Synopsis | Reviews | Excerpt
Rebecca Hawk has come home to remember who she was before the lure of life as a social worker in a big city nearly destroyed her--and might, still. She's moved back to her family's namesake mountain in West Virginia, where Granny Jo Hawks can help her forget the horrors she'd seen and been unable to prevent.
Ex Navy Corpsman, Nicholas Hart, has moved to Hawks Mountain in hope that its timeless Appalachian serenity will help him overcome his painful war memories.
Now Rebecca and Nicholas must find each other—and their chances of a life together after putting the past to rest—on Hawk's Mountain.
"A sweet, warm welcome to a place where neighbors take care of neighbors, where broken hearts can heal...and where love always lights the way home." --Jean Brashear, bestselling author of The Goddess Of Fried Okra
"A gentle romance readers everywhere will embrace.” – Deborah Grace Staley, bestselling author of Only You
"Who are you, and why are you trespassing on our land?”
Nick turned toward the woman's voice and froze.
A few feet away from him, the sun dancing off her coppery curls, her curvy body encased in tight jeans and a brief, pink crop-top, stood perhaps the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Even with the angry scowl distorting her features she was captivating. As he stared at the woman, her youth became apparent, perhaps somewhere in her early twenties. Though he felt ancient, it was close to his own age.
A breeze toyed with the loose curls framing her face and playfully whipped the bright strands around in wild abandonment. The black duffle bag emblazoned with the Atlanta Falcons' gold logo clutched in her hand made him wonder if she was a tourist passing through. However, he deep-sixed that notion when he recalled her verbal claim to the land. Definitely not a tourist.
Ignoring her questions, he continued to study the woman for a few moments longer, and then shook his head, denying himself the tiny flicker of enjoyment seeping into his senses and the sudden acceleration of his pulse rate.
"Well? What do you have to say for yourself? Why are you trespassing on my grandmother's land?”
Ah, just as he'd suspected. Not a tourist. But she evidently had not been around here for a while. First of all he would have definitely recalled seeing her before. A woman like this did not drift in and out of a man's life without him remembering her. Second, she didn't realize this was his land, sold legally to him by her grandmother, Josephine Hawks, over eight months ago.
However, he had no intention of explaining himself to her or anyone else. If he had been so inclined, he'd have told all the speculating gossips in town why he was here long ago. Instead he let their imaginations run the gamut between him being an axe murderer running from the law and a man dying from some horrible, incurable disease.
Clutching the laptop in one hand and balancing the brown bag and the book in the other hand, he tore his gaze away from her and turned his back, then slowly walked to the line of trees bordering the meadow.
"Where are you going? Hey, you gonna answer me? Mister? You got no business being here.”
Casting one last glance over his shoulder, as if to reaffirm her existence in his mind, he turned away again. She'd dropped the duffle bag and taken one step in his direction. Something about her pulled at him, but he fought it. This woman may be beautiful, but that made her more of a threat to his solitude and no less an intrusion. Whoever she was, he had no desire to let her into his life, not even the little bit that replying to her questions would allow. He'd been alone for a long time now, and come what may, he planned on staying that way. Sometimes, the loneliness almost overwhelmed him, but it beat the heck out of attaching himself emotionally to someone, then losing them forever.
Rebecca Hawks stared after the stranger as he disappeared into the trees. "Well, I'll be. If that doesn't just beat all.”
