Nobody said a fresh start would be easy
A clean slate is exactly what Katie Gallagher needs, and Bar Harbor, Maine, is the best place to get it. Except the cottage her grandmother left her is overrun with woodland creatures, and the police chief, Aiden Cavanaugh, seems determined to arrest her! Katie had no idea sheâd broken his heart fifteen years ago...
âKellyâs debut book is smart, sexy, and so much fun. I couldnât put it down.â
âLaurie Benson, author of the Secret Lives of the Ton series
âChief Cavanaugh of the Bar Harbor Police Department, maâam.â
He looked down at his portfolio and then back up at me, eyes cold. âYou trashed your husbandâs car and then ran, is that right?â
I thought it would be different if I left, if I came to the place Iâd been the happiest. Even without Gran, Iâd imagined being here would comfort me and help me figure out what the hell to do with myself now that I understood what was apparent to everyone else, that my life was a pathetic sham. I leaned forward, dropping my head to the table. Repeatedly. My brain needed a reboot.
A large, warm hand settled on my shoulder, the heat sinking into my bones. I looked up through wet lashes, and I saw it. I knew who he was.
âAiden?â I sat up straight to better study him. âAiden Cavanaugh?â
His hand fell away, and I missed its weight and warmth at once. Unbelievable. How the hell had sweet, oddly geeky Aiden Cavanaugh morphed into tall, dark and forbidding?
Dear Reader,
Iâm excitedâand more than a little terrifiedâto share with you my debut novel, Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher. At its core, this is a story about second chances, a story about starting over. We all deserve a do-over.
I love writing strong, funny women who fulfill their dreams on their own terms. For instance, when Katie envisioned what her life would be, she never once imagined depression-induced insomnia, being wedged into a battered car with a one-hundred-and-forty-pound dog, grape soda splattered in her lap, a fecund, mushroomy odor she wasnât entirely certain she could pin on the dog, and a cop tapping at the window. Nope, she sure didnât see that coming.
But itâs in times like these that we learn who we are. Katie could have stayed with a cheating husband who never looked at her except to find fault. She could have. Or she could have taken his expertly weighted and fitted golf clubs to his beloved BMW. Some of us find clarity through yoga, others through criminal behavior. And, letâs face it, a mug shot is a pretty clear indicator that different choices should have been made.
I hope you enjoy Katieâs fraught journey. Warning: there is a hot, grumpy cop, an adorably massive dog, snickering marmosets, cupcakes, and a woman trying like hell to make a home for herself.
Seana Kelly
SEANA KELLY lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two daughters, two dogs and one fish. When Seana isnât dodging her family, hiding in the garage and trying to write, sheâs working as a high school teacher-librarian. Seana is an avid (who are we kidding? obsessive) reader who is still mourning the loss of Fred Weasley. What the heck, J.K.? If you had to kill off a Weasley, why couldnât it have been Percy?
For Mom and Dad,
who taught me the importance of integrity, hard work and storytelling.
CHAPTER ONE
Kate
YOU DONâT ALWAYS know when youâre having a nervous breakdown. Itâs usually later, after being confronted with photographic evidence in the form of a mug shot, that you realize you lost your shit in a truly spectacular way.
The tap of the copâs flashlight on the driverâs-side window, combined with a soft woof from the back seat, made me jump and splash grape soda down my sweater. I watched it pool in my lap before fumbling with the can. I searched for a napkin.
âMaâam, could you roll down your window?â The shield on his coat was hard to miss.
Chaucer lifted his massive head, slowly coming to his paws, needing to hunch in order to fit. He sniffed my ear and then looked down into my lap, no doubt hoping Iâd dropped something he could eat.
âShit, shit, shit. Try to look innocent,â I told him as I rolled down the window. I did not need more trouble with the law.
âMaâam, could you explain why youâre parked in the middle of the road? Are you having car trouble?â His voice was a deep rumble, which was oddly comforting, considering the situation. He leaned down, keen eyes taking in everything. God, he smelled goodâwarm leather and rich wood smoke overpowering the sticky sweetness of artificial grape.