I was hoping you were going to bring it.”

“Hardee har har.”

“Come on. You know it’s the biggest event here each year. We raise massive amounts of funds for the hospital and—”

“All the not-awesome people from high school will probably be there.”

“Exactly. You can’t tell me you haven’t envisioned the moment when you get to see all of them again and show them exactly what you’ve turned into. You’re slender now with curves in all the right places.”

Charlie looked down the length of her own body in a summer dress and heels and loved knowing she looked good. “It may have crossed my mind a time or two. Hundred.”

“I knew it.”

“But I think I’ll wait until next year at the reunion. I could drop a couple more pounds and—”

“You drop a couple more pounds and I will hunt you down.”

“Oh will you now?”

“Yes I will. And don’t sass me while I’m sleepy. My snark-meter isn’t sufficiently charged.”

“Ha!”

“Now, I know most of the kids back then were assholes in school.”

“Most?”

“Okay, pretty much everybody was assholes except for me and the rest of the kids in the robotics group, but you’ve worked really hard to drop the extra weight you didn’t like. And instead of a fashion flop, you’re now a fashionista. You’ve really come full circle. You could truly teach classes on awesome. Bibi is no longer alive, and no longer the most likely girl to become a real wallflower.”

“Ugh. Hated that nickname. Not to mention the worst title ever in the history of yearbook titles.”

“So, you could show them all up. Life’s too short for waiting for something this epic.” Her pause didn’t bode well. “I hear Trane’s supposed to be there.”

“Trane.” It came out sounding like a question and a prayer. The guy she’d had a crush on from the moment she entered high school in the Bakersville Central ISD. He was a star athlete, smart, definitely one of the popular kids. Four years of sharing classes with him. Having a locker just a handful of steps away from each other. Passing him in the hall thousands of times. He didn’t even know she existed and she was so in love with him.

“Just think about it. You show up, charm the pants right off of him and then drop him flat.”

Charlie rolled her eyes and then sat down to eat. “I’m not that good.”

“No, you’re not. You’re better. You could have any man you wanted.”

“And if I came, which I’m not, I’d stay in a hotel. It’d be like a mini vacation. He’s probably already married with kids and out of state and—”

“His name’s on the roster to man one of the dunk booths and I know he’s not married. Plus, you’re single. Wouldn’t it kind of be a total moment for you to bag Trane, and cross him off your to-do list?”

“You’re awful.” Charlie laughed as she stabbed a forkful of lettuce and blackened chicken. “You think like such a guy.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m not encouraging you.”

“You don’t need to. Nobody can turn off this much amazing. Besides, you never know. Trane could be the man of your dreams. You guys could fall madly in love at first sight and be married within the summer.”

“Right.”

“Or you could just sleep with him, jump up and down about it and move on. Your call.”

“I could never dump somebody like that. I’ve never had a one-night stand and honestly? Trane probably still wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

“You’d be surprised how much people change. Just look at you. I’m going to put your name down to help me in my booth.”

“Change. Right. People like him don’t have to change.” Quite done with the conversation, she decided to change topics. “What kind of booth is it?”

“A kissing booth.”

Charlie waited for the punch line. None came. “Oh my gawd. You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“You know that joke’s not nearly as funny since you work in the Cardiac ICU.”

“Makes me laugh every time.” Kia yawned loudly. “I love you, but I have to go perform mouth to cock resuscitation now.”

“Umm…what?”

“I have a snuggle partner here and I’m going to take advantage of him before I fall asleep.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have talked about this later and you could have been enjoying yourself.”

“No worries. I have been. Talk to you later.” And with that less than cryptic comment she hung up the phone before Charlie could even say goodbye.

She put her phone down and wondered for the millionth time how Kia and she had become friends anyhow. Kia was so honest about her feelings and needs and went after what she wanted.

Lord Voldemort jumped into Charlie’s lap while she sat there holding her clean spoon. “You know you’re not supposed to be in my lap when I eat.” He meowed and turned in a circle then sat down on his haunches. Curling into a ball, he purred against her and she petted him with a laugh.

“High school, kitty. Be thankful you didn’t have to go through that rite of passage.”

Familiar feelings of self-doubt crept in.

She’d been a size six for almost two years but sometimes she still felt like that overweight, gawky, wallflower teenager she’d been back then.

The idea of seeing Trane after so many years stirred something inside her she couldn’t identify. A combination of fear and hope and a little bit of love if she really decided to own it.

Her phone chirped, signaling a text.

Plane tickets are less than three-hundred-fifty dollars. Roundtrip. You need to show off that awesome. And I miss you. Please… I could really use your help. Pretty pretty please.

Charlie thought about it for a second.

Maybe I don’t have three-hundred-fifty dollars.

Didn’t take long for a response.

Yes you do. You don’t spend your artwork money on the pieces you sell. You save it for a rainy day. And guess what IT’S RAINING! Must be a sign.

You’re only supposed to use that best friend knowledge for good instead of evil.

This is more than a good cause. U R Hot. Share it with the world. Starting with the dick heads who couldn’t see it before.

Charlie hesitated, not certain exactly how she wanted to proceed. The idea of arriving at the carnival after all those years away and showing them all who she’d become.