Cynthia Thomason - High Country Cop

He’ll always love Miranda Jefferson...

But this cop has a job to do.

Seeing his high school sweetheart after fourteen years fills Holly River police chief Carter Cahill with so many conflicting emotions. One thing hasn’t changed—the love that brought them together in the first place. But the single mother’s asking something Carter isn’t sure he can give. Is he a man who follows the law...or his heart?

CYNTHIA THOMASON inherited her love of writing from her ancestors. Her father and grandmother both loved to write, and she aspired to continue the legacy. Cynthia studied English and journalism in college, and after a career as a high school English teacher, she began writing novels. She discovered ideas for stories while searching through antiques stores and flea markets and as an auctioneer and estate buyer. Cynthia says every cast-off item from someone’s life can ignite the idea for a plot. She writes about small towns, big hearts and happy endings that are earned and not taken for granted. And as far as the legacy is concerned, just ask her son, the magazine journalist, if he believes.

Also By Cynthia Thomason

Rescued by Mr. Wrong

The Bridesmaid Wore Sneakers

A Boy to Remember

Firefly Nights

This Hero for Hire

A Soldier’s Promise

Blue Ridge Autumn

Marriage for Keeps

Dilemma at Bayberry Cove

His Most Important Win

The Men of Thorne Island

Your House or Mine?

An Unlikely Match

An Unlikely Father

An Unlikely Family

Deal Me In

Return of the Wild Son

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

High Country Cop

Cynthia Thomason

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08089-7

HIGH COUNTRY COP

© 2018 Cynthia Thomason

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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“You’re a good man. You’ve always been a...”

Carter stopped her by lowering his head to stare at the floor. For one life-changing moment he considered what he was about to do, and then he cast aside his doubts. Her eyes met his, moist and bright, and he pressed his lips to hers. The years separating them melted away as he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. The contact seemed to last for a blissful eternity and yet was over in an instant.

He dropped his hands, backed away. He felt her breath on his mouth, still warm from their kiss.

“Oh, Carter...” she whispered. She splayed her palm against his chest, her lips parted. He was certain she could feel the racing of his heart.

He blinked hard, swallowed. “This is crazy, Miranda. We can’t do this.”

Dear Reader,

Places of the heart.

We all have them, and they are different for all of us. But they stir us, comfort us and always call us back. I have been returning every summer to my place of the heart, the high country of North Carolina, three counties of majestic beauty and unrivaled thrills in the highest mountains of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was only natural that I would set a trilogy of stories in this unequaled land of forests and mountaintops. This is the debut book of the series, The Cahills of North Carolina. The title is High Country Cop, and it is the story of Carter Cahill, chief of police in the small town of Holly River. I hope you enjoy reading about Carter’s journey to true love, and I hope you take a moment to think of the place of your heart. Look for Jace Cahill’s story next, and following that one, Ava Cahill’s.

Happy reading,

Cynthia

PS: I love hearing from readers. You can contact me at cynthoma@aol.com.

This book is dedicated to all the small-town cops who do so much more for their communities than just enforce the law. And a special thank-you to the folks at Sugar Plum Farms in Plum Tree, North Carolina, for all their advice on growing those magnificent Fraser firs. Any mistakes are mine and not theirs.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

EPILOGUE

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

CHIEF OF POLICE Carter Cahill was working the ten-to-six shift in Holly River, North Carolina, on this Friday. Since he had some extra time in the morning, he’d driven the patrol car out to Hidden Creek Road and stopped in to do some chores for his widowed mother. Carter or his younger brother, Jace, stopped by the family home at least once a week to help Cora with her to-do list.

Satisfied that the leaky pipe under the kitchen sink was fixed, Carter headed back to town, the place he’d called home his entire life. When his cell phone rang, and he recognized the number of the police station, he initiated the car speaker. “This is Carter. What is it, Betsy?” he asked his dispatcher.