My Heart Lingers (A Hearts of Misty Mesa Story): BWWM Interracial Romance by Brandi Boddie

 
     
     
Chapter 1
     
     
    Kyra pulled her rented Chrysler 300 into the driveway of her parents’ home. She had two weeks to get the house ready for sale. Judging by the uncut lawn, weeds growing in the parched rose bushes, and the broken porch swing dangling by one chain, she couldn’t waste a moment.
    She turned off the smooth jazz channel playing on the car’s satellite radio and cracked open the windows to keep the interior from frying in the bright Texas sun. The world was quiet around her. Sparrows chirped from the elm tree in the front yard. Other birds sang from the neighbors’ yards.
    Kyra got out of the car and scanned the old street of Mulberry Way where she used to live. Houses with big shade trees and cactus gardens lined both sides. The town of Misty Mesa remained small and quiet, even after ten years had passed since she last saw it. She remembered when she was eighteen years old like it was only yesterday.
    “Kyra? Kyra Grayson, is that you?” A woman’s familiar voice made her turn. The top half of the petite lady’s head barely cleared the wooden fence.
    “Mrs. Banks, how are you doing?” Kyra greeted her old neighbor. Mrs. Banks was a good friend of her mother’s. For as long as Kyra had known her, she styled her thick hair in braids. She still wore it in the same style, but streaks of gray covered sections of what used to be black strands.
    “Your mother called me to say you were coming to town.”
    “It’s only for a couple weeks to get the house ready for sale.”
    “Wait a minute. I’ll be right over.” Mrs. Banks came down from her tiptoes, completely disappearing below the fence. In a few seconds, the older woman walked into the yard. She extended her arms out to Kyra for a hug. “Don’t you look polished in your two-piece suit? Check out those heels. Are they designer?”
    Kyra smiled. “I had to go into the office before my flight left Chicago this morning. I didn’t have time to change.”
    “Your mother said you were a high-powered lawyer now.”
    “I wouldn’t exactly say high-powered. I started working with the firm as an associate three years ago after I graduated law school.” Kyra smoothed the front of her navy jacket in a moment of self-consciousness. She was a bit overdressed for Misty Mesa, population four thousand. While growing up, she never wore anything fancier than a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt.
    Mrs. Banks wore a simple cotton shift over her bedroom slippers. She nodded at Kyra with admiration. “Don’t cut yourself short, young lady. You sure went and got yourself straightened out.”
    Kyra concentrated on keeping the pleasant smile on her face. She understood exactly why Mrs. Banks was surprised by her change in wardrobe and demeanor. Before she left town when she was eighteen, she had established a reputation as a rebellious teenager, skipping classes and partying. Given the wild things she used to do in her youth, most of her teachers and adults she knew feared she would turn out to be another statistic on the evening news. Thank goodness she made a U-turn on the road of life in the nick of time.
    She owed her parents’ unfailing love and the core values they taught her for that. Unfortunately, heartbreak played a role in her decision to turn a new leaf as well.
    “I can’t believe your parents decided to retire in Florida.” Mrs. Banks went right on in her talkative manner. “Seems like only yesterday when they first moved to town. I remember it very well.”
    Kyra had her own clear memories of life in Misty Mesa. She only wished they could bring her nostalgia instead of painful regrets. Kyra left town the summer after high school graduation when she learned that her boyfriend Cole McCrea had been accepted into Georgia Tech. She didn’t have the grades to follow him, nor would her physical circumstances have allowed it. She was secretly carrying his child at the time. What’s more, his conservative parents knew of her reputation and