Barbara McMahon - The Girl Who Came Back

What if her foster mother didn’t recover? What if the stroke put an end to the Maddie she knew? Eliza was filled with a sense of impending doom. She had to get to Mississippi. She’d let things go far too long without making a real attempt to reconnect with Maddie.

Eliza had spent so many years alone. It was one thing to remain aloof, to protect her heart from further bruising, but the reality had led to a solitary existence. She’d made a mistake as a teenager, and it had left her wary of getting close to anyone—afraid of hurting someone and being hurt herself.

Maddie had done her best for her girls. Eliza saw that now. Was this the end? Was Maddie alone in the hospital, living her last few days with no one to visit, to talk to her, to love her? Eliza couldn’t allow that. It was said that you could never go home again. But for her entire childhood, Maddie had given Eliza her best. She was the only mother Eliza remembered, and now she needed Eliza.

What was she waiting for?

She picked up the phone and punched in the number of an airline.

Dear Reader,

We all had best friends in childhood. Some of us are lucky enough to stay in the same town and continue those friendships all our lives. Others have moved away. What happened to those best friends? Do you sometimes wish with all your heart you could once again be close to someone who knew you back when you were five? Do you long to share confidences and learn what’s going on in her life?

The three girls from Poppin Hill were best friends. When a tragic incident separated them, they went their own ways. Now, ten years later, a family emergency is calling them back, one by one. Will they find that special friendship they remember so fondly? Or have the years and distance put too much in the way to reconnect with that unique bond?

Come and see how Eliza makes the first step by returning. And discovers that, as Dorothy said, there’s no place like home.

All the best,

Barbara McMahon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my great-aunt Eleanor Fuller.

Thank you for all the memories and family stories and for

giving me the Miller Family Bible! I love you.

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Twelve years ago

“COME ON BACK TO MY PLACE,” Shell said, revving the car and careering recklessly down the narrow road. The trees crowding the edges of the country lane whipped by in a blur.

“I need to get home.” Today had been a mistake. Eliza had known that almost the moment she’d agreed to go with Shell, but she couldn’t back out. Getting even with Cade should have made her feel better, but she’d been annoyed with Shell all day. She should never have given in to him and played hooky from school to go to New Orleans. Dammit, she was tired and hungry and feeling more than a little guilty. Now she had to sneak back into the house so Maddie didn’t give her grief for skipping school.

April was supposed to tell Cade that Eliza had cut classes to go to New Orleans, and with whom. If Cade could fool around with Marlise, Eliza was justified in having some fun with Shell.

Only she hadn’t had fun. Shell had been all over her, and fighting him off had become a full-time job. Now they were almost back in Maraville, and Eliza was counting the minutes until she could shake off this loser.

“Come on, baby,” Shell said, putting a hand on her bare thigh.

The guy never gave up. She slapped his hand away. May in Mississippi was warm, but she’d also worn the shorts to make a statement. Pulling her leg away, she glared at him.

“I need to get home. Maddie will skin me alive if she finds out I skipped school.”

“If? You mean when,” Shell said, sneering. “Like old man Douglass isn’t going to tell at some point?”

For sure the principal would call and complain about one of Maddie’s foster children again. He called so often, he probably had her number programmed into his phone. Usually it was about Jo, but once in a while about April. This would be the first call about Eliza. Didn’t matter. Her foster mother would be infuriated.

Still, it’d be worth it if Cade got the message. If he could play around, so could Eliza.

“Damage has already been done,” Shell said, smirking at her. “Might as well go all the way.”

“Stop playing games and get me home,” she ordered. If he didn’t turn at the intersection that led to Poppin Hill, she’d jump out at the next stop sign and get there on her own.

Which was exactly what she ended up doing. Shell scoffed at her request and cruised past the turnoff. As he slowed for the next stop, never quite coming to a complete halt, she snatched her purse and flung herself from the car. He called after her, but she turned and began walking. The car roared away.

It took her more than forty minutes to walk home. The old house stood on a rise overlooking the sleepy Mississippi town of Maraville. Maddie Oglethorpe had opened her home to three foster girls many years ago. Eliza resented the fact she had to live in foster care, but with both parents dead and no known relatives, she had no choice.

She stormed into the back of the house. Amazingly, no one was around. She walked through the kitchen to the front, then up the stairs to her room. The silence was spooky.

Opening her door, she tossed her purse on the bed and went back down the hall, peeking into Jo’s room. When she heard soft sounds coming from April’s, she knocked on the door, opened it and stuck her head inside.

“You’re back,” April said, lying on her bed. She scooted up to lean against the headboard. “The shit hit the fan today.”

Satisfaction finally coursed through Eliza. “Cade wasn’t happy to hear I went out with Shell, I take it.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, he was majorly pissed. I’m talking about Jo. Someone beat the crap out of her and she blamed Maddie.”

“What?” Eliza couldn’t believe it. “Jo is two inches taller than Maddie and athletic as all get out. Maddie talks tough, but she’s never so much as slapped any of us. How could she beat up Jo?”

“Jo showed up here this morning black and blue with blood oozing from several cuts on her face. The cops came and took her to the hospital. She claimed it was Maddie.”

“She’s lying.” Eliza went to sit on the bed. “What really happened?”

“I don’t know the whole story. I was sent to school before I could find out more. When I got home, the place was empty. I don’t know where Maddie and Jo are right now. Your plan worked, by the way. Cade had a fit when I told him you took off with Shell.”

Eliza nodded, her own situation taking second place to the news about Jo. “I bet it was Heller. She should have dumped him weeks ago. He’s bad news.”

“Maybe, but she was mad as all get out and kept glaring at Maddie, saying it was all her fault.”

Who would have beaten a sixteen-year-old girl? It had to be Heller. He was a classmate from the wrong side of town. He’d been in and out of trouble as long as Eliza and the others had known him. He and Jo had a thing going—against Eliza’s advice and April’s. But Jo was headstrong. No one could budge her when she made up her mind.