Jodi Hutchins

After landing her dream job in the heart of Seattle, Kelly Garner feels she's finally found her spot in life ... until a layoff renders her unemployed. With a monumental amount of student loan debt, Kelly is forced to act fast. Her mother offers to let her stay in her childhood room, and Kelly finds a job in her field with a remote option. Everything seems to settle, until a familiar face ignites an old blaze of feelings within Kelly. The object of her affection is her high school crush and estranged friend, Reese Garret. The strong ardor Kelly felt for her is still vivacious, and henever she sees Reese, her heart nearly seizes. The two haven’t spoken in years and she still holds tight to the guilt surrounding the situation that ended their friendship. Will Kelly let this guilt muddle the potential rekindling of their old romance?

Rekindled Love

A finger lifted my chin so that my eyes met her emerald gaze. “You need to stop beating yourself up over something that happened so long ago. Why do you let the guilt stay with you?” Her tone was edged with sincere concern, her expression serious.


I lamely shrugged, my brows furrowing. “It was wrong. I hurt Mimi. And I hurt you,” I whispered.


She scoffed, her finger still on my chin, her gaze on me. “For real, Kelly? Mimi is happily married with a great husband, a kickass career, a toddler, and another on the way. From what she’s told me, you two are as close as ever despite the distance. She and I are still good friends. Why can’t you and I be as close as we used to be?” The grief in her soft voice caused me to bite my lip. It was such a cliché, but the tension was so thick, I doubted it could be severed with the sharpest knife.


I felt the compulsion to apologize again. “I’m sorry,” I said.


Chapter 9