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Back Heaven, My Home Save as PDF
Chapters (40)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Marion County
  7. Part One
  8. 1.
  9. 2.
  10. 3.
  11. 4.
  12. Part Two
  13. 5.
  14. 6.
  15. 7.
  16. 8.
  17. 9.
  18. Part Three
  19. 10.
  20. 11.
  21. 12.
  22. 13.
  23. 14.
  24. 15.
  25. 16.
  26. Part Four
  27. 17.
  28. 18.
  29. 19.
  30. 20.
  31. 21.
  32. 22.
  33. 23.
  34. 24.
  35. Camilla
  36. Acknowledgments
  37. Discover More
  38. About the Author
  39. Also by Attica Locke
  40. Praise for Attica Locke’s

She was wearing a crisp white shirt and black jeans and offered a tiny shrug that told him she knew as well as he did how improbable this moment was, how potentially insane it was that she was standing on the doorstep of the home in which he was raised. She gave him a faint smile. “You told me I should see it.”

He didn’t invite her inside because he still didn’t trust what he was seeing. Despite his home training, he simply leaned against the doorjamb and marveled at the woman standing in front of him. She looked the same. But better. Because she was here. Because she’d come as far as she had to in order to see him again.

“How did you even—”

“You say the name Mathews around here and about five people will pop out of nowhere and point the way. It was surprisingly easy to find you, Darren.” Her smile faded then, slid right off her face. “Look, if this is too weird—”

His answer was a kiss, a hand on her back.

She opened herself to him, parting her lips so that he got a taste of her, bittersweet in a way that made him think of anise and honey. She reached a hand around the back of his neck and kissed him deeper, pulling away only to train her eyes on his, to sigh gently. Then she laid her head on his shoulder, and he rested his chin on her hair, his arms still wrapped around her. They stood like that for a long while, leaned up against each other, warm despite a December breeze blowing through the open doors of his family home, bringing the scent of Texas pines.

Acknowledgments

First thanks go to my publishing family: Reagan Arthur and Joshua Kendall, who have not only created a publishing house that I am deeply proud to be a part of but also treated me and my work with the utmost respect and enthusiasm (and patience). I am deeply appreciative of you both. Big thanks to Sabrina Callahan, Lena Little, and Pamela Brown for letting the world know about Darren Mathews and sending this series off with a bang. Likewise, I’d like to thank my UK publishing family at Serpent’s Tail: Rebecca Gray, Hannah Westland, Drew Jerrison, Anna-Marie Fitzgerald, and Valentina Zanca. I so respect the care and intelligence with which you have published all of my books. And finally, Richard Abate, to whom I owe the world. Thank you for your faith in me, your sharp insight, and your friendship.