Catherine Lanigan - Katia's Promise

Dear Reader Dear Reader Dear Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication Acknowledgments 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Copyright , For those of you who are just discovering the Shores of Indian Lake, Katia’s Promise is the fourth book in the series. Although Katia’s story was the fourth one to be written, it was the vision of beautiful, guilt-ridden Katia returning to Indian Lake after nearly twenty years of living in Chicago that sparked the entire series. I had a vision of Katia standing under a streetlight across from an elegant home, daring herself to go in and confront the man she’d left brokenhearted when she was sixteen. I wanted a heroine who knew she’d “done wrong by him.” Austin McCreary has never forgiven Katia. When she seems to blow into Indian Lake like a gale-force wind and crashes a presentation he’s giving in his home, he’s not happy to see her. I hope you enjoy Katia’s story as much as I did when I finally put her stormy romance with Austin on paper. I would love to hear if there’s a character you’ve seen mentioned in Indian Lake whose story you’d like to read. You can contact me at cathlanigan1@gmail.com or my website at catherinelanigan.com . You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Catherine Lanigan

Title Page Katia’s Promise Catherine Lanigan www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author CATHERINE LANIGAN knew she was born to storytelling at a very young age when she told stories to her younger brothers and sister to entertain them. After years of encouragement from family and high school teachers, Catherine was shocked and brokenhearted when her freshman college creative-writing professor told her that she had “no writing talent whatsoever” and that she would never earn a dime as a writer. He promised her that he would get her through his demanding class with a B grade so as not to destroy her high grade point average, if Catherine would promise never to write again. For fourteen years she did not write until she was encouraged by a television journalist to give her dream a shot. She wrote a 600-page historical romantic spy-thriller set against World War I. The journalist sent the manuscript to his agent who then garnered bids from two publishers. That was nearly forty published novels, nonfiction books and anthologies ago.

Dedication This book is dedicated to my husband, Jed Nolan, with all my love forever. Acknowledgments Acknowledgments 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Copyright I don’t know how many times my editors have had to pull their hair out over my manuscripts until, together, we finally create a jewel, but I’m hoping no one runs to a wig store on my account. Each time I sit down to the computer I say a prayer of thanksgiving for everyone at Heartwarming. To my editor, Claire Caldwell, believe me, there aren’t enough words in this clunky English language to express my sincere gratitude for your brilliant guidance and creativity. Many thanks to Victoria Curran for expecting superior storytelling out of me and all the authors. I also appreciate all you do out there in the real world to promote the line and the authors, and the push to get our books into more retail venues. To all the Heartwarming staff, you are extraordinarily talented individuals, and it shows. From our unique and compelling covers to the cover copy to the daunting hours of promotion on social media it takes to make our presence known, thank you. To Dianne Moggy—as always, I send you my sincere gratitude and affection.

Acknowledgments Acknowledgments Acknowledgments 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Copyright I don’t know how many times my editors have had to pull their hair out over my manuscripts until, together, we finally create a jewel, but I’m hoping no one runs to a wig store on my account. Each time I sit down to the computer I say a prayer of thanksgiving for everyone at Heartwarming. To my editor, Claire Caldwell, believe me, there aren’t enough words in this clunky English language to express my sincere gratitude for your brilliant guidance and creativity. Many thanks to Victoria Curran for expecting superior storytelling out of me and all the authors. I also appreciate all you do out there in the real world to promote the line and the authors, and the push to get our books into more retail venues. To all the Heartwarming staff, you are extraordinarily talented individuals, and it shows. From our unique and compelling covers to the cover copy to the daunting hours of promotion on social media it takes to make our presence known, thank you. To Dianne Moggy—as always, I send you my sincere gratitude and affection.

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

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

GOLDEN AND BRONZE autumn sunset beams shot through the wooden slats on Katia’s high-rise apartment windows. She padded across the beige carpet in bare feet, rushing from the bathroom to the bedroom. She was late for her own party.

She’d spiraled a navy towel around her hair, then spritzed herself with jasmine-and-almond-scented body spray. Now, standing in front of her closet, she pulled out the black silk and lace sheath dress she’d recently bought at her favorite resale shop on the far North Side. The dress had obviously never been worn. Like most of the dresses at Sonja’s Secrets, this one had probably belonged to an affluent woman from Wilmette or Kenilworth who shopped out of boredom and not need. Katia hadn’t had time to be bored since she was very young. Ten years ago, she was too busy building her résumé and her reputation in the insurance business to shop, go to the movies or do anything other than work. Then she’d turned thirty, landed a job at Carter and Associates with Jack Carter, and in her four years there, she’d become a manager. She’d won confidence and approval.

She was on top of the world.

Katia zipped up the dress and turned to check herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the bedroom door. She smiled. The dress fit like a dream and showed off her slender figure, and the well-placed darts accentuated her waist. Katia only had two rules when it came to diet and exercise: no French fries, and she walked the twenty-one blocks to and from work every day. Life already had enough rules to follow, she thought.