Suddenly Home. Loree Lough

when she asked me to get hold of you.” He went on to explain how, despite the best efforts of the emergency-room team, her mother had died of complications suffered in a fiery car crash.

      Would there have been time for a final goodbye, one last “I love you” if Taylor had put down her guitar long enough to accept her uncle’s call? She’d never know. Because now, every chance she had at being a better daughter was dead.

      And so was her mother.

      Looking out the airliner’s thick window, she watched as lightning sliced through the Puerto Rican sky. Shielding her eyes with the palm of one hand, she steeled herself against the if onlys and what ifs, remembering one of her mother’s favorite sayings: “The road to nowhere is paved with regrets.”

      Small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

      In a few hours, when this overcrowded 747 landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Taylor would head for the funeral home to view her mother’s body.

      Would she survive the impact of that?

      Chapter One

      Eighteen months later

       BWI Airport

       Baltimore, Maryland

      From start to finish, the red-eye flight from Ireland had been a nightmare, complete with keep-your-seat-belts-fastened turbulence, crying babies and a grumpy crew. She’d barely cracked the spine of her novel when an over-weight gent tromped on her foot climbing into his window seat. If Taylor had known his first words would be the kickoff to an eight-hour gabfest, she’d have kept reading the scene that began, “His dark-lashed eyes bored into hers with an alarming intensity….” Something told her she’d have to wait until she got home to find out how the heroine reacted to the hero’s scrutiny.

      And she’d been right.

      Her seatmate, who’d hogged the armrest and spilled coffee on both of them, now left his boot print on her other white sneaker as he joined the mad race to be first off the plane.

      After the aisle cleared, Taylor stood and, looking at the space he’d occupied, bit back a groan. She considered calling out to him, “You’ve forgotten something…” so he’d have to shoulder his way back through the crowd to retrieve the peanut packages, napkins and candy wrappers he’d left behind. The flight crew might appreciate her efforts, but all she really wanted was to pick up Barney at Pampered Pets Kennels, brew herself a soothing cup of tea and settle in at home. Stifling a yawn, she reached into the overhead bin for her carry-on…

      And collided with the man across the aisle.

      “Ooomph,” he grunted.

      A feeble “I’m sorry” sighed from her lips.

      Shaking his head, he raised one dark eyebrow, reminding her of the passage from the novel she’d been reading. His dark-lashed eyes bored into hers with an alarming intensity….

      “No problem,” he said, his voice deep and gruff. Then he grabbed the straps of her bag and dragged it from the compartment. “This one yours?”

      Nodding, Taylor clutched it to her. “Yes. Yes, it is. Thank you.”

      Turning, he slid his own bag from the bin above his seat and stepped back. With a grand sweep of his arm, he said, “After you.”

      She couldn’t tell if the gesture was sincere or not. But Taylor thanked him, and headed down the aisle.

      “Don’t mention it,” he growled. “My pleasure.”

      She hurried from the plane, and halfway through the tube connecting the jetliner to the terminal, he passed her, aiming a curt nod and a two-finger salute at her. Taylor couldn’t help but notice his pronounced limp. During the flight, as he’d made his way to the lavatory, she’d blamed turbulence for his halting half step. Now she couldn’t help but wonder if an accident or a birth defect had caused him to favor his left leg.

      Accident, she decided, remembering his grumpy demeanor; if he’d been born with the limp, wouldn’t he have adjusted to it by now?

      He rounded the corner just as a terrible thought occurred to her—had she caused the injury when she’d backed into him? Had she stepped on his foot harder than she’d realized?

      Well, surely she’d see him in baggage claim. And when she did, Taylor would apologize. And make it sound a little more sincere this time.

      It shouldn’t have been difficult to find him, tall as he was. But she didn’t see him at the baggage claim. Or the taxi stand, either. Not even when she stood on tiptoe, searching the crowd. Taylor gave up looking for him when a cabbie said, “Where to, lady?”

      “Ellicott City,” she said as her driver tossed her suitcase into the trunk.

      The taxi driver made small talk as he maneuvered through the traffic on I-95. But Taylor barely heard him, because she couldn’t seem to shift her attention from the man with the limp.

      She tried thinking about Barney, and how happy he’d be to see her after spending so many days at the kennel.

      She tried thinking about all the gossip Mrs. Dansfield would share when she delivered the mail she’d been picking up for Taylor.

      About getting back to work—a job far more satisfying than singing for her supper had ever been.

      But it was no use. The image of his dark eyes seemed frozen in her mind. He looked familiar, and for the life of her, she didn’t know why. Had they met? But where? And when?

      His expression flashed in her memory again. Was he as sad and forlorn as he seemed? Or had it been fear she’d seen in his big brown orbs? Taylor’s heart ached a bit on his behalf, because she’d learned something about that in the past eighteen months. She said a quick prayer, asking God to help the poor guy cope with whatever had painted such a doleful expression on his handsome face.

      The familiar facade of her house came into view and she smiled. Not the Victorian she’d always dreamed of, but close enough for the time being.

      She paid the taxi driver, shoved her suitcase through her front door and headed straight for Pampered Pets Kennels. Once she and the fat orange tabby were settled in, Taylor would have a day and a half to recuperate from her trip to Ireland. Thirty-six hours to readjust, pick up where she’d left off.

      Maneuvering her car through Ellicott City’s side streets, Taylor sighed. Because where had she left off? Better question, she wondered, What did you leave behind?

      Other than Barney, regrets mostly. Regrets that she’d spent those last precious months of her mother’s life “finding herself” instead of being the doting daughter her mother had deserved. Regrets that she hadn’t accepted the phone call that night in Puerto Rico.

      The big pink-and-white sign that said Pampered Pets came into view and Taylor heaved a deep sigh. Parking in front of the pink-trimmed brick building, she thought again of her mother’s favorite saying: “The road to nowhere is paved with regrets.”

      Her mother, Amanda, also liked to say, “Life goes on!”

      It had been eighteen months since the accident. And true to her mother’s witty wisdom, life had indeed gone on. A year and a half had passed since Amanda’s death. Eighteen months without so much as a syllable of motherly advice.

      Yet Taylor had gone to work, had attended various church functions and social events, and had even gone out on a date or two.

      Like it or not, her mother had been right.

      Had he gone to Ireland simply to put an end to his mother’s nagging?

      Alex groaned inwardly, knowing even as the thought crossed his mind that it wasn’t fair to call it “nagging.” Badgering was more like it. But her insistence hadn’t been the sole reason he’d taken the trip. He’d known better than anyone that a change of scenery had been in order, that doubt and self-pity had pretty