A Family For The Sheriff. Elyssa Henry

      “I’d like to see you, Maria. Letter to Reader Title Page Dedication About the Author Letter to Reader Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue Copyright

      “I’d like to see you, Maria.

      “You can bring Sam, if you like. Maybe you could show me some of the sights, and I could buy you dinner.”

      

      “I don’t date.” She gave Joe the standard answer she’d used many times. Her hands were trembling. She didn’t look at Joe as she spoke. She was afraid he might see the yearning that welled up in her suddenly at the idea of spending time with him. It might have been dark, but her imagination made that desire feel like a hot, golden glow inside her.

      

      Joe touched her clasped hands, and suddenly the nights were too long and the years ahead stared back at her. “You’re shaking,” he observed softly. “Scared or cold?”

      

      “Scared,” she admitted softly. Looking at Joe in the dim light, she knew he wasn’t the right one. She couldn’t get involved with Joe. She couldn’t get involved with any lawman.

      Dear Reader,

      

      Happy Valentine’s Day! What better way to celebrate than with a Silhouette Romance novel? We’re sweeter than chocolate—and less damaging to the hips! This month is filled with special treats just for you. LOVING THE BOSS, our six-book series about office romances that lead to happily ever after, continues with The Night Before Baby by Karen Rose Smith. In this sparkling story, an unforgettable one-night stand—during the company Christmas party!—leads to an unexpected pregnancy and a must-read marriage of convenience.

      

      Teresa Southwick crafts an emotional BUNDLES OF JOY title, in which the forbidden man of her dreams becomes a pregnant woman’s stand-in groom. Don’t miss A Vow, a Ring, a Baby Swing. When a devil-may-care bachelor discovers he’s a daddy, he offers the prim heroine a chance to hold a Baby in Her Arms, as Judy Christenberry’s LUCKY CHARM SISTERS trilogy resumes.

      

      Award-winning author Marie Ferrarella proves it’s Never Too Late for Love as the bride’s mother and the groom’s widower father discover their children’s wedding was just the beginning in this charming continuation of LIKE MOTHER. LIKE DAUGHTER. Beloved author Arlene James lends a traditional touch to Silhouette Romance’s ongoing HE’S MY HERO promotion with Mr. Right Next Door. And FAMILY MATTERS spotlights new talent Elyssa Henry with her heartwarming debut, A Family for the Sheriff.

      

      Treat yourself to each and every offering this month. And in future months, look for more of the stories you love...and the authors you cherish.

      

      Enjoy!

      Mary-Theresa Hussey

      Senior Editor Silhouette Romance

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

      A Family for the Sheriff

      Elyssa Henry

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      For my mother,

      who told me to dream big, and Cathleen Treacy, my editor, who helped me get there

      ELYSSA HENRY

       is the pseudonym of Joyce and James Lavene, a married writing team with over twenty-five years of experience in romance. They share their time with three children and one grandchild. When they aren’t writing, they prowl the roads looking for adventure and the next story that has to be told.

      Dear Reader,

      

      We’ve all experienced the loss of a loved one. The heartbreak and loneliness can only be healed by time and patience. The journey continues for those of us left behind, and our lives are changed forever.

      

      Being part of a family is a lifelong bond. Our relationships with those we love give us strength and acceptance as we face the world. Even when a fragile thread of that link is broken, our memories sustain us. As a family, we gather closer, and we hold each other tightly.

      

      And sometimes, a very special person happens our way, and, as a family, we embrace them. Learning to live and trust again, as Maria and Joe do, can be a challenge. Yet creating a new life, forged with love and understanding, is how families are born. We sigh a little for the past, then we move on, with hope, to the future.

      

      Wishing all the best to you and your loved ones,

      Chapter One

      Maria sighed and stopped the truck.

      It had been raining steadily for the past three days, making the landscape look like a French watercolor. Water washed in waves across the cracked window of the pickup truck she drove, and the worn windshield wipers did little to clear the glass.

      It was the way he walked that stopped her. Rain ran in rivers down his jacket, his jeans already dark with it. His shoulders were hunched against the onslaught, and he waded through ankle-deep water at the side of the road.

      Still, he wasn’t hitchhiking. She couldn’t be sure he needed or wanted a ride. He walked steadily, long legs eating up the distance. There was purpose in his stride.

      But they were on a stretch of road that ran through ten miles of jack pine and very little else. The only spot there was a phone, or any type of human environment, was five miles away in Gold Springs, where she was headed.

      She backed up carefully, the old truck shuddering, protesting the abuse. She rolled down the window, wondering