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      About the Author

      MAUREEN CHILD is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. The author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur. Visit Maureen’s website at www.maureenchild.com.

      To Charles Griemsman, a world class editor.

      Thanks for making working on this continuity

      such a pleasure, Charles!

      One

      Marine First Sergeant Rick Pruitt had thirty days’ leave to decide the rest of his life.

      “But no pressure,” he muttered and loped across Main Street. He lifted a hand to wave at Joe Davis. His boyhood buddy was still driving that battered, dusty red truck. Rick paused on the sidewalk when his friend pulled to the curb to talk to him. Joe rolled the passenger-side window down and grinned. “Look what the east Texas wind blew home. When’d you get here, Rick?”

      “Yesterday.” Rick tipped the brim of his hat back a bit, leaned his forearms on the window frame and only winced a little at the red-hot feel of the metal against his arms. If there was one thing a Texas boy learned to deal with at an early age, it was the summer heat.

      Right now, the sun was blazing down from a brassy sky and there wasn’t so much as a hint of a cloud in sight. July in Texas was good training, weather wise, for a marine who spent his time deployed to the Middle East.

      “You home to stay?” Joe asked.

      “That’s a good question,” Rick replied.

      “And not much of an answer.”

      Truth was, Rick didn’t have an answer yet. He had spent a lot of years in the Corps and he had enjoyed them all. He loved serving his country. He was damn proud to wear the uniform of a U.S. Marine. But, he thought, glancing at his surroundings, he’d missed a hell of a lot, too. He hadn’t been here when either of his parents died. Hadn’t been around to run the family ranch, instead trusting in their longtime foreman to do the heavy lifting. And, since the Pruitt ranch was one of the biggest in Texas, that was some serious duty to push off on someone else.

      Funny, all those years in the Corps and not one of his buddies had ever known that he was one of the richest men in Texas. He had always been just another marine—and that’s how he had wanted it.

      He’d been around the world and back. Had seen more, done more than most men ever would. But, he thought, his heart had always been here. In Royal.

      Rick smiled and shrugged. “It’s the only answer I’ve got. For right now, I’ve got thirty days’ leave and decisions to make.”

      “Well,” Joe told him, “if you want any help deciding, you give me a call.”

      “I will.” Rick looked at his old friend. They’d grown up together, had their first beers—and hangovers—together. They’d played side by side on the high school football team. Joe had stayed put in Royal, married Tina, his high school sweetheart, had two kids now and was in charge of the family garage. Rick had gone to college, joined the Corps and had come close to love only once.

      For a second or two, he allowed himself to remember the girl he’d once thought unattainable. The woman whose memory had kept him going through some ugly days in the last few years. There were some women, he figured, just designed to get into a man’s soul. And this one surely had.

      “While you’re in town, we should do some fishing,” Joe said, drawing Rick up out of his thoughts.

      Grateful, he said, “Sounds like a plan. You get Tina to make us some of her famous fried chicken for lunch and we’ll make a day of it at the ranch lake.”

      “That’s a deal.” Joe stretched out his right hand. “It really is good to see you home, Rick. And if you want my opinion, maybe it’s time you stayed home.”

      “Thanks, Joe.” Rick shook his friend’s hand and blew out a breath. “It’s good to be back.”

      Nodding, Joe said, “I’ve got to get back to the shop. Mrs. Donley’s old sedan had another breakdown and that woman hasn’t let up on me for days about it.”

      Rick actually shivered. Mrs. Marianne Donley, the high school math teacher, could bring a cold chill to the spine of anybody in Royal who had survived her geometry class.

      Joe

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