Erin's Way. Laura Browning

      Cover Copy

      Welcome to Mountain Meadow, Virginia, where love is worth waiting for…

      The town bad girl is back, and this time, Erin Richardson is in need of protection. Years ago, her youthful crush on handsome older man Sam Barnes nearly led to scandal. Now she’s on the run from an entirely different kind of trouble: a criminal intent on eliminating his witnesses—including Erin. As the local sheriff, Sam’s duty-bound to provide a safe haven. Though tongues will surely wag once Erin is sharing a house with the sexy lawman….

      Erin is still too young, too vulnerable, and too irresistibly beautiful. But when Sam lays eyes on her again, all he wants to do is shelter her in his arms. It won’t be easy keeping her out of harm’s way. But it’ll be even harder keeping the woman he never forgot out of his bed—and his heart…

      Visit us at www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Books by Laura Browning

      Winning Heart

      Mountain Meadow Homecomings

      Special Delivery

      Lost & Found Love

      Erin’s Way

      The Barlow-Barretts: An American Dynasty

      Bittersweet

      Balancing Act

      Remember Me

      Broken Heart

      Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

      Erin’s Way

      A Mountain Meadow Homecomings Novel

      Laura Browning

      LYRICAL PRESS

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

      www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Copyright

      Lyrical Press books are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

      Copyright © 2016 by Laura Browning

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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      First Electronic Edition: August 2018

      eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-573-4

      eISBN-10: 1-60183-573-6

      First Print Edition: August 2016

      ISBN-13: 978-1-60183-575-8

      ISBN-10: 1-60183-575-2

      Printed in the United States of America

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to all the students it has been my pleasure to teach over the last decade. Many of you have struggled to improve reading skills that were holding you back. You inspire me with your determination and hard work, and I am grateful every time one of you succeeds that I could help. The hugs are nice too.

      Author’s Foreword

      Author’s Note

      According to the International Dyslexia Association, 15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability like dyslexia. Reading delays are among the most common issues for students receiving special education services. Dyslexia knows no sex, racial or socio-economic bounds. Causes of dyslexia are both neurological and genetic. There is no cure. It’s not a disease, and early intervention is a key.

      Children who are identified by kindergarten and first grade and receive help become much more successful at reading on grade level than students not identified until later. However, even older children and adults can still benefit from a multi-sensory approach to understanding language.

      As a reading specialist and the parent of a child with learning disabilities, I urge parents not to wait if they or their child’s teacher notice reading difficulties. Dyslexia, or any reading difficulty for that matter, does not mean stupid. Many dyslexics are of average or above average intelligence. Learning ways to cope with the difference in the way their brain functions opens the door to a successful future.

      For more information about dyslexia, you can visit: www.interdys.org

      Chapter 1

      Erin Richardson handed over some of her precious stash of cash and signed by the X for her rental car. Leaving a paper trail made her nervous, but reaching her destination quickly took precedence. Home sweet home. The black sheep of the family was returning to the fold.

      Hating the heavy jacket she’d donned to keep out the last blast of winter cold, she tossed it in the back seat of the little sedan. The car would warm up soon enough. The bulky coat was a further reminder that she’d been forced to leave behind the warmth and her friends for the cold and uncertainty of the Blue Ridge…also known as home. Right. The place where she was headed had rarely felt like home, at least not as she had wanted it to be.

      An image of a frowning face with snapping, dark eyes flashed in front of her. Sam. He was older now, but so was she. Not that it would make a difference. He was one more face lined up in judgment of her.

      She slid behind the wheel and checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. A little different look than last fall when she’d dropped in on the ’rents so unexpectedly. Erin had kept the extra body jewelry but ditched the Goth-looking makeup and dyed her hair back to its natural color. This time when she returned home she wasn’t aiming to shock as she had been at Tabitha’s art showing. Erin was trying hard to fit the image of the senator’s daughter. That would be a first. But now totally necessary.

      After what had happened right before she left the Virgin Islands, it was important to lay low and fit in. Maybe she should get rid of the ring in her eyebrow. No. She’d keep it for now. That was one too many changes for her to cope with at the moment. If she suddenly turned up in plaid and pearls, she’d make her family more suspicious than they would be simply by her turning up at all.

      One thing hadn’t changed. Erin carried a bag of some high-grade pot, a few hits of ecstasy, and even a couple of Quaaludes she’d traded for with a guy from South Africa. She laughed humorlessly as she pulled out of Dulles and headed southwest in the rental. There was only so much goodness she could stand, and she certainly wasn’t