Read Online Carry Me Home (The Home Series: Book Three) by Megan Nugen Isbell - Free Book Online Page B

either.  I’d spent the last few years working to let go of what I’d once had with Jesse.  I’d tried to repair the hole he’d left in my heart when he walked out of my life.  I’d somehow forgiven him and moved on, but seeing him did nothing but conjure everything up again.  I still had a million questions for him that I knew I’d never have answered.  Even though Jesse and I had sat through a cookout together, I doubted we’d be having any heart to hearts ever again and I’d be left with having to settle for acceptance rather than answers. 
    When I finally did go home, I wasn’t surprised to see Jack was there.  He often slept over.  It was a little weird when it first started, but now, it was almost stranger if he wasn’t there.  Rather than heading straight up to my room, I joined them in the living room and tried to figure out what was happening in the movie they were watching. 
    “How’d everything go tonight?” my mom asked when the movie went to a commercial.
    “Fine ,” I answered. “It was good to see everyone.”
    “And Jesse was there?” she asked and I nodded. “And it was okay?”
    “Yeah,” I said, but I could tell by the way she looked at me, she didn’t believe me. 
    My phone rang just then and I reached into my purse to grab it. 
    “It’s Evan,” I said, excusing myself to the kitchen. “Hey,” I said when I’d put the phone to my ear. 
    “Hi,” his warm voice rang through the receiver.  I expected to feel a smile spread across my face the way it always did when I heard him.  It didn’t though and I knew my head was just too mixed up at the moment. “How was your day?”
    “It was good.  You?”
    “Can’t complain, except that you weren’t here.” I could tell by the tone of his voice he was smiling and then I finally felt the edges of my lips curl up. 
    “You know you’re loving your bachelor life without me to tie you down.”
    “You can tie me down any day.” His voice was low and husky and I started laughing.  Evan always knew how to cheer me up. 
    “Well, come visit me and we’ll see what we can do.”
    “Believe me.  I’m workin’ on it.  You could come up here too, ya know.  You haven’t even seen my apartment.”
    “I’ll get there,” I sighed, even though I didn’t have any desire to make the trek to Kansas City just yet. 
    “Well, we gotta do something because I need to see you.”
    My eyes glanced into the living room and I could see my mom looking back at me.  I didn’t want to have a conversation that I could feel was turning intimate in earshot of her and Jack.  I stood up and climbed the stairs, shutting the door behind me and sitting on the bed. 
    “I miss you,” I said once I was in the safety of my room.
    “I miss you too, Riley.  I didn’t think the long-distance thing would be this hard.”
    “Me neither.”
    The line went quiet for a few moments and I could hear his soft breaths on the other end. 
    “Ya know,” he began. “There are a lot of opportunities for you here in Kansas City.  You could come stay with me this summer before you head back to school in the fall and then after that…who knows?  When you graduate, you could get a job up here.”
    I didn’t know how to respond to Evan.  He’d hinted at me spending the summer with him in Kansas City, but he hadn’t brought up the subject of me moving there after graduation.  I wanted to be near him, but I wasn’t sure if Kansas City was the right place for me.  I’d only been there once.  Evan took me to a Royals game when the Red Sox were in town.  It was a nice city, but moving away from Boston to Carver had been hard enough for me.  I was comfortable in Carver with my family.  If I moved to Kansas City, I’d be too far away from what I knew and loved, even though I loved Evan. 
    “I know,” I finally said and I heard him sigh. 
    “Won’t you even consider it?”
    “We’ll see,” I relented.
    “Wow,” he said with a