A Place for Family. Mia Ross

      Hometown Girl Returns...With A Secret

      One suitcase is all Amanda Gardner has to her name when she ends up back in Harland, North Carolina. No one knows how the high-powered ad exec, the girl who couldn’t leave town fast enough after high school, lost her glamorous life in California. Everyone’s curious—except John Sawyer. He’s done enough wondering about his childhood best friend over the years. Why she never called...or wrote...or visited. But John’s instinct is to protect Amanda, and something tells him she’s in deep trouble. Will she feel safe enough to trust him—and lean on his strength?

      Amanda forced herself to look John squarely in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”

      “About Dad? You said that already.”

      “No.” Completely unprepared for such a personal exchange, she groped for the right words. “We were best friends, and I never even called you after I left. I never meant to hurt you. I just needed more than I could find in Harland.”

      “Y’know, for a long time I prayed you’d decide you made a mistake and come back.” His expression closed up, his eyes darkening with a nasty mix of anger and pain. “You never did.”

      Over the years she’d convinced herself that he must have forgotten her and gone on to marry someone who adored him shamelessly. But he was her age—thirty-one—and there was no ring on his left hand.

      “I’m here now.”

      “Because you’ve got nowhere else to go. I actually think that’s worse.”

      As he stalked away from her, she wished there was something she could do to make things right between them.

      MIA ROSS

      loves great stories. She enjoys reading about fascinating people, long-ago times and exotic places. But only for a little while, because her reality is pretty sweet. Married to her college sweetheart, she’s the proud mom of two amazing kids, whose schedules keep her hopping. Busy as she is, she can’t imagine trading her life for anyone else’s—and she has a pretty good imagination. You can visit her online at www.miaross.com.

      A Place for Family

      Mia Ross

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Let us not love in word or talk

      but in deed and in truth.

      —1 John 3:18

      For Rob

      Contents

       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

       Epilogue

       Dear Reader

       Questions for Discussion

       Excerpt

      Chapter One

      Perfect. Just perfect.

      Amanda Gardner pulled onto the side of the deserted country road as what she’d assumed was steam took on the alarming smell of smoke. To be on the safe side, she shut off the engine and popped the hood release. Not that she’d know what she was looking at, she thought as she left the disabled car. But maybe opening the hood would dispel some of the heat and the engine would start again in a little while.

      Sure, she grumbled to herself as she looked through the crack for the rusty latch. And pigs could fly like hummingbirds.

      When she touched the hood with her palm, she realized something was very wrong. It felt hot enough to cook eggs over easy, and she instinctively pulled away. Good thing, too. As she backpedaled on her Italian heels through the dusty gravel, the engine burst into flames.

      A few months ago, she’d had a promising career in advertising and public relations, and a splashy condo in Malibu. Now, here she stood, completely incapable of doing anything but stare. She was vaguely aware of a strong arm pushing her aside and someone stepping in front of her with a large fire extinguisher. When she recovered enough to get a good look at the man who’d come to her rescue, she gasped in surprise.

      John Sawyer.

      The rangy farm boy who’d lived in her memories all these years had grown into an Adonis dressed in faded jeans. She thought he’d actually gotten taller, and the pale blue T-shirt he wore sculpted its way around muscles the guys she’d known in Los Angeles couldn’t have built in a year at the gym. Those kinds of muscles you could only get working your entire life on a farm. And this guy had them to spare.

      The girls had drooled over him during high school, and now he was absolutely irresistible. He must have to fend off every unattached woman within ten miles. Not that John would even think of refusing female attention, she amended with a little grin. If she remembered correctly, her childhood best friend had always taken all that very much in stride.

      Once the flames died down, her rescuer flung open the hood and doused the engine with the last of the foam.

      “Whew! That was close.” As he looked at her, she saw no hint of recognition in his summer-blue eyes. “Are you all right, ma’am?”

      “Ma’am?” she echoed with a laugh. “Are you serious? You’ve known me since we were four.”

      He studied her for a few seconds, then cocked his head like a confused hound. “Amanda?”

      The humor of the situation dispelled some of the terror she’d felt watching the car she’d just been sitting in erupt in flames. “I know it’s been a while, but I can’t believe you didn’t recognize me.”

      After assessing her from head to toe, he came back to her face with a disapproving frown. “You look a lot different than the last time I saw you.”

      Thirteen years ago, she recalled sadly. The day she hugged him goodbye and got on a plane, headed for UCLA.

      “I guess so.” Shoving the bittersweet memory aside, she asked, “How have you been?”

      “Fine.” He gave her wheels a skeptical look. “Where’d you get this heap?”

      “From