Victoria Pade - Awol Bride

Running into the Past

After Maicy Clark’s high school sweetheart breaks her fragile heart, she vows to cut him out of her life forever. But when Maicy dashes out of her own wedding decades later, she runs pell-mell back into Conor Madison’s healing arms...and his life!

Navy doctor Conor’s shocked to discover that his mysterious new patient is his never-forgotten childhood love. Now sweet Maicy’s all grown up—and a woman to be reckoned with. With a blizzard looming, a snowed-in Conor’s about to get up close and personal with the girl he’d never stopped wondering about. But are the scars of the past too deep to mend...or is it time for Conor and Maicy to finally come home?

“Can you raise your legs? One at a time?”

She did that, feeling satin around them. The wedding dress. From the wedding that hadn’t been. Because she’d run away from it...

“Okay, very carefully, I want you to try to move your head—can you do that?”

She could do that, too.

“Any pain with that? Any tingling in your shoulders, arms or legs?”

“No.”

“Nothing? No pain—shooting or otherwise?” the man asked.

“No,” she said softly as she went on assessing his face and finding more and more to it that made him seem like the boy she’d known. And loved.

And learned to wish she hadn’t...

Those full lips.

Those eyebrows that were a little thick and as dark a brown as his hair.

Then her neck was free and he raised his eyes to her face.

And that was when she knew for sure.

No one except the Madison brothers and their sister, Kinsey, had eyes like that. Cobalt blue that was bluer than blue.

“Oh, my God!” she said in alarm.

“What? Pain? Numbness?” he asked with more urgency.

“You’re Conor Madison,” she accused scornfully.

He relaxed and nodded. “Hi, Maicy,” he said calmly.

“I get it—I’ve died and gone to hell,” she muttered.

* * *

Camden Family Secrets:

Finding family and love in Colorado!

Awol Bride

Victoria Pade

www.millsandboon.co.uk

VICTORIA PADE is a USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous romance novels. She has two beautiful and talented daughters—Cori and Erin—and is a native of Colorado, where she lives and writes. A devoted chocolate lover, she’s in search of the perfect chocolate-chip-cookie recipe.

For information about her latest and upcoming releases, visit Victoria Pade on Facebook—she would love to hear from you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text Running into the Past After Maicy Clark’s high school sweetheart breaks her fragile heart, she vows to cut him out of her life forever. But when Maicy dashes out of her own wedding decades later, she runs pell-mell back into Conor Madison’s healing arms...and his life! Navy doctor Conor’s shocked to discover that his mysterious new patient is his never-forgotten childhood love. Now sweet Maicy’s all grown up—and a woman to be reckoned with. With a blizzard looming, a snowed-in Conor’s about to get up close and personal with the girl he’d never stopped wondering about. But are the scars of the past too deep to mend...or is it time for Conor and Maicy to finally come home?

Introduction “Can you raise your legs? One at a time?” She did that, feeling satin around them. The wedding dress. From the wedding that hadn’t been. Because she’d run away from it... “Okay, very carefully, I want you to try to move your head—can you do that?” She could do that, too. “Any pain with that? Any tingling in your shoulders, arms or legs?” “No.” “Nothing? No pain—shooting or otherwise?” the man asked. “No,” she said softly as she went on assessing his face and finding more and more to it that made him seem like the boy she’d known. And loved. And learned to wish she hadn’t... Those full lips. Those eyebrows that were a little thick and as dark a brown as his hair. Then her neck was free and he raised his eyes to her face. And that was when she knew for sure. No one except the Madison brothers and their sister, Kinsey, had eyes like that. Cobalt blue that was bluer than blue. “Oh, my God!” she said in alarm. “What? Pain? Numbness?” he asked with more urgency. “You’re Conor Madison,” she accused scornfully. He relaxed and nodded. “Hi, Maicy,” he said calmly. “I get it—I’ve died and gone to hell,” she muttered. * * * Camden Family Secrets: Finding family and love in Colorado!

Title Page Awol Bride Victoria Pade www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author VICTORIA PADE is a USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous romance novels. She has two beautiful and talented daughters—Cori and Erin—and is a native of Colorado, where she lives and writes. A devoted chocolate lover, she’s in search of the perfect chocolate-chip-cookie recipe. For information about her latest and upcoming releases, visit Victoria Pade on Facebook—she would love to hear from you.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“This is not turning into a good time.”

There was no one else in the rented SUV to hear Conor Madison’s observation as he drove through a Montana snowstorm that was getting worse by the minute.

When his plane had landed in Billings on that mid-January Sunday, snow had been falling. As promised, he’d called his sister Kinsey to tell her he’d arrived safely. But when he did, he’d discovered that Kinsey wasn’t in their small hometown of Northbridge, where she and Conor were slated to meet. Instead, she was snowed in inside her Denver home.

And by now, the snow was in his path, piling up fast. Conor could barely see two feet in front of him on this mountain road.

And on top of that, he was worried about his brother and thinking this whole idea might have been a mistake.

When he’d left the veterans’ hospital in Maryland, his younger brother Declan’s condition had been stable. In fact, Declan—who had been severely wounded in Afghanistan—had been doing so well he’d pushed Conor to make this trip. But when Conor had talked to Declan from the Billings airport, Declan hadn’t sounded very well, though he’d insisted that Conor stay.

But an hour and a half into the drive, when he’d called to check in with Declan again, Declan had been even more sluggish and lethargic, and had informed Conor that he’d spiked a fever—which could herald a dangerous complication that Conor wouldn’t be there to monitor.

As a doctor Conor couldn’t treat family, but he could follow what was being done closely. Monitoring his brother’s condition was the reason he was on leave from his own duties from the navy. Now he wasn’t where he felt he should be—by his brother’s side. If he hadn’t learned that all flights in and out had been canceled due to the storm, he might have headed back.

But there was no going back either to Billings or to Maryland, so all Conor could do was get somewhere safe—and get back to worrying about his brother once he arrived.

He’d grown up around here so he recognized where he was—about fifteen miles outside of Northbridge. But visibility was getting worse by the minute, and he was having more and more trouble plowing through the deepest of the drifts. There was no way he was going to make those last fifteen miles.

Luckily he wasn’t far from a cabin owned by the family of an old friend. When he noticed his patchy cell service was working for the moment, he’d called Rickie Dale to find out if the cabin was still standing and if he could use it.