Jillian Hart - Montana Homecoming

A place to heal

That’s all Brooke McKaslin yearns for. She’s returned to Montana on family business, hoping to leave her past behind. And to shield the secret she carries. She’s not planning on staying long—until she begins working for reporter Liam Knightly. Liam is handsome, good-hearted—and as leery of relationships as Brooke is. Even as they realize how much they have in common, Brooke fears a threat to their growing love. Will her secret stand in the way of their happiness?

“Maybe I inherited the bad-marriage gene,” Liam said.

“I know the feeling.”

“That’s why you’re still single?”

“One reason.” The truth sat on the tip of Brooke’s tongue, ready to be told. What was it about Liam that made her weaken her guard? She’d nearly opened up to him. She shook her head. No way did she know him enough to trust him. “It’s my opinion that men cause destruction and ruin where ever they go.”

“Funny, that’s my opinion about women.” His slow grin made her heart skip a beat.

Good thing her heart wasn’t in charge. She was. And she wasn’t going to let his stunning smile weaken her defenses any further.

“I know that’s not fair.” Liam winked. “But that’s how it feels.”

So hard to ignore that wink. She let it bounce off her, unaffected. She’d gotten as close to him as she was going to.

Best to remember she worked for him, she was leaving as soon as the trial was over and the last thing she wanted was a man to complicate things.

JILLIAN HART

grew up on her family’s homestead, where she helped raise cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time. After earning her English degree from Whitman College, she worked in travel and advertising before selling her first novel. When Jillian isn’t working on her next story, she can be found puttering in her rose garden, curled up with a good book or spending quiet evenings at home with her family.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

—Proverbs 3:5

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

Chapter Seventeen

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

As Brooke McKaslin stepped foot outside onto the porch, a full moon peered over the stand of tall evergreens bordering the neighborhood. A touch of a chill hovered in the May evening. She slipped onto the top step and drew the edges of her cardigan sweater closed, remembering too late she was missing a button.

Night settled in a peaceful way. Somewhere a frog croaked from the ditch on the other side of the trees. Two or three streets over a car engine, in obvious need of a muffler, roared to life. Other than that, the neighborhood remained quiet. Golden light on curtained windows shone from nearby trailers where folks were cozy. She shifted on the step, as restless as she always felt when she came to Bozeman to visit.

It didn’t help that her life was in turmoil. She’d just lost her job in Seattle because of cutbacks, leaving her financially strapped. Her stomach knotted at the inadequate amount in her savings account. Best not to think about that now. She’d come to Montana to lend her support to the family rallying around her younger sister, Brianna. Last year Bree had been critically injured in a violent robbery. A terrible time.

God had been gracious—Bree had survived and recovered fully. Now she would be a key witness for the prosecution in the upcoming trial. No one should go through that experience without family. Brooke’s personal problems? They paled in comparison.

She breathed in the scent of lilacs from the bushes next door, drawing in the sweet, cool air. It felt good to have a moment to herself. She loved her family, but they wanted her to move to Montana permanently; they wanted her to put aside her past and be the girl they once knew.

Truth was? She did, too. The faint drone of the TV mumbled through the walls. She’d left her half sister, Colbie, and Colbie’s mom, Lil, calling out questions to Alex Trebek’s answers. No doubt they were still at it. She smiled, wishing she could have a regular life. That she could be that girl her family remembered, the one who believed in the good in people, the girl who had always known freedom.

Overhead stars glimmered like dreams far out of reach. She wondered how far away heaven was through the vast mystery of space. Did God see her sitting here worrying about her sister? She hoped He had heard her prayers.

Something crackled in the fenced yard next door. Twigs snapped. Bushes rustled. A bear tromping through underbrush couldn’t make that much noise. Curious, she craned her neck to see if it was man or beast, but she couldn’t see a thing. Just the tall fence and blooming lilacs.

“Oscar! Come back here,” a man called. “Bad dog!”

His words held no sting but a hint of laughter as something scrabbled against the wooden fence. Paws appeared over the top followed by a snout and two short, floppy ears. A dog carrying something bulky in his mouth popped over the top rail and launched into the air.

“Oscar!” A dark head of hair bobbed on the other side of the fence boards. “Don’t you dare run off!”

Brooke was on her feet before the dog’s four paws hit the lawn. There was no other fence to slow down the escapee, not that a six-foot one had seemed to stop him. Although this neighborhood was quiet, a major road sat on the other side of the trees. That had to be hazardous for a dog on the loose.

“Here, boy.” She held out one hand, running to intercept him. “Good, Oscar.”

The yellow Lab spotted her, clutching something in his mouth. His surprised eyes glinted in the glow from the streetlight as he skidded to a halt in front of her. In a bid to change directions, his hind legs churned up grass and he bolted off down the middle of the road.

“Oscar!” A man landed with a two-footed thud in the flowerbed next to her. “Wow! That was close. I’m impressed. You almost had him.”

“Almost doesn’t keep him safe.” She glanced over her shoulder at the trailer behind her, the door firmly closed. They were definitely alone. Shyness gripped her. “He went that way.”

“Thanks.” The man flashed a smile, glowing white in the deepening shadows. He dashed away, a tall, muscled athlete with brown hair and battered sneakers. That was all she noticed before he was lost in the darkness, his footsteps echoing.

Should she have run after the dog, too? She stared down at her combat boots. Not exactly running shoes. She wasn’t athletic, either, at least not these days. Once she’d run cross-country and loved it, but then she’d loved a lot of things in life before they had been taken away. Before she had lost everything.