H.C. Bentley

She left for the military thinking she would have it all. The career, the man she loved, a family of her own. Then her fiancé issued an ultimatum: come home and marry him, or lose him forever.

Eight years later, Lieutenant Lynn Johnston returns to her small Kentucky hometown with a secret to keep and a desire to find peace. Her planned lifelong career had been cut short by events beyond her control. Now, she hoped that she could forge a new path, one that would heal her heart and help to put her past behind her. Those hopes are dashed when she discovers Carter Mathis, her former fiancé, has also returned and is raising his two young sons.

Lynn must decide if she can deal with not only the old hurt feelings from the past -- and Carter’s soon-to-be ex who has a vendetta against Lynn-- to give Carter a second chance. A deadly collapse at the coal mines where Carter works, an accident that rocks the town, could possibly take the choice out of her hands. Does she confront her feelings and move forward, or leave the life she's always wanted behind?