A Baxter's Redemption

Has she really changed?

Former beauty queen Isabel Baxter returns to her hometown, scarred after a near-fatal accident. But in high school, she was the fantasy of every teenage boy in Haggerston, Montana, including James Hunter. Even though James was too far below her social circle to be noticed…

Now her father’s attorney, James isn’t ready to forgive Isabel for the part she played in his own family tragedy. Yet she seems eager to make amends and prove herself capable of being more than a pretty face. Has the girl he once worshipped—his boss’s daughter—grown into a woman James can respect…and maybe love?

Isabel grimaced.

“I feel terrible about forgetting you. I was so self-involved back then. I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s okay,” James said gruffly. “So, how are you?”

“I’m fine. Just working in the store, and—” How was she supposed to ask for a favor now? “I—I was wondering if you might be free to help me move something this morning. Feel free to charge the time to my father.”

He was silent. She wondered if she’d just made an even bigger fool of herself.

“Sure,” he said at last. “And no need to charge your father.” There was a smile in his voice. “See you in a bit.”

Was that forgiveness she heard in his tone? James struck her as a man who didn’t talk about his feelings too often. Call it gut instinct—she knew men, if nothing else. She had a feeling that while James seemed to fight it tooth and nail, he was becoming her friend.

Whether he liked it or not.

Dear Reader,

When you’re twenty-two, you have it. Youth has a beauty and allure all its own, and when you look back on photos of your twenty-two-year-old self, you wonder what you were agonizing over back then. Then you get into the business of life, and you get married, have kids, start going gray… Your body changes, your perspective changes, and the other women who are in the same boat start reassuring you—perhaps a little too ardently—that you’ve still got it. You’re a “hot mama.”

Whoever first told us that it’s our job to be “hot”? And why on earth did we accept the position? “The successful candidate will be a visual stimulus for males within her general vicinity.”

There’s nothing wrong with being attractive. I am beautiful—my husband reminds me of it all the time. But I’m a woman—not a trophy. I’m a partner, a cheerleader, a warrior, a defender. Let’s start with the assumption that we’re all beautiful—because you are!—then let’s go forward from there. What else are you? And what are you going to do with the wealth of skill, insight and passion that you bring to the party?

It isn’t my job to be “hot.” My job includes being intelligent, thoughtful and caring. Being well-read is an advantage, and when it comes to protecting the women around me, I’m a force to be reckoned with. When men see me coming, I don’t want appraising glances. My body isn’t their business, and if this brain intimidates them, then they can call me “ma’am.” I prefer it that way, anyway. Ladies, we’re so much more than what society asks of us. I will never call you hot, but I will most certainly call you magnificent!

If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on Facebook, or at my website, patriciajohnsromance.com.

Patricia Johns

A Baxter’s Redemption

Patricia Johns

www.millsandboon.co.uk

PATRICIA JOHNS has her honors BA in English literature. She lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and son where she writes full-time. Her first Harlequin novel came out in 2013, and you can find her books in the Love Inspired, Western Romance and Heartwarming lines.

To my mom, the businesswoman.

She’s five-two and tough as they come. Give her a goal and she sinks her teeth into it, then shakes the stuffing out of it. “Almost” isn’t good enough for her. I love you, Mom. You taught me well!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

ISABEL BAXTER’S STOMACH curdled as she glanced around the sunny living room of her childhood home—a rambling, three-story house just outside Haggerston, Montana. Coming home wasn’t the same since her father’s second marriage, the thought of which still left her angry. The house itself had stood the test of time, but the interior had not. The portrait of her parents was gone, replaced by a jarring abstract painting over the stone fireplace. The removal of that portrait was to be expected, of course, but it still felt like a betrayal to the family they used to be. The antique rocking chair that had belonged to Isabel’s maternal grandmother had also been removed, replaced by a modern monstrosity that looked like a dried orange peel, a cup waiting to embrace the hindquarters of unsuspecting visitors.