In A Heartbeat. Janice Kay Johnson

      

      Forgiveness is a choice—love isn’t

      Nate Hendrick’s and Anna Grainger’s lives were changed—and entwined—forever, in one terrifying instant. That’s all it took for Anna’s husband to die saving the life of Nate’s daughter. Battling heartache and guilt, Nate offers Anna the only consolation he can: a place for her family to stay while she figures things out.

      Neither expects the arrangement to be anything more than a convenience, but as their families come together, old wounds begin to heal and hearts mend. Nate knows they have a chance to salvage something beautiful from tragedy—if Anna can ever truly forgive him.

      An author of more than ninety books for children and adults (more than seventy-five for Harlequin), JANICE KAY JOHNSON writes about love and family—about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. A USA TODAY bestselling author and an eight-time finalist for a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, she won a RITA® Award in 2008 for her Harlequin Superromance novel Snowbound. A former librarian, Janice raised two daughters in a small town north of Seattle, Washington.

       Also By Janice Kay Johnson

      Back Against the Wall

      The Hero’s Redemption

      Her Amish Protectors

      Plain Refuge

      A Mother’s Claim

      Because of a Girl

      The Baby Agenda

      Bone Deep

      Finding Her Dad

      All That Remains

      Making Her Way Home

      No Matter What

      A Hometown Boy

      Anything for Her

      Where It May Lead

      From This Day On

      One Frosty Night

      More Than Neighbors

      To Love a Cop

       Brothers, Strangers

      The Baby He Wanted

      The Closer He Gets

       Two Daughters

      Yesterday’s Gone

      In Hope’s Shadow

       The Mysteries of Angel Butte

      Bringing Maddie Home

      Everywhere She Goes

      All a Man Is

      Cop by Her Side

      This Good Man

      Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

      In a Heartbeat

      Janice Kay Johnson

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ISBN: 978-1-474-08288-4

      IN A HEARTBEAT

      © 2018 Jeannie Steinman

      Published in Great Britain 2018

       by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

      All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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      Version: 2020-03-02

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      “We didn’t have an Xbox, so Josh thinks he’s gone to heaven,” she said.

      Nate grimaced. “Molly hasn’t touched it since Sonja and I split up. If I were a good father, I’d have played with her, but do you know what her favorite one is?”

      Anna had to laugh. “Let’s see. Would it be Just Dance Kids?”

      “Dear God, yes. I felt like an idiot when I danced in high school.”

      She laughed again, even though it was impossible to imagine this man graceless. She was immediately ashamed of herself. Kyle had only died three months ago, and Nate Kendrick had played a role in the tragedy. She’d agreed to work for him because she was desperate, and for Molly’s sake. Becoming friends and confidantes wasn’t happening. Given his tall, lean body, the saunter that spoke of complete confidence and features that might be too rough to be called handsome, he had to turn women’s heads wherever he went.

      I can’t be one of them, she thought desperately.

      Dear Reader,

      I hope I’m not too predictable, but I know I’ve returned to some of the same themes repeatedly in my Harlequin Superromance novels. Always love, but also family, the people who are missing in our lives, and the aftereffects of trauma or loss. Without intending any such theme, I’ve managed to combine all of that in this, my last Superromance.

      His daughter, her kids, his troubled ex-wife and