Joan Kilby - Home to Hope Mountain

A place called Hope

Hayley Sorenson uses horses to help people heal. But when neighbor Adam Banks asks for her expertise with his teenage daughter, she says no. How can she get involved when all she sees is their past? And the attraction Hayley feels for Adam makes her anything but objective!

Yet Adam isn’t deterred, and in getting to know the woman they call the horse whisperer, he realizes that she’s dealing with her own pain. As Hayley etches a place in Adam’s heart, all he wants is to give her the home she truly deserves.

Adam’s deep voice betrayed nothing but sincerity

So much generosity was overwhelming, especially in the face of her standoffishness. “It’s kind of you but I can’t accept.”

“Why not? Give me one good reason.”

Hayley’s hand hovered over the key in the ignition, itching to turn it. She didn’t have a good reason. But she had her pride. “You don’t even know me and you’re inviting me to live in your cottage.”

“Not knowing you is all the more reason to keep a close eye on the therapist who’s treating my daughter. What do you say? You’d, of course, be free to come and go, and do whatever you normally do.”

It was so tempting. Her garage would be cold and dark even with candles. But accepting would mean admitting she was a stone’s throw from being homeless. “No. Thank you, but no.”

“Why not? It makes sense. I have this big house and a cottage and you’re toughing it out in a garage.”

Ah, he felt guilty. Why should she care? His guilt wasn’t her problem.

Dear Reader,

In the summer of 2009, my home state of Victoria was caught in the grip of devastating bushfires known as Black Saturday. People not from Australia might think the term “bush” means small bushes, but it can also mean the forest. The toll from Black Saturday was horrendous: one hundred and seventy-three human lives were lost and over two thousand homes destroyed, plus countless livestock and wildlife.

Home to Hope Mountain isn’t about death and destruction, though. It’s about survival and recovery and the resilience of the human spirit. It’s about the ability of the land to regenerate. And about a small community that pulls together to put the tragic past behind them and rebuild their lives. It’s about the power of love to heal and to renew hope for the future.

Although I’ve drawn on stories of the bushfires, neither the town of Hope Mountain nor any characters or their experiences are based on real places or people.

The Horses For Hope program is real, however, and does amazing work for people suffering from a variety of mental health issues. It was this program and not the fires that was the inspiration for this book. I hope I’ve done the program, and the amazing bond between horses and humans, justice in my portrayal. I’ve taken liberties with the program’s method of funding for plot purposes. Any other inaccuracies are inadvertent.

Thanks to Colin Emonson for answering my many questions and explaining how the therapy works. For more information go to www.horsesforhope.org.au/.

I love to hear from readers. To drop me a line, or to find out more about my books, go to www.joankilby.com.

Warm regards,

Joan Kilby

Home to Hope Mountain

Joan Kilby

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When Joan Kilby isn’t writing her next Mills & Boon Superromance title, she loves to travel, often to Asia which is right on Australia’s doorstep, so to speak. Now that her three children are grown, she and her husband enjoy the role reversal of taking off and leaving the kids to take care of the house and pets.

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To the victims, human and animal, of bushfires.

To the brave firefighters and emergency workers who put their lives on the line in times of extreme danger.

And to the survivors who rebuild their lives with courage and hope.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

ADAM BANKS DROVE down his winding, rutted driveway while his fourteen-year-old daughter, Summer, nodded to music only she could hear through the earbuds dangling beneath her long red hair.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy of eucalyptus. Birds warbled and twittered above the smooth purr of his vintage Mercedes-Benz. The open window let in a cool breeze that held just a hint of spring.

When he came to the road he looked both ways then began to pull out.

“Look out, Dad!” Summer yelled.

A horse and rider crashed through the forest and shot past right in front of him.

Adam slammed on the brakes and swore under his breath. “I saw her. Did she see me?”

The blonde woman on the dapple gray hauled on the reins, struggling to control the fiery horse. “I’m sorry. Really sorry. My horse has some issues.”

Adam stuck his head out the window, his heart still racing. He’d damn near run her down and the shock of it made him rude when he wouldn’t normally be. “Looks to me like you’re the one with the problem.”

Her cheeks flushed and her full mouth set as she straightened her Akubra hat atop her fraying braid. The horse danced and sidestepped on the gravel shoulder until the woman dug her heels into its heaving sides, and they both plunged back into the woods.

“Who the hell was that?” Adam wondered aloud as he drove off. He glanced into the forest, but the woman and her horse had already disappeared.

“Our neighbor, Hayley Someone.” Summer pressed her nose to the window and gazed longingly after the horse.

“Hayley Someone needs to learn to ride.” Adam gripped the wheel with both hands and scanned the road ahead for runaway horses.

“If she couldn’t ride, she would’ve fallen off when her horse reared,” Summer said. “She and her husband used to give trail rides. Mum’s been on them. But Hayley’s husband died in the bushfires, so I don’t know if Hayley’s still doing the rides.” She paused. “Did you see scars all down her horse’s neck? I wonder if that was from the fire?”

“Could be, I suppose.” Adam had too much on his plate to be distracted by the locals. After he dropped off Summer at school he was heading into the city to meet with the Shanghai delegation about the development project the architecture firm he worked for was bidding on.

“Dad?” Summer turned to him. “I want another horse.”

“We’re not talking about this now, sweetheart. I told you I’d think about it.” She’d been after him all weekend—horse, horse, horse—till he thought he’d go mad.

“Huh.” Summer readjusted her earbuds and slouched down in her seat, allowing him to spend the rest of the twenty-minute drive going over his presentation in his mind.

Adam pulled up in front of the high school and let the car idle while Summer gathered her backpack. “Can you get the bus back to the house after school?”