Since You've Been Gone Read online

  Since You’ve Been Gone

  A Magnolia Sound Novel

  Samantha Chase

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek

  Also by Samantha Chase

  About Samantha Chase

  Copyright 2021 Samantha Chase

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  All Rights Reserved.

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  No part of this book, with the exception of brief quotations for book reviews or critical articles, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are 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.

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  Cover Design: Alyssa Garcia/Uplifting Designs

  Editing: Jillian Rivera Editing

  Praise for Samantha Chase

  “If you can’t get enough of stories that get inside your heart and soul and stay there long after you’ve read the last page, then Samantha Chase is for you!”

  -NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Melanie Shawn

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  “A fun, flirty, sweet romance filled with romance and character growth and a perfect happily ever after.”

  -NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips

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  “Samantha Chase writes my kind of happily ever after!”

  -NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Erin Nicholas

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  “The openness between the lovers is refreshing, and their interactions are a balanced blend of sweet and spice. The planets may not have aligned, but the elements of this winning romance are definitely in sync.”

  - Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

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  “A true romantic delight, A Sky Full of Stars is one of the top gems of romance this year.”

  - Night Owl Reviews, TOP PICK

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  “Great writing, a winsome ensemble, and the perfect blend of heart and sass.”

  - Publishers Weekly

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  “Recommend Chase to fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Well-written and uniquely appealing.”

  - Booklist

  To all the animal lovers out there…

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  Remember This:

  “Saving one animal will not change the world, but surely for that one animal, the world will change forever.”

  Please support your local animal rescue.

  * * *

  To my dear friend Christine and the wonderful staff of our local rescue,

  SAVING GRACE,

  this one’s for you.

  https://savinggracenc.org/

  1

  “Damn. That is one fine-looking man.”

  “Ew, Mom! Stop it!”

  “What? What did I say?”

  Emma Ryan stared in wide-eyed horror as her mother continued to gaze at the shirtless man on her cellphone screen.

  “What are you even watching? And why?”

  Without tearing her eyes away from the screen, Christine Ryan-Foster dropped a bombshell. “Do you remember Garrett Coleman?” she asked, and before Emma could say a word, she continued. “He’s a veterinarian now–like we all knew he would be–and he did this video at a shelter up in Maryland and it went viral.” She hummed with approval. “And I can totally see why.”

  A shudder of revulsion rocked Emma. “He’s my age, Mom. He’s young enough to be your son! Stop it! Stop it right now!”

  There was a host of other reasons why this was disturbing to her, but she wasn’t about to voice any of them right now.

  “Oh, hush. There’s nothing wrong with a little harmless looking. And it’s for a good cause.”

  Rolling her eyes, Emma walked around to the opposite side of their kitchen table and sat down. “Now this I’ve got to hear.”

  It took a solid minute for her mother to put her phone down and look at her. “Garrett’s working with the shelter in the video, and, every week, he does a post showing him doing something incredibly sweet to help a scared animal.”

  Well…that didn’t sound like anything that would have her mother thinking sexy thoughts. So maybe when she said he was fine, she meant that he was a good person.

  “Oh, well…good for him. And I’m glad you’re looking at him as a good person instead of…”

  “And he is always shirtless,” Christine interrupted with a grin. “Mmm, mmm, mmm…fine.”

  Yeah, that time there was definitely a tone that made it abundantly clear that fine meant sexy.

  With a loud sigh, Emma rested her head in her hands. “And the good cause?”

  “Well, his videos have brought a lot of attention to the plight at the shelter and people have been lining up to adopt! Since his first video a month ago, almost all of their animals have been adopted!” She looked at her daughter and smiled. “Almost one hundred pets found their forever home because of him. Don’t you think that’s amazing?”

  There was no way she couldn’t agree because it was amazing. With a nod, she straightened in her seat. “Good for him and good for the shelter. It’s very cool.”

  And so totally Garrett.

  He was one of the good guys–always happy, always friendly, always ready to lend a hand.

  Or give you the shirt off his back.

  Literally.

  Don’t ask to see the video. Do not ask to see the video…

  “I wish you two still kept in touch,” her mother said, interrupting her thoughts again.

  “Why?”

  “Honestly? We could use a little help like this for Happy Tails. We’ve got more dogs here now than we ever have before, and…I don’t know.” She let out a long breath. “I’m exhausted, Em. It’s a lot of work to rescue these dogs and try to find them homes. Plus the expense of feeding and getting medical care for all of them is so high”

  “Doc MacEntyre has always had a soft spot for us. I’m sure he can handle a few more dogs this month.”

