To Be Read Catalog
She left for the military thinking she would have it all .
The career , the man she loved , a family of her own . Then her fiancé issued an ultimatum : come home and marry him , or lose him forever .
Eight years later , Lieutenant Lynn Johnston returns to her small Kentucky hometown with a secret to keep and a desire to find peace . Her planned lifelong career had been cut short by events beyond her control . Now , she hoped that she could forge a new path , one that would heal her heart and help to put her past behind her . Those hopes are dashed when she discovers Carter Mathis , her former fiancé , has also returned and is raising his two young sons . Lynn must decide if she can deal with not only the old hurt feelings from the past -- and Carter ’ s soon-to-be ex who has a vendetta against Lynn-- to give Carter a second chance . A deadly collapse at the coal mines where Carter works , an accident that rocks the town , could possibly take the choice out of her hands . Does she confront her feelings and move forward , or leave the life she ' s always wanted behind ?
Excerpt
ROMANCE
How would she react to seeing him again ? Would she react with genuine pleasure or with cool politeness ? Would she hug him or slam the door in his face ? His stomach churned , making him wish he ’ d been less liberal with the morning coffee .
Unlike the night before , time passed swiftly on the drive . Before he knew it , he was pulling into driveway behind a smart little compact car . Lynn ’ s rental , if he read the tags right . For a quick moment , he wondered if he ’ d lost his mind , just showing up this way . Wondered if it was too late to just put the truck in reverse and go back down the road the way he ’ d come .
He gave himself a mental shake , took another deep breath and told himself that this needed to be done . Perhaps they ’ d find the closure they ’ d never had the chance to get after they had broken their engagement , with each of them thousands of miles away from the other . He hoped he ’ d be able to put her out of his mind , once and for all . He doubted it , but it was worth a shot .
Maybe he should get out of the truck before the people inside became curious as to who the weirdo was lurking in their driveway .
Breathing deep , Carter stepped from the vehicle , gravel crunching under his feet . He heard the dog barking inside as he made his way up the wooden steps . There was no doorbell – there never had been , not for as long as he could remember – so , hands shaking , he knocked . And waited there on the doorstep , counting the beats of the heart now in his throat , and taking shallow breaths . The sounds of footsteps grew louder as they approached the door , which soon swung open to reveal the woman who plagued last night ’ s dreams .
She was barefoot , dressed in jeans and an old , faded blue long sleeved tee shirt , her long wavy hair pulled back away from her face . Lynn looked just as shocked to see Carter at her front door as he had been at seeing her the previous night . This more than anything helped Carter relax , and he even worked up a smile . “ Hello , Lynn . Welcome home .”
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