The Sergeant's Secret Son. Bonnie Gardner

      Macy caught sight of Alex in the kitchen window, and her breath caught in her throat. Did that man ever have a moment when he didn’t look so darn handsome?

      He was obviously clowning around as he helped get supper ready. Even through two windows and across two yards, she could see his glorious smile.

      Her heart melted as she watched the domestic scene. She swallowed, her throat tight with emotion. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if—?

      “Mama, when are we gonna have supper?” a little voice said. “I’m starving.”

      Macy guiltily jerked her gaze from the window. How long had she been standing there staring at Alex and daydreaming like a schoolgirl, when she should have been thinking about her son’s needs?

      Could she be falling in love with Alex Blocker all over again?

      Or had she never stopped…?

      Dear Reader,

      It’s that time of the year again. Pink candy hearts and red roses abound as we celebrate that most amorous of holidays, St. Valentine’s Day. Revel in this month’s offerings as we continue to celebrate Harlequin American Romance’s yearlong 20th Anniversary.

      Last month we launched our six-book MILLIONAIRE, MONTANA continuity series with the first delightful story about a small Montana town whose residents win a forty-million-dollar lottery jackpot. Now we bring you the second title in the series, Big-Bucks Bachelor, by Leah Vale, in which a handsome veterinarian gets more than he bargained for when he asks his plain-Jane partner to become his fake fiancée.

      Also in February, Bonnie Gardner brings you The Sergeant’s Secret Son. In this emotional story, passions flare all over again between former lovers as they work to rebuild their tornado-ravaged hometown, but the heroine is hiding a small secret—their child! Next, Victoria Chancellor delivers a great read with The Prince’s Texas Bride, the second book in her duo A ROYAL TWIST, where a bachelor prince’s night of passion with a beautiful waitress results in a royal heir on the way and a marriage proposal. And a trip to Las Vegas leads to a pretend engagement in Leandra Logan’s Wedding Roulette.

      Enjoy this month’s offerings, and be sure to return each and every month to Harlequin American Romance!

      Melissa Jeglinski

      Associate Senior Editor

      Harlequin American Romance

      The Sergeant’s Secret Son

      Bonnie Gardner

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To Mud as always.

      To my bosom buddy Cassandra Woods for helping me keep my cultural biases in line.

      To Doctors Brantley, Dang and Olive for making it possible for me to write this book.

      And last but not least, to all the combat controllers and the loved ones who love them, not because of the job, but in spite of it.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Bonnie Gardner has finally figured out what she wants to do when she grows up. After a varied career that included such jobs as switchboard operator, draftsman and exercise instructor, she went back to college and became an English teacher. As a teacher, she took a course on how to teach writing to high school students and caught the bug herself.

      She lives in northern Alabama with her husband of over thirty years, her own military hero. After following him around from air force base to air force base, she has finally gotten to settle down. They have two grown sons, one of whom is now serving in the air force. She loves to read, cook, garden and of course, write.

      She would love to hear from her readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 442, Meridianville, AL 35759.

      Books by Bonnie Gardner

      HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

      876—UNCLE SARGE

      911—SGT. BILLY’S BRIDE

      958—THE SERGEANT’S SECRET SON

      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

      Chapter One

      Impatient because the situation was urgent, Dr. Macy Jackson made her way slowly and laboriously though the dark and ravaged streets of Lyndonville, South Carolina. She was horrified at the damage the tornado had done, and as she approached the epicenter of the devastation, she steeled herself for what else she might discover.

      The streets were strewn with fallen trees and branches and other debris she could only guess about. Many of the roads were impassable, and she’d had difficulty making her way through. Every time she’d found one clear street, it would lead to another dead end. The destruction she encountered in the beams of her headlights was chilling.

      And she hadn’t yet reached the site of the real disaster.

      Finally, she reached Faron’s Trailer Park, which had sustained a direct hit from the tornado, and her heart broke at the sight she found. In the flickering lightning from the departing storm, she could see that trailers were overturned, twisted and flattened like tin cans for the recycling bin. Fires raged from broken gas tanks, and firefighters were doing what they could to put them out. How could anyone have survived this?

      A siren blipped as Macy climbed out of her car and as the damp air hit her face, she felt the cold and the rain, and she smelled the acrid odor of fire and fear. She looked to where a sheriff’s department cruiser flashed its blue lights. In the meager illumination of the headlights, Macy could see several victims huddling or stretched out on the littered ground.

      She felt a flicker of unease as she approached the cruiser, then stood bathed in the flashing blue light, but she shook it away. Maybe it was a throwback to her childhood when a black child was always under suspicion, even one as light-skinned as she. Then her attention was drawn back to the devastation.

      Spotlighted