  “Doc MacEntyre is talking retirement and hasn’t found anyone to take over his practice.”

  “What?!” Emma cried. “When did this happen?”

  Her mother shrugged. “He’s been talking about it for a while, but when he was here last week, he told me he had another three months before he was closing up shop.”

  For a moment, she had no idea what to say. Her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.

  “Em? You okay?”

  “I…I…I guess I had no idea all this was going on. What are you going to do? Have you reached out to other vets?”

  “Of course, but none of them can offer what Doc did. And none of them were willing to come here and make an afternoon of it once a week.” She sighed. “So I’ve got the team working on making calls and trying to raise some money so maybe we can stock up on medical supplies before his office closes.”

  “How’s that going? Last I heard, Georgia Bishop was handling that sort of thing.”

  “She is, and she’s really good at it, but…” She shrugged.

  “But what?”
For a moment, she didn’t think her mother was going to answer her. Then Emma looked at her–really looked at her–and noticed how tired she looked. “Mom? Is everything okay?”

  “We didn’t want to burden you,” she began, but her voice cracked.

  Reaching out, Emma placed her hand on top of her mother’s. “Mom? Come on, you know you can tell me anything.”

  This time when Christine looked up at her, there were tears in her eyes. “Ed’s got to have back surgery. We can’t put it off any longer, and…and I just don’t know how we’re going to handle everything. He won’t be able to work or help with all the animals and now without a vet…” When she started to cry, Emma squeezed her hand.

  “It’s going to be okay, Mom. You know you have a ton of people who are more than willing to help. What can I do? Just tell me. I can get Ryleigh, Madison, and Wyatt to school in the mornings before I go to work, and you know they can help around here too.”

  Groaning, Christine shook her head. “Your sisters are a mess. You remember what it was like when you were their age. The last thing they want to do is get dirty or break a sweat. All they want is to hang out with their friends, and your brother has football practice. If we want him to get a scholarship for college, he really needs to be focused on that.” She shook her head again. “I don’t know how I’m going to handle it all. I don’t want to ask Georgia to do more fundraisers, but it’s what we really need. Then I saw Garrett’s videos and thought…”

  But she didn’t finish.

  Which was fine with Emma because she knew exactly where her mother was going with her train of thought.

  If Garrett could do some of those videos for Happy Tails, it would be a great help.

  Not that there was anything she could do about it. As it was, it sounded like her plate just got a lot fuller. Helping out with her siblings wasn’t really a hardship–and she enjoyed having the time to bond with them. With Emma being twenty-six and her siblings ranging from ten to fifteen, there typically wasn’t a whole lot that they did together. Maybe while her stepfather was recovering, she could spend some quality time with them.

  And maybe find a way to add more hours to a day.

  Squeezing her mother’s hand again, she forced herself to smile. “It’s all going to be okay. I can help make calls and pitch in wherever you need me, okay?”

  Christine gave her a slight nod. “I do have one…other bit of bad news.”

  Oh, good grief…

  “Axel is back.”

  “What do you mean he’s back?”

  Another nod was her mother’s response before letting out a weary sigh. “The foster family brought him back and said he was too difficult and even said he was unlovable.”

  Emma jumped to her feet in outrage. “Excuse me?! Unlovable? That’s insane! Axel is one of the sweetest and most lovable dogs we’ve ever had here! And did they call him difficult because of his little gimpy leg?” She began to pace as she let out a growl of frustration. “I hope you revoked their foster care status because anyone who would bring that sweet boy back is just insane!”

  Standing, Christine walked over to make herself a cup of coffee. “You know these things happen sometimes. Not every dog is a good fit for every home. It’s sad, and I hate when it happens, but…it happens.”

  While it was true, it was the third time it happened for Axel, and it broke Emma’s heart. “I just don’t understand how no one could want him. He’s a sweet puppy. His leg really doesn’t hold him back much anymore, and if people were just a little patient…”

  This time her mother turned and gave her a sardonic smile. “Em…come on. You know I love all animals, but Axel can be a little…”

  “Okay, he can be a little rambunctious, but he’s a puppy! He’s supposed to be like that!”

  “Normally, I would agree, but in Axel’s case, he’s only happily rambunctious when he’s with you. The foster family said he was a little vicious and almost openly hostile toward them.”

