Sharon Sala - A Place To Call Home

Lord, don’t do this to me again.

Then Judd was laughing between mouthfuls of marshmallows that her daughter was poking into his mouth. Every bite he took, he growled and nipped at her baby fingers, which seemed to the little girl to be the height of hilarity.

When he pulled her toddler out of her car seat and into his arms, Charlie’s knuckles went white on the steering wheel. The image of a big strong man carrying her tiny child was too touching to be ignored. At that moment, she would have liked nothing better than to sit there and cry. But letting go of her emotions was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

God, please take away this feeling, she prayed silently. I don’t want to want that man….

Dear Reader,

I was so pleased to learn that A Place To Call Home was being reissued. The story depicts a life that so many children live these days. When a child is born, and held and loved, a bond is formed that only death can break. When Judd Hanna loses his mother at a young age and is left with a father who wishes Judd had never been born, his life becomes a spiral into fear and abuse. That’s when having one parent can sometimes be worse than having none at all. These kinds of children grow up with a wall between them and the rest of the world. The wall is security against ever loving, or falling in love. It’s their only protection from ever being hurt again.

But when Judd Hanna meets Charlotte Franklin and her adorable little girl, Rachel, his walls come tumbling down.

I hope that when you have finished reading this book you are able to give thanks for having wonderful families of your own. But if you do not, and if your life is somewhat like Judd Hanna’s, don’t give up. There’s always hope that you, too, will find a place you can call home.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

With fifty-two books in print, award-winning author Sharon Sala, who also writes as Dinah McCall, still has to remind herself from time to time that this isn’t a dream.

She learned to read at the age of four, and has had her nose in a book ever since. Her introduction to romance came at an early age through the stories of Zane Grey, Grace Livingston Hill and Emily Loring.

First published in 1991, she’s now a four-time RITA® Award finalist, winner of the Janet Dailey Award, three-time Career Achievement winner from Romantic Times magazine, four-time winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award and five-time winner of the Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence, as well as numerous other industry awards.

Her books are regularly on bestseller lists, such as The New York Times, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly, Waldenbooks mass market and many others.

She claims that, for her, learning to read was a matter of evolution, but learning to write and then being published was a revolution. It changed her life, her world and her fate.

I dedicate this book to all of my readers who have vanquished the monsters that slept under their beds.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

“Goddamn it, Hanna, you aren’t listening to me.”

Detective Judd Hanna of the Tulsa Police Department gave his captain a look that would have quelled a lesser man. Roger Shaw threw up his hands in defeat.

“And don’t give me one of those ‘spare me’ looks, either. This is serious.”

Judd let his gaze shift from his captain’s face to a spot just over his shoulder, and then the window beyond. There was a window washer halfway up the building across the street. Judd wondered absently why a man would choose such a dangerous occupation.

Shaw saw Judd’s focus shift. He turned, following Judd’s gaze, saw the man on the scaffolding across the street, and then strode to the windows and deftly dropped the shades. When he turned, Judd was heading for the door.

“I’m not through with you,” Shaw snapped. “Get back here now, and that’s an order.”

Judd sighed. Short of mutiny, which he was considering, disobeying an out-and-out order was beyond him. He turned, wishing that this feeling of helplessness would just go away. He felt aimless…almost out of control. And of all things, Judd Hanna had to be in control. It was the only way he could function.

“What…sir?”

Shaw took a deep breath and then popped a mint in his mouth to keep from cursing again. He’d lost his temper more in the last ten minutes than he had all month. God only knew what his blood pressure was doing right now. He shuddered and pushed the thought from his mind.

“Look, Hanna. I’m serious. This is Vice. We do things here as a team. You can’t keep playing cowboy every time we go out on a raid. Use your radio. Call for backup. Depend on your partner. That’s why he’s there.”

Judd’s eyes narrowed. “My partner is dead,” he said shortly.

Shaw shoved an angry hand through what was left of his thinning hair. Even though Judd had been assigned a new partner over a month ago, he had yet to acknowledge his presence.

“I know it was rough losing Myers the way we did. We all liked Dan. But life goes on. David Sanger is your partner now, and you will, by God, treat him as such.”

Judd didn’t blink and wouldn’t answer. None of them knew the guilt Judd carried. Three days away from retirement, Dan Myers had taken a bullet meant for Judd. Instead of a retirement party, they’d attended Dan’s funeral. Judd hadn’t slept the night through since.

Shaw glared at the implacable expression on Hanna’s face. Never in his life had he wanted to shake anyone as badly as he did right now. And yet looking at him, Shaw knew that was the last thing a sane man would do. At three inches over six feet, and with an attitude that wouldn’t quit, Judd Hanna was a man you didn’t want to piss off. Shaw sighed, then tried a different approach.

“Hanna, you know as well as I do that the rules are in place for everyone’s safety. Not just yours. I don’t want to attend another funeral, namely yours.”

Judd muttered something that, to Shaw, sounded suspiciously like, who the hell cares.

“That does it!” Shaw snapped. “Turn in your badge and your service revolver. I’m placing you on medical leave until you get your head screwed on straight.”

Finally, Shaw had Judd’s attention. “You can’t!” Judd argued. “We’re too close to finding Dan’s killer.”

Shaw pointed a finger in Judd’s face. “That’s what I mean,” he shouted. “Dan Myers’s case belongs to Homicide. We’re Vice.”

Judd swallowed as panic started to intercede. He couldn’t let go just like that. Why couldn’t Shaw understand?

“Look, Captain, Dan was my partner. He took a bullet meant for—”

Shaw shook his head. “You heard me. As of this minute, you’re on leave…with pay, of course. You will report to Dr. Wilson at nine o’clock tomorrow morning, and every morning thereafter until he pronounces you fit for duty again.”

The department shrink? Judd’s nostrils flared.

“Like hell.”

Shaw leaned across his desk, glaring into Hanna’s face.

“Hell it may be,” he snapped. “But you don’t come back until Wilson says it’s okay.”

Judd straightened. Just the notion of letting go of the devils he lived with was impossible to consider. He tossed his shield on the desk, then laid his revolver down beside it. Without saying a word, he headed for the door.