Cajun Book Lover: Finding Home

Can two broken people help each other learn to love again and find their way home? For Samantha Cole, love and relationships have never come easy. Pain and heartbreak have forced her to build a wall around herself. Hoping to start over, Sam leaves Boston behind and moves to Napa with her best friend. Trying to make better choices in love, Sam establishes rules to keep her heart safe. Little does she know that one man will challenge her and change her mind. He has the potential to break down her walls and bring her heart back home. Ben Foster has been dealing with heartache and guilt for the past two years, believing he lost his only chance at love. Pounding guys on the Rugby field and running the family winery get him through the pain. When Sam arrives the fog over his life slowly lifts. He wonders if she is the one who can help his heart find a new way home. Letting go of the past and moving forward is not always easy. Their connection is strong, but their pasts keep getting in the way. Will Sam and Ben's journey tear them apart or help them find a place to call home?

Looking up into her moist eyes I pull her close to me. Our arms hug each other with a fierceness that’s getting rid of every loose fragment of damage. We’re expelling each and every bad memory and all the shit that’s fucked us up. “I don’t want to let you go. Can we stay like this for a little while longer?” Her head nods on my shoulder as she sinks deeper into our embrace.

“You feel incredible in my arms. I never thought much about guardian angels, but I think you’ve been sent just for me. Your arms wrapping around me make everything go away.”

Sam’s arms grip me with even more vigor. I feel her breath and lips tickle my ear as she turns her head into the crook of my neck. Feather light kisses touch my neck and earlobe as she whispers; “You’re wrong Ben; you’re my angel. You make me believe that love can exist.” Her head pulls back but her arms stay firmly in place. “Your voice brought light into my life when all I could see was darkness. When I’m all alone, it’s your voice that I hear when I drift off to sleep at night.”

I turn and press my lips onto hers tenderly and hold them there for several seconds before breaking away. We stay holding each other well into the night. Finally, her breaths change and I realize she’s fallen asleep on my shoulder. I gently shift her body close and place one arm underneath her legs to pick her up. She stirs slightly and turns her head into the curve of my neck and inhales deeply. “Mmm, you smell so good.”

I hold her against me as I chuckle, “Oh yeah? It’s a combination of sweat, wine, and you.”

Sighing she lifts her head with her eyes still closed. “How is it you know to say the exact thing a woman likes to hear?”

“I don’t know about that. I guess you bring it out of me.”

We get into the truck, and I buckle her up. I fight off the images of the accident and instead focus on Sam. I listen to her steady breaths and watch her sleep. She hypnotizes me. I’m captivated by her heart, beauty and soul. Her capacity to let me in is remarkable and humbling especially when I don’t think I deserve it. Home has to feel a lot like this because I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

I'm a wife, mother, teacher, and now author. Aine Kelley is my pen name for when I take off my 'super mom' cloak and write. I'm a Massachusetts native who resides in a small seaside community outside of Boston. Besides my immense love for my hubby and two girls, I'm a huge lover of the Patriots and Red Sox! I'm a one click addict and love getting lost in a great story. I can be wooed or bought, depending the situation, with wine and chocolate. Like Samantha in my book, I'm a huge 80's movie lover and a music freak! My love of books, beta reading for authors and reviewing for a blog, led me down the writing path. My motto is: Live freely, laugh heartily and love deeply.