  “Openly hostile? Come on, Mom, even you have to admit that’s a little dramatic. He was just nervous, that’s all.”

  “Emma,” Christine said with exasperation. “Axel is going to be a difficult dog to place because there’s only one person he’s bonded with, and that’s you.”

  She groaned again because it was true, and in a perfect world, she’d take him home with her and give him all the love and acceptance he could ever need. Unfortunately, her condo didn’t allow pets, so unless she was willing to either move back home or find someplace else that would probably cost more money, her hands were tied.

  “I’m not trying to make you feel bad, sweetheart,” her mother said, interrupting her thoughts. “But I wanted you to be prepared in case you went out to the barn and saw him.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to go out and see him and make sure he knows how awesome he is and try to undo the trauma the foster people caused!” She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water before heading for the door.

  “He’s not traumatized…”

  “Says you,” Emma murmured before walking out the door.

  Stalking across the yard, she tried to force herself to calm down. Axel noticed when she was upset, and honestly, so did the other dogs. No need to get everyone all worked up just because she was ticked off.

  The property was massive, and just six months ago, they were able to purchase some of the surrounding property so they could expand. Happy Tails–and their family home–now sat on close to five acres and it made her smile when she looked around. Her mother and stepfather accomplished so much in the last eighteen years. They had met at a volunteer event for an animal shelter, bonded over their love of dogs, and had been together ever since. It was a really sweet story, but to see what they accomplished over the years and how many dogs they saved and found homes for was just short of astonishing.

  So why couldn’t they find a home for Axel?

  As if sensing her thoughts, the tiny Border Jack mix spotted her and came running over. Emma immediately crouched down and held out her arms for him. He was all of eleven pounds of short brown fur, but he had enough speed and enthusiasm for a team of horses.

  Especially when he jumped into her arms and knocked her over, happily licking her face.

  “Easy, boy,” she laughed, hugging him close. A few other dogs ran over to investigate and she found herself surrounded by a small herd, all vying for her attention. Luckily, most lost interest after a few minutes and she was able to get to her feet with Axel in her arms. His tail was wagging like crazy as she walked around to the small picnic area they had set up for families to come and meet with the dogs.

  Once she was seated, she looked down at him and smiled. “I’m glad you’re back,” she said quietly. “That family didn’t deserve you, and I promise we’re going to find you the best home in the world.” She kissed his head. “I wish it were with me, but…unless you’ve got some ideas for me to make more money, I’m afraid I’m stuck living where I’m at.”

  Her divorce three years ago pretty much bankrupted her–mainly because her useless ex emptied their bank account and ran up their credit cards before taking off. She’d been working as hard as she could to rebuild her credit and her life, but it was taking a lot of time and energy. She was exhausted and miserable and wished something would go her way for once.

  “If things don’t get better, buddy, I’m going to be living in the barn with you.”

  Axel’s response was to lick her cheek.

  Looking around, Emma saw the improvements that had been made and knew all the fundraising was definitely a blessing, but right now she was a little hyper-focused on everything they were going to need in the next few months and how it was going to happen.

  Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and let out a long breath.

  Just look at the video…

  Glancing at Axel, she said, “No one can know that I’m doing this. It has to be our little secret.” />
  This time he licked her eye.

  Gross…

  With a quick look over her shoulder to make sure no one else was around, Emma swiped the phone screen and pulled up her Instagram account. A minute later, she found one of Garrett’s videos and couldn’t help but smile.

  And not just because he looked amazing without a shirt.

  He was sitting in a cage at the animal shelter beside a terrified-looking beagle. Garrett was eating popcorn out of a stainless-steel bowl that was identical to the bowl of food in front of the dog. The whole time he was talking softly to the poor little thing and encouraging it to eat. It took a solid five minutes for the dog to slowly inch forward and sniff the food and then another few before he started to eat.

  “Damn,” she murmured as she reached up to wipe tears away.

  Before she knew it, she was on to another video of him–shirtless again–playing guitar to a Golden Retriever whose owner had passed away. Apparently the poor dog had been forgotten, and when he was finally rescued, he was underweight and malnourished.

  She cried some more.

  Next thing she knew, she’d watched half a dozen videos of Garrett being ridiculously loving and patient and nurturing to different traumatized animals. She’d clicked the heart icon under each and every one of them, but it wasn’t until the last one where he was pulling an elderly dog along on a wagon in a park because the poor thing had been hit by a car and lost use of his back legs that she finally had to comment.