Patricia Potter - The Soldier's Homecoming

He’s looking for roots. She won’t be tied down.

Army ranger Travis Hammond needs to heal physical and emotional wounds. A job in Covenant Falls checking out equine therapy programs for veterans is a start, but it’s only temporary. And he doesn’t need a partner, especially some reporter with the persistence of a terrier and irresistible green eyes. Like Travis, Jenny Talbot’s just passing through town. Unlike Travis, Jenny knows exactly where she’s going next—back to the Middle East, as soon as she recovers from her own war injury. But there’s a bend in the road for both of them.

USA TODAY bestselling author PATRICIA POTTER has been telling stories since the second grade when she wrote a short story about wild horses, although she knew nothing at all about them. She has since received numerous writing awards, including RT Book Reviews’ Storyteller of the Year, its Career Achievement Award for Western Historical Romance and Best Hero of the Year. She is a seven-time RITA® Award finalist for RWA and a three-time Maggie Award winner, as well as a past president of Romance Writers of America. Character motivation is what intrigues her most in creating a book, and she sits back and allows those characters to write their own stories.

Also By Patricia Potter

Home to Covenant Falls

The Soldier’s Promise

Tempted by the Soldier

A Soldier’s Journey

The SEAL’s Return

The Lawman

Swampfire

Between the Thunder

Samara

Seize the Fire

Chase the Thunder

Dragonfire

The Silver Link

The Abduction

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Soldier’s Homecoming

Patricia Potter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08291-4

THE SOLDIER’S HOMECOMING

© 2018 Patricia Potter

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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He clutched the towel closer to his body. “I have to put some clothes on.”

“You’re fine, but if you would be more comfortable...” Mischief danced in her eyes.

He’d thought no woman could stomach what had happened to his body, the scars left by remnants of a rocket. But then Jenny had experienced combat herself even if she’d been an observer rather than participant. Maybe the wound made her a participant.

Still, he couldn’t believe that any woman would actually be comfortable with the scars.

As if reading his thoughts, Jenny touched his chest and ran a finger down it, arousing all sorts of reactions. “You have great muscles and all the important stuff,” she said as she continued to study him. “I like your face a lot, too,” she added with a grin.

Damn, but she knew how to get inside his head. “Are you finished with your survey?”

“I’m getting there,” she said. “I have a few scars of my own, you know.”

Dear Reader,

I usually start a book by living with the hero and heroine for a month or more before starting a manuscript. After that, the story is up to them, and it rarely turns out the way I first envisioned. Any resemblance to the original idea is purely coincidental.

So it was with this book. The characters just didn’t want to do what I originally thought they would do. Travis, a Special Forces major, objected to being wounded in spirit as well as body. Jenny, a war correspondent who was wounded while covering a story, turned out to be equally stubborn. I never knew what she was going to do or say next.

The book has a special place in my heart. In the past, I’ve tried not to put myself in a book, but I failed this time. Jenny has a lot of me in her. She is a reporter (which was my original career), and I know the type well. Unbridled curiosity is the reporter’s—and writer’s—most valuable asset. Jenny takes this quality to the extreme. She wants to know everything about everyone, which can be quite annoying. And then the story she’s chasing is always more important than anything else, including relationships.

In The Soldier’s Homecoming, I turned her loose on an unsuspecting cast of characters and watched her change others as well as herself. I hope you like her as much as I enjoyed bringing her to life.

And this time I’m also sharing my newly adopted elderly citizen rescue dog, Anna, with you. Like Anna in the book, it was love at first sight.

Patricia Potter

This book is dedicated to the men and women who better the lives of veterans through many Horses for Heroes programs throughout the country.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

PROLOGUE

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

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher