Coming Home
The theme for my whole Welcome to Bunya Junction series is finding your way home. To that one place where you belong. The journey for all the characters in this series hasn’t been easy but at the end they’ve found out that family is their true home.
If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that in September 2021 I arrived back in Perth, Western Australia after spending 12 years in Houston Texas.
I can say I loved my time in Houston (except when I had to drive. I did not love driving there), but I missed my family. I grew up the youngest of four and our family and extended family are very close knit. Leaving all that behind was hard—very hard. In the end I began to feel like a stranger in my own family as I missed many milestones. So being able to come home was a dream come true.
But it also led us into the unknown.
I’d been away for 12 years; my kids didn’t really know their cousins that were close to them in age. How would my relationship be with my siblings? More importantly how would I feel coming back to a place I’d grown up in but had changed so much in the time we’d been away.
I knew my parents were excited about coming back and through technology over the years we’d been able to keep in touch which made the distance between us not so big.
Fortunately, everyone was excited and happy to see us, the only downside was my dad passed away before we could see him. But I did speak to him on the phone before he died so that was good, and he knew we were back in Perth and would be reunited with family soon.
For Yolanda, in Reunion in the Outback, she is returning home after five years away. Not as long as I had been away, but for her—since she’d left her home, she’d gotten married, forged a career, became a mother and created a life she thought she loved in the big city—it was a long time. Like me she didn’t know what her family would think or how they’d treat her. She didn’t leave on the best terms with them.
It wasn’t until she got back to Bunya Junction, with the eyes of an adult and not a teenager, that she realized that Bunya was her home and the life she had in Sydney, while good, wasn’t what she wanted anymore—being with her siblings and having her daughter grow up around her cousins was what she wanted. She wanted her husband by her side, but they had to work to find each other again for that to happen.
Adjusting to a new home, even one where you’d lived in for a long time, is hard. Nothing is the same as you remembered. Streets are different. Buildings are different. Even parts of your families are different. But beneath all the changes the love for your family never changes and reunions are very sweet.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Nicole Flockton writes sexy contemporary romances, seducing you one kiss at a time as you turn the pages. Nicole likes nothing better than taking characters and creating unique situations where they fight to find their true love.
On her first school report her teacher noted “Nicole likes to tell her own stories”. It wasn’t until after the birth of her first child and after having fun on a romance community forum that she finally decided to take the plunge and write a book. Now with over 20 books published she hasn’t looked back.
Apart from writing Nicole is busy looking after her very own hero – her wonderfully supportive husband, and two fabulous kids. She also enjoys watching sports and, of course, reading.
I enjoyed your blog post. This is such a good series. I hated to see it end. And about driving in Houston, Dallas is nearly as bad. In fact I don’t drive in a lot of busy areas. I’m glad you’re back home with your family now. I just wish you could have seen your dad. :(
This story sounds brilliant, Nicole, and congratulations on the release. I imagine it must have been quite poignant to write given your own similar experiences. I’m sure, we, your readers are all going to love it.