McKenna Homecoming Read Online Free PDF

twenty-year plan. Besides, I’m not even sure I want to go to college. I came back here to start over, but the trouble is figuring out where to begin.”
    “What about the book you were working on? Where are you with that?”
    Alec had asked her the same thing at the reunion. The great American novel that Leah had started in high school, so sure she’d finish it during college, send it out and become a famous novelist. Then her life had detoured and the book had been relegated to the back of a closet, pulled out once in a while when she’d get a bug to write. She’d hammer out a few pages, then put it back, absorbed again in the demands of her family.
    But really, Leah admitted to herself, Alec was right. Her delay had been more about fear than time. If she finished the book, she’d have to send it out, and after putting her dream on hold for ten years, her doubts kept getting in the way of that final step.
    Damn it, she was tired of that. Tired of letting fear rule her decisions. No more. “It’s nearly done. But—”
    “But nothing. You get yourself up there, finish that baby and send it out into the world.” Aunt Bea shooed at Leah.
    “Okay, okay. You’re right. I will.” Leah got to her feet, grabbing a couple of cookies from the dish on the table. Then she gave her aunt a hug. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
    Aunt Bea’s soft hand covered Leah’s. “Anytime, honey. You know you did an incredible thing going out there and taking care of your dad. But you deserve to live for yourself now.”
    “I agree,” Leah said. Starting today, she was going to do exactly that.
    The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Leah said, waving her aunt back into her chair. “It’s probably the mailman.”
    But as she approached the beveled oval of glass in Aunt Bea’s front door, she could tell it wasn’t the mailman standing on the other side. The tall, lean, dark-haired figure was someone she hadn’t expected to see again. Her heart skipped a beat and a breath caught in her throat. She opened the door, and forced herself not to run a hand through her hair or worry about her makeup. “Alec. What are you doing here?”
    “Looking for you.” He grinned. “You said you were staying at your aunt’s, so I took a chance that you’d be here.”
    “Is that Alec McKenna?” Aunt Bea said from behind Leah. “Oh, my, you’ve gotten so tall! Come on in, have some cookies.”
    “Don’t mind if I do, Miss Bea.” Alec gave a nod in Leah’s direction. “If that’s okay with you.”
    Leah debated saying no and sending him on his way, but the part of her that hadn’t forgotten that kiss at the reunion overruled her objections. Besides, Aunt Bea had always liked Alec and surely missed seeing him around here. He’d been a constant staple in her aunt’s home during high school. Yeah, that was exactly why she opened the door wider. “Sure. Come on in.”
    He stepped past her, and the scent of his cologne—dark, woodsy—curled around her and tempted her to draw closer. He crossed to Aunt Bea and gave her a hug. “Haven’t seen you in quite a while, Miss Bea. How have you been?”
    She smiled and ruffled his hair—she was probably the only person on the planet who could do that to the adult Alec. “Just fine. And better now that my favorite adopted nephew has come to visit.”
    He chuckled. They exchanged small talk for a while, then Aunt Bea claimed she had housework upstairs and left the two of them alone. A ruse, Leah was sure, but she went along with it anyway. She led Alec into the kitchen, poured him a cup of coffee and made tea for herself, then slid the plate of cookies over to him. “You want to sit outside? It’s a gorgeous day.”
    He nodded and followed her out to the back porch. They settled on the concrete stoop, mugs between them. Birds chirped in the warm air, celebrating the end of the rain. The sun peeked past a few fluffy clouds, and dropped a golden wash over the grass, trees, flowers. “You ran out