{"id":38489,"date":"2017-08-28T14:35:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T18:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/?page_id=38489"},"modified":"2017-08-28T14:35:37","modified_gmt":"2017-08-28T18:35:37","slug":"jesses-girl","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/bookshelf\/jesses-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesse’s Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

previously published as A Forever Kind of Love<\/em><\/p>\n

\"JG\"<\/p>\n

You can always come home. Second chances come a little harder.<\/b><\/p>\n

Jesse and Zoe were the high school golden couple. Football captain, cheerleader, prom royalty. After graduation, though, Jesse couldn\u2019t resist the urge to experience life outside their small town. He didn\u2019t exactly expect Zoe to wait twelve years for him, but now that he\u2019s back, he finds some small part of him hoping she did.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no big surprise she\u2019s married. The kick in the face is she married his best friend.<\/p>\n

Zoe was devastated when Jesse left, but she\u2019s filed those bittersweet memories under \u201cMoved On\u201d. She loves her life, and loves her husband. She has all she needs. And Jesse keeps an honorable distance.<\/p>\n

One cold, wet, miserable day, tragedy turns Zoe\u2019s world upside down. Jesse never expected her to simply fall into his arms, but a man can dream.\u00a0Except his dream doesn\u2019t include the fact that this time, she\u2019s the one hitting the road\u2026and he\u2019s the one left behind.<\/b><\/p>\n

Warning: This story contains heartbreak, heartache and one last chance for two lovers to find each other.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BN<\/a> | iBooks<\/a> |\u00a0Kindle<\/a> | Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n

Some days just went from bad to worse. They started out miserable and just went to outright fucked up as the day progressed.<\/p>\n

This had been one of them\u2014it had started out shitty, and hit the fucked-up stage well before lunch had rolled around. Jesse hadn\u2019t even gotten around to eating lunch, something his hollow stomach wasn\u2019t about to let him forget.<\/p>\n

He had been back home for six months.<\/p>\n

Six lousy, awful months and every damn day, he thought about just leaving. He could sell the car he\u2019d bought, load up his bike and just leave. One of the reasons he\u2019d come back no longer existed\u2026at least not for him.<\/p>\n

And because of that, he\u2019d deliberately created himself another reason\u2014he\u2019d bought the town\u2019s sole bookstore. He didn\u2019t know jackshit about running a business, although thank God the store\u2019s manager did<\/em> and she\u2019d been delighted to hang around, not to mention delighted to hang around with somebody who wasn\u2019t opposed to bringing the store into the current century.<\/p>\n

But that was a nightmare of work and today was the pinnacle of those nightmares.<\/p>\n

But Tiffany finally had things under control and as she chattered with customers, he slipped into the back office and took five seconds to swear under his breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cLousy day,\u201d he said. \u201cLousy fucking day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day was done, he could go home, eat. Collapse.<\/p>\n

No, he had some books to sort through, he remembered as he stared at the box sitting on his desk. Okay, go home, eat, sort through the books, then<\/em> collapse.<\/p>\n

Hefting the bag of books onto his shoulder, he headed out of the office and slipped out the back door.<\/p>\n

The Book Nook had been Warren\u2019s only bookstore for as long as he could remember. Now it was his<\/em> bookstore. It had gone up for sale just two days after he\u2019d come back home, when he\u2019d seriously been considering whether he\u2019d should get the hell out or really trying making this place his home.<\/p>\n

In the end, there hadn\u2019t been much of a contest.<\/p>\n

Warren had always been home.<\/p>\n

Even if he wanted to snarl or break something every time he saw Zoe and Roger together, he couldn\u2019t leave just for that. He hadn\u2019t come back just<\/em> for Zoe. Even though part of him had hoped\u2026<\/p>\n

He\u2019d come home because it was<\/em> home.<\/p>\n

Her being married\u2014to his best fucking friend\u2014didn\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n

Get over it,<\/em> he told himself. Just like he\u2019d told himself a hundred times over the past few months. Easier said than done.<\/p>\n

Easier said than done.<\/p>\n

But he managed. So what if he hadn\u2019t gone out on a single date since he\u2019d been here? It had only been six months.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that he was obsessing over her\u2026not exactly.<\/p>\n

He was just not too interested in anybody else.<\/p>\n

That was all.<\/p>\n

He was busier than hell anyway. Trying to learn the ropes of being a business owner and <\/em>running a bookstore. The only thing he\u2019d previously known about bookstores was that he loved to read. On top of that, he had to bring it into a new century, keep it afloat during a struggling economy and it took plenty of time, plenty of energy.<\/p>\n

When did he have time to think about dating?<\/p>\n

He dumped the books in the back of his car, thinking they could wait a few minutes when he got home. The bottle of wine he had in the fridge was the first thing he\u2019d open. Not a book, not the mail, not the bills, not something to eat.<\/p>\n

The wine. Then maybe he\u2019d start a fire. A nice way to end a rainy day.<\/p>\n

The cold, wet drizzle had lasted throughout the day\u2014it was great for bringing in customers, but now it was turning into a downpour. When he got home, he might call Tiffany and tell her she could close up if she wanted. This wasn\u2019t the sort of weather that would bring out the customers.<\/p>\n

People wanted to spend nights like this inside, curled up with a good book, a movie, a lover\u2026<\/p>\n

Zoe\u2026<\/p>\n

Sometimes, he thought he was just used to looking for her\u2026everywhere.<\/p>\n

Maybe that was why he saw her so easily.<\/p>\n

Sitting on a bench on the green, even though the weather wasn\u2019t exactly ideal. Mid-forties and the rain was colder than ice.<\/p>\n

Sitting there, staring at nothing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

previously published as A Forever Kind of Love You can always come home. Second chances come a little harder. 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