Kimberly Meter - A Sinclair Homecoming

Free from the past

Wade Sinclair knows you can’t run from the past—he’s tried. After his beloved sister was murdered, he ran from Alaska to California only to discover there was no escape. So when a family crisis calls him back, he discovers therapist Morgan O’Hare knee-deep in their affairs. As soon as he meets Morgan, he feels as if there is brightness in the world again.

It would be inappropriate for them to get involved, yet the spark is irresistible. Wade never expected this kind of joy again. But is he really ready for this? Together, maybe they could find the strength to move on...if they’re brave enough to try.

“Can you help my mom?”

“I will certainly try,” Morgan answered. “A key to successful therapy is the patient’s willingness to accept help.”

“Well, she’s not exactly jumping up and down at the idea,” Wade admitted wryly. “Should we talk about the elephant in the room?” At Morgan’s quizzical expression, he said, “Simone’s death…”

“Ah, that. Yes, well, grief can cause all kinds of emotional as well as physical manifestations.”

“Well, some people aren’t as strong as others, I suppose.”

“It’s not a question of strength,” she corrected him with a gentle smile. “Some people find a way to cope but that doesn’t mean they’ve processed their feelings in a healthy manner.”

Why did it feel as though she was talking about him? “Well, at any rate…she’s ready for you. I just wanted to warn you before sending you into the lion’s den.”

“Thank you for trusting me with that information. Oh, and FYI, the coffee here will put hair on your chest. Very strong.” And then she left, coffee cup in hand, inadvertently causing a flush of awareness to remind him that he was a man and she was a beautiful woman.

He rubbed at his eyes, embarrassed by his inappropriate thought about his mother’s therapist.

Dear Reader Contents Dear Reader 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN EPILOGUE EXTRACT ,

I confess, when I first started writing Morgan O’Hare and Wade Sinclair’s story, I wasn’t quite sure who they were aside from the superficial. It wasn’t until I dug deeper into their story that their hearts were revealed to me. That’s what makes my job as a writer so rewarding. I love discovering deeper meaning in the words and honoring the characters’ journey as they find love.

Wade and Morgan are two people who are strong, professional and capable, yet under the surface, they are seething with dark hurts which are preventing them from claiming their joy. The road to true happiness is never easy but it’s the only road worth traveling, in my opinion, and I hope you agree as you turn the pages on Wade and Morgan’s love affair.

I enjoy hearing from readers. I can be found on Facebook, Twitter and through my website at www.kimberlyvanmeter.com, or you can send me something in the mail at P.O. BOX 2210, Oakdale, CA 95361.

Kimberly Van Meter

A Sinclair Homecoming

Kimberly Van Meter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kimberly Van Meter wrote her first book at sixteen and finally achieved publication in December 2006. She writes for the Mills & Boon Superromance and Mills & Boon Romantic Suspense lines. She and her husband of seventeen years have three children, three cats and always a houseful of friends, family and fun.

Contents

Dear Reader Dear Reader Contents Dear Reader 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN EPILOGUE EXTRACT , I confess, when I first started writing Morgan O’Hare and Wade Sinclair’s story, I wasn’t quite sure who they were aside from the superficial. It wasn’t until I dug deeper into their story that their hearts were revealed to me. That’s what makes my job as a writer so rewarding. I love discovering deeper meaning in the words and honoring the characters’ journey as they find love. Wade and Morgan are two people who are strong, professional and capable, yet under the surface, they are seething with dark hurts which are preventing them from claiming their joy. The road to true happiness is never easy but it’s the only road worth traveling, in my opinion, and I hope you agree as you turn the pages on Wade and Morgan’s love affair. I enjoy hearing from readers. I can be found on Facebook, Twitter and through my website at www.kimberlyvanmeter.com , or you can send me something in the mail at P.O. BOX 2210, Oakdale, CA 95361. Kimberly Van Meter

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

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

EPILOGUE

EXTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

IF INSOMNIA WAS the devil’s handmaiden then Wade Sinclair was her bitch most nights.

Like tonight.

He rolled to his side, refusing to look at the red numbers glowing from his digital alarm clock because he didn’t want to know how much sleep he wasn’t getting. Five a.m. came early when operating on very little sleep.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried meditating but his mind was too unruly to cooperate.

Each time he came close to drifting to sleep, his baby sister’s face popped into his mental theater, and sleep fled like a deer with a cougar on its tail.

Simone—pretty, charming, too smart for her britches—dead.

It’s been eight years, he wanted to groan as if trying to negotiate with whatever demon prevented his eyes from closing and his mind from resting. How much longer was he supposed to carry this burden of unending grief and guilt?

He rolled to his feet and walked to the window to stare out across the forested land of the Yosemite National Park. But instead of California pines, he saw Alaskan hemlock and spruce, native to the Kenai mountains of his homeland. He saw the deep snow that had blanketed the ground and made the terrain hard to traverse. He saw his sister’s body trundled into the body bag as they carried her away.

This was Trace’s fault. If his brother hadn’t kept bugging him about coming home, he wouldn’t have been reminded daily of that awful day. No witnesses saw Simone climb into the car with her killer that night. No witnesses ever came forward to lend any clues.

And her killer continued to walk free.

Maybe that was what kept him awake at night.

No justice.

No closure.

And not even moving away to California had changed that.

His last conversation with Trace was too fresh in his mind to ignore, and he felt like a royal shit for being so curt with his younger brother, but he couldn’t drop everything in his life just to play mediator between his siblings and his parents. Just because he was the oldest didn’t mean he had the answers to every problem.