~Julia Duffy—Emmy award-winning actress and author of Bad Auditions

~*~

“I love Tessa. She’s smart and dweeby, and it’s fun to watch smart, dweeby people experience the extraordinary-ness of love.”

~John Cariani—Actor, playwright, and author of Almost, Maine

Hometown

Hometown

by

Wendy Rich Stetson

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Hometown

COPYRIGHT © 2021 by Wendy Rich Stetson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [email protected]

Cover Art by Diana Carlile

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Publishing History

First Edition, 2021

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-1-5092-3564-3

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-3646-6

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

Dedication

For my carpenter and my fairy.

You are my home.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

My most sincere thanks to the many wonderful people who supported me in my writing journey. HOMETOWN wouldn’t exist without you.

To my editor, Leanne Morgena, thank you for meticulous reading and thoughtful guidance. I am so grateful to everyone at The Wild Rose Press for believing in my book and welcoming me with open arms.

Where would I be without the brilliant friends who read early drafts, listened to my story over coffee, and nudged me in the right direction: Gabra Zackman, Liz Wise, Rebecca Asher, Rebecca Lowman, Sarah Cusick, and Rebecca Harris. Big thanks to Gretchen Holly who is as wonderful an editor as she is a friend. My life is so much richer for having you all in it.

Thanks to my mom and dad for years of adventures in the pop-top and for always encouraging me to do what I love to the best of my ability.

For my husband Pete, who is both doctor and carpenter, and my daughter Cate, who fills every day with magic, I have nothing but bottomless gratitude and endless love.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Green Ridge Farmers’ Market

Wednesdays 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Look out, whoopie pies—I’m back in town!

Tessa Meadows yanked the wheel of her father’s 1979 camper van and pulled a hard right into the parking lot of the Farmers’ Market. Gravel sprayed from beneath balding tires. What she wouldn’t give for power steering. Narrowly dodging a gaping pothole filled with fresh rainwater, she muscled the van into what passed for a space, flattening a patch of weeds at the tail end of a long row of cars. She tromped on the brake pedal and huffed a sigh. Had the market always been this crowded?