Bonnie Winn - Lone Star Blessings

Tucker smiled. “I imagine you had a life back in the city. Gave it up to come take care of your father. Couldn’t have been easy.”

Kate lifted her gaze and he saw her eyes deepen. He also saw a fleeting vulnerability along with pain. “My family’s everything to me—small as it is. When you shake that down, it wasn’t hard to know what I had to do…what I wanted to do. I suppose I didn’t think anything else was important.”

“Not even a ticket from a small-town sheriff?” he teased gently.

Her laugh was soft. “I’m not going to live that one down, am I?”

“Doubtful.”

She looked up at the star-filled sky. “Never realized how inspiring small towns can be.”

He looked at the slim column of her neck, the curve of her throat as it arched. Inspiring. It had been a lifetime since he’d stood in the moonlight next to a woman. A lifetime forever unwound.

is a hopeless romantic who has written incessantly since the third grade. So it seemed only natural that she turned to romance writing. A seasoned author of historical and contemporary romance, Bonnie has won numerous awards for her bestselling books. Affaire de Coeur chose her as one of the Top Ten Romance Writers in America.

Bonnie loves writing contemporary romance because she can set her stories in the modern cities close to her heart and explore the endlessly fascinating strengths of today’s women.

Living in the foothills of the Rockies gives her plenty of inspiration and a touch of whimsy, as well. She shares her life with her husband, son and a spunky Norwich terrier who lends his characteristics to many pets in her stories. Bonnie’s keeping mum about anyone else’s characteristics she may have borrowed.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why art thou disquieted within me?

Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him who is

the health of my countenance, and my God.

—Psalms 43:5

In memory of my parents.

Always loved.

Forever missed.

Deepest thanks to my agent, Danielle Egan-Miller,

for your unwavering support, understanding,

belief, encouragement and friendship.

And, to Melissa Endlich,

for making my return so good.

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

Questions for Discussion

One mile to Rosewood. Kaitlyn would have done a somersault if she weren’t crammed into her small VW Jetta with all her clothes, the entire contents of her bathroom, books, laptop, work supplies and her cat, Noodle, who had been screeching nonstop for the last thirty minutes. Leaving the highway, she pulled on to Main Street. Usually, when she visited her father, she took time to dally down the Victorian, tree-lined avenue. Now, feeling as though she were covered in road film, all she could think of was getting to her father’s house, then out of the car.

And she was more tired than she could ever remember being. The exhaustion was both physical and emotional. A few weeks earlier, when Kate had received the news about her father’s fall, she’d been concerned, but she hadn’t expected anything quite so serious. He’d broken his hip, then as a result, suffered an embolism that could have been fatal. That ruled out staying home on his own. Knowing he didn’t want to go to a long-term recovery facility, she’d offered to stay until he could live by himself again. And that would be quite a while. If he had another fall, a second embolism might not be detected until it was too late.

So in the last few days, she’d listed her condo with a Realtor, emptied what mattered into her car, arranged to have the rest moved to storage, and broken her engagement.

She hadn’t expected Derek to be wild about her decision to remain with her father until he could live on his own again. But she hadn’t anticipated his total lack of understanding. She’d always known his career was terribly important to him, that he had never shown any interest in her family, but…He’d always had an excuse when she invited him to visit her father. And she rationalized his absences to herself. Too much so, she now realized.

She lifted her left hand, now absent her large diamond engagement ring. Derek had been shocked when she returned it. Almost more shocked than hearing she was breaking their engagement.

Kate returned her grip on the steering wheel. Taking pity on Noodle, who was still screeching, she reached over to his crate and unfastened the latch. Poor baby, he hated driving as far as the vet’s when they were home in Houston. Three hours on the road had been torture. Smiling, she pulled open the door of his crate.

White fur erupted. Claws extended, Noodle flipped back on to the top of his crate, bolted up on the car seat and landed on Kaitlyn’s shoulders. Hair standing on end, he dug in his claws. She swerved over the white stripe in the middle of the road, trying to pull him off. Noodle just dug in deeper. Jerking the wheel in the opposite direction, she tried to reach her terrified pet. A few swerves later, she peeled his paws from her shoulders and he clutched on to the headrest.

She exhaled, then sucked in her breath when a siren suddenly shrilled behind her. Noodle screeched as well, jumping on top of her head.

Kate came to a stop somewhere near the side of the road. It was hard to tell, with Noodle obscuring her vision. Sweaty, exhausted and frustrated, she tried to unfasten his claws, but Noodle was having none of it.

Someone knocked on her window and she jumped, bumping Noodle into the headliner. Seeing it was a policeman, she rolled down the window.

His gaze roamed over her cat and the crammed car, but his critical expression didn’t change. “Nice hat.”

Closing her eyes, she counted silently to ten. “Don’t tell me you pulled me over for a fashion commentary, officer.”

“Nope. Left taillight’s out. And, it’s Sheriff Grey.”

Taillight? Taillight! She hadn’t slept for two days, she was worried sick about her father and now…this…. “I know Rosewood’s a sleepy town, but surely you have better things to do than patrol for sinister taillight outages.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty backward here, but we still don’t allow cars to zigzag all over Main Street. You may not have noticed, but people are walking on the sidewalks and the kids are out of school for the day.”

She sighed. “I didn’t think Noodle would go nuts when I opened his crate. I’m normally a very safe driver.”

His Stetson shaded his eyes. “Hmm. License and proof of insurance, please.”

Kate couldn’t help it. She gaped at him. “I told you—”

“License?”

Muttering under her breath, she dug in her purse and pulled out her driver’s license and insurance card from her wallet. Still fuming, she didn’t speak as she handed them over.

He gave them a cursory glance. Then he walked back to his patrol car. Well, technically his patrol SUV. She watched him from her side mirror. He was tall, and he slid right into the driver’s side without having to step up. She could tell he’d entered her info and was waiting to see if she was a modern-day Ma Barker. As he did, she gently disengaged Noodle’s claws and got him back in his crate. She glanced in the rearview mirror, trying to see what the sheriff was doing. Instead, she caught sight of herself.