Coming Home

She spoke to Tara about going back to her place to check on some things and possibly coming back. Right now, she wasn't sure. The dream she had was still weighing on her mind and she couldn't stop thinking about it. A doctor? Jessica Hamby...a doctor? And more than that...she was with James...and happy. It had been a weird dream, one that she liked and wanted to be true...more than anything she wanted it to be real. Never had she thought about college or a career, but maybe she should. She had all the time in the world...

After getting back to her own place in the outskirts of Bon Temp, she walked in and felt like a stranger in her own home. Bill had obviously been paying someone to maintain it, everything was pristine and nothing out of place. Fresh stocked blood in the fridge, flowers on the table and a note to call Bill. ASAP...yeah, that could wait until later. She drummed her fingernails against the marble top counter and sighed. Something wrapped on the table caught her eye. It was a stack of envelopes all tied together by a yellow ribbon. She saw her name and unraveled the ribbon, the familiar scent hitting her nose. It was James...his cologne...everything.

She opened the first letter and began to read.

She felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room, seeing the date on the letter it was a few days after she left town. She slowly sat at the table and set it aside, reading the next one and her heart continuing to long for him with every word he wrote. Each stroke of his pen...his handwriting was so artistic, so...careful. He had put his heart and soul into each letter, telling her about things he liked and about gardens and flowers. He was so in touch with nature, she felt like she knew him better by reading his letters. She couldn't stop reading, completely captivated by his words and shocked that he was falling in love with her. Her own feelings were pretty strong, but she didn't know how strong. Now...she had a suspicion that they had grown tremendously.

"Oh...James."

She opened the next one in the pile and read again.



She smiled and could not stop. Red smears of her tears across her cheek as some of his letters were so touching, so personal and so...romantic.

She wanted to be there...in his arms. She wanted to kiss him and tell him how much she missed him, because she had. She missed talking to him, missed spending time with him. She missed normality...she wanted to go back to work, eventually make amends with Andy and his daughter, go to college, make something of herself...be somebody. She smiled and knew what she had to do...she had to make it happen, she had to cleanse herself of everything bad and just go for it.

And she knew just what to do. She hoped James would be back in town soon, but for now...she had an appointment to make.