The Brookfield Series Volume One by Lacey Wolfe Page A

turn it around.
    The last few nights, she had researched e-publishing houses. It was a lot easier than she’d thought it was to get one going. It was actually beginning to look like an option she might take. If she went back to Brookfield, she wouldn’t have rent at the house. She could have enough space for her and Lila and, with what money she had saved, she could probably survive on it a little while.
    Her phone beeped with an incoming e-mail. She really didn’t want to look. The current author she was working with was a nightmare. She questioned every note and change. This author was already a best-seller. She should have been used to this. Perhaps that was why she’d wanted a new editor. The last one had gone bat-shit crazy from her.
    Once she made the decision she was leaving New York and heading back to Brookfield, Wyoming, she knew she should let Jeremy know. While he wanted nothing to do with them, it seemed like the right thing to do.
    Opening her laptop, she composed a quick e-mail.
     
    Jeremy,
    I hope you’re well. I really do. I’m leaving New York and returning to my hometown to raise this child. I don’t feel like the city is the right place. I know you want nothing to do with us, and that is fine.
    Take care,
    Julie
     
    Over the next week, Julie took care of all loose ends. She never heard back from Jeremy, but she didn’t expect anything different.
    She sat on the white bedspread in her hotel room and hoped the next time she entered this room she would be bringing all her stuff home. She was hopefully, finally, finding her home.
    She was able to fit everything she needed in a medium suitcase. There wasn’t much since she only a few clothes. Her idea to just buy bigger had worked until her belly actually turned into a basketball. Maternity pants with the big elastic waists and cotton bands were the most comfortable things she had ever put on. They hugged and supported her ever-growing belly just right.
    Once the bag was packed, she called the front office and alerted them she was heading out of town. They wished her trip to be safe and well. She couldn’t agree more. As she wheeled her bag toward the hotel garage, she hoped this would work out the way she’d dreamed. And yes, Mark was part of her plan.
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
    “I do think this is the right decision,” Julie said into her Bluetooth.
    “I am so excited. It’s going to be so nice to have you home,” Claire said.
    Julie smiled. “I hope it is home.”
    “Well, you better hurry before Cara gets her claws fully into your man. She’s trying all right.”
    “He might not want me, Claire.”
    “At least I know there’s still hope you want him. He’d be crazy to not want you. You two are perfect for each other.”
    “So I keep hearing.”
    “He’s been working a ton. I have never personally seen him with her, so chances are it’s just her hoping.” Claire was always optimistic.
    “Hopefully, but can you blame him if he slams the door in my face? I up and left right after he told me he loved me.”
    “I wouldn’t worry about that. You have all the time to make it up to him.”
    Julie wondered how Claire could be so positive. Geesh, she really was worried when she got there he was going to shut the door and tell her to go to hell. And when she made him move out, it was going to get nasty. Right about now, she’d love to have her friend’s outlook.
    “Shit, it’s starting to snow again. Just like Wyoming. I guess I better get off here and concentrate on the road. I have about another hour, I think.”
    “Cool. Be safe. Let me know how it all works out.”
    “If I’m lucky, it’ll be a few days before you hear from me, if you know what I mean.”
    Claire laughed and said she hoped so, too.
    Julie hit the button on the Bluetooth to disconnect the call. Thankfully, it was still afternoon, so she wasn’t too worried about the snow. So far it was just flurries. She couldn’t wait until spring. She