LITMIR.BIZ

      For Keyren—

      Thanks for the opportunity to be part of Eden Falls!

      Thank you to Jenni Nauright and C.J. Lyons for all your help with Violet’s medical crisis and the proper procedures for Amelia and Derek to take! Any mistakes in this regard are mine.

       Chapter 1

      A chill November breeze buffeted Gunnar Colton’s cheeks and sent a shiver rippling through him. Tension strung Gunnar as tight as a trip wire, and he cast a wary gaze around the downtown Eden Falls street. At first glance, nothing about the scene seemed amiss. Merchants decorated their shop windows for the upcoming holidays, and customers milled about casually enjoying the Saturday afternoon and hunting for early season bargains. Eden Falls was small-town Americana at its best, yet Gunnar couldn’t relax, couldn’t quiet the hum of anxiety buzzing through his veins.

      “The cold air is making my nose run,” sixteen-year-old Piper complained.

      “Guess you better go chase it then,” Sawyer teased.

      Piper slanted her adopted brother a you’re-so-stupid look before turning to Gunnar. “I’m freezing out here.”

      “So drink your hot chocolate. It’ll warm you up.” Gunnar curled his hands around his cocoa, soaking up the heat from the ceramic mug, and gave the teenager a patient glance.

      She rolled her eyes and flopped back in her chair with a shake of her head.

      The weather was too cold for them to be sitting outside, but Sawyer, Piper and Gunnar’s eleven-year-old brother, had specifically requested that they drink their hot chocolate at the café’s sidewalk table. Gunnar hadn’t had the heart to tell Sawyer no, despite his own deeply personal reasons for being uneasy with the outdoor table. He felt exposed on the city street—jumpy, emotionally raw.

      He turned his attention to the local street vendors selling holiday arts and crafts, and his mind wandered thousands of miles away… .

      The marketplace disintegrated into chaos as debris rained down on the street. Shouts and screams pierced the ringing in his ears as the concussion of the explosion echoed through the street.

      “Gunnar? Did you hear me?” Piper asked, giving him a half worried, half exasperated frown.

      “I’m sorry. What?”

      “Can I go to Très Chic and look at their jeans while you two finish your cocoa?”

      He shook his head. “Stay with us. We’ll be done in a minute. Then we’ll go with you.”

      Piper and Sawyer sent him matching looks of horror.

      “To a girl’s store?”

      “Gunnar!”

      He divided a look between his youngest siblings, knowing he was totally out of his league—what did an ex-soldier know about raising teenagers?—but determined to reconnect with his family after so many years away. Sawyer had been a baby when Gunnar had enlisted in the army and had left for his first tour of duty in Afghanistan. His brother felt like a stranger. And teenage Piper bore little resemblance to the sweet little sister he’d hugged goodbye eleven years ago.

      “Listen, if you’ll—”

      The roar of a motorcycle engine yanked Gunnar’s attention away midsentence. He jerked his gaze toward the black sport bike speeding toward them, and ice filled his veins.

       The moped sped past them, breaching the security checkpoint and ramming into the crowded marketplace. Sam and Ronnie were on their feet in an instant. “Suicide bomber!”

      Gunnar jolted as the bomb in his memory exploded with a deafening blast.

      This motorcycle rider wore a backpack. He drove right

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