Whirlwind. Nancy Martin

       WELCOME TO TYLER-AMERICA’S FAVORITE HOMETOWN

      A town filled with memorable friends and unforgettable lovers. Share the passions, the hopes and dreams of America’s favorite small town.

       WHERE ROMANCE BLOOMS

      When lively, brash Liza Baron arrives home unexpectedly, she moves into the old family lodge—where silent, mysterious Cliff Forrester has been living in seclusion for years....

       WHERE THE FUTURE IS ABOUT TO COLLIDE WITH THE PAST

      When a body is uncovered on the lodge grounds, the community begins to piece together the truth about Tyler’s first family, and a secret hidden for forty years threatens to tear the town apart....

      Previously Published.

       “I’m not leaving Timberlake, so forget it!”

      Cliff couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

      “I need a place to crash for a while,” Liza continued. “I’m not here because of you, Forrester, so stop thinking I’m hot for your body or something, because I’m not—even if you’re hot for mine!”

      “You are the most exasperating woman—”

      “Oh, cool down,” Liza said with an impish grin. “I think you could use some exasperation. You’ve gotten too comfortable up here all by yourself.” She tossed her head pertly. “I’ve heard about you, Forrester.”

      “Exactly what have you heard?”

      “You’ve got quite a reputation around town. You’re a hermit or a lone wolf. Some people even think you’re dangerous.”

      A few things began to clear up in Cliff’s mind. “That’s why you’ve come dancing in here this way, isn’t it, you get your kicks out of dangerous men.”

      “Where I get my kicks is none of your business,” she replied. “I’m curious about you, that’s all. You’re a mystery man, Forrester, and I love a mystery.”

      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to Mills & Boon’s Tyler, a small Wisconsin town whose citizens we hope you’ll soon come to know and love. Like many of the innovative publishing concepts Mills & Boon has launched over the years, the idea for the Tyler series originated in response to our readers’ preferences. Your enthusiasm for sequels and continuing characters within many of the Mills & Boon lines has prompted us to create a twelve-book series of individual romances whose characters’ lives inevitably intertwine.

      Tyler faces many challenges typical of small towns, but the fabric of this fictional community will be torn by the revelation of a long-ago murder, the details of which will evolve right through the series. This intriguing crime will profoundly affect the lives of the Ingallses, the Barons, the Forresters and the Wochecks.

      Renovations have begun on the old Timberlake resort lodge as the series opens, and the lodge will also attract the attention of a prominent Chicago hotelier, a man with a personal interest in showing Tyler folks his financial clout.

      Marge is waiting with some home-baked pie at her diner, and policeman Brick Bauer might direct you down Elm Street if it’s patriarch Judson Ingalls you’re after. The Kelseys run the loveliest boardinghouse in town, and you’ll find everything you need at Gates Department Store. When spitfire Liza Baron returns to town, the fireworks begin. So join us in Tyler, once a month, for the next twelve months, for a slice of small-town life that’s not as innocent or as quiet as you might expect, and for a sense of community that will capture your mind and your heart.

      Marsha Zinberg

      Editorial Coordinator, Tyler

      Whirlwind

      Nancy Martin

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Special thanks and acknowledgment to Nancy Martin for her contribution to this work.

      Special thanks and acknowledgment to Joanna Kosloff for her contribution to the concept for the Tyler series.

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

Dear Reader

       Title Page

       Acknowledgments

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

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

       Copyright

       CHAPTER ONE

      FAILURE DROVE Liza Baron home.

      She went one cool summer night in a vintage Thunderbird convertible, the last personal possession she still owned free and clear. She started out in a rage in Chicago about midnight and drove toward no particular destination at first. It just felt good to go, with her hair whipping in the wind and the radio blasting rock and roll.

      But around four in the morning, after aimless driving along highways she’d never known existed, Liza found herself in Wisconsin just ten miles from