Running into the Past
After Maicy Clarkâs high school sweetheart breaks her fragile heart, she vows to cut him out of her life forever. But when Maicy dashes out of her own wedding decades later, she runs pell-mell back into Conor Madisonâs healing arms...and his life!
Navy doctor Conorâs shocked to discover that his mysterious new patient is his never-forgotten childhood love. Now sweet Maicyâs all grown upâand a woman to be reckoned with. With a blizzard looming, a snowed-in Conorâs about to get up close and personal with the girl heâd never stopped wondering about. But are the scars of the past too deep to mend...or is it time for Conor and Maicy to finally come home?
âCan you raise your legs? One at a time?â
She did that, feeling satin around them. The wedding dress. From the wedding that hadnât been. Because sheâd run away from it...
âOkay, very carefully, I want you to try to move your headâcan you do that?â
She could do that, too.
âAny pain with that? Any tingling in your shoulders, arms or legs?â
âNo.â
âNothing? No painâshooting or otherwise?â the man asked.
âNo,â she said softly as she went on assessing his face and finding more and more to it that made him seem like the boy sheâd known. And loved.
And learned to wish she hadnât...
Those full lips.
Those eyebrows that were a little thick and as dark a brown as his hair.
Then her neck was free and he raised his eyes to her face.
And that was when she knew for sure.
No one except the Madison brothers and their sister, Kinsey, had eyes like that. Cobalt blue that was bluer than blue.
âOh, my God!â she said in alarm.
âWhat? Pain? Numbness?â he asked with more urgency.
âYouâre Conor Madison,â she accused scornfully.
He relaxed and nodded. âHi, Maicy,â he said calmly.
âI get itâIâve died and gone to hell,â she muttered.
* * *
Camden Family Secrets:
Finding family and love in Colorado!
VICTORIA PADE is a USA TODAY bestselling author of numerous romance novels. She has two beautiful and talented daughtersâCori and Erinâand is a native of Colorado, where she lives and writes. A devoted chocolate lover, sheâs in search of the perfect chocolate-chip-cookie recipe.
For information about her latest and upcoming releases, visit Victoria Pade on Facebookâshe would love to hear from you.
Chapter One
âThis is not turning into a good time.â
There was no one else in the rented SUV to hear Conor Madisonâs observation as he drove through a Montana snowstorm that was getting worse by the minute.
When his plane had landed in Billings on that mid-January Sunday, snow had been falling. As promised, heâd called his sister Kinsey to tell her heâd arrived safely. But when he did, heâd discovered that Kinsey wasnât in their small hometown of Northbridge, where she and Conor were slated to meet. Instead, she was snowed in inside her Denver home.
And by now, the snow was in his path, piling up fast. Conor could barely see two feet in front of him on this mountain road.
And on top of that, he was worried about his brother and thinking this whole idea might have been a mistake.
When heâd left the veteransâ hospital in Maryland, his younger brother Declanâs condition had been stable. In fact, Declanâwho had been severely wounded in Afghanistanâhad been doing so well heâd pushed Conor to make this trip. But when Conor had talked to Declan from the Billings airport, Declan hadnât sounded very well, though heâd insisted that Conor stay.
But an hour and a half into the drive, when heâd called to check in with Declan again, Declan had been even more sluggish and lethargic, and had informed Conor that heâd spiked a feverâwhich could herald a dangerous complication that Conor wouldnât be there to monitor.
As a doctor Conor couldnât treat family, but he could follow what was being done closely. Monitoring his brotherâs condition was the reason he was on leave from his own duties from the navy. Now he wasnât where he felt he should beâby his brotherâs side. If he hadnât learned that all flights in and out had been canceled due to the storm, he might have headed back.
But there was no going back either to Billings or to Maryland, so all Conor could do was get somewhere safeâand get back to worrying about his brother once he arrived.
Heâd grown up around here so he recognized where he wasâabout fifteen miles outside of Northbridge. But visibility was getting worse by the minute, and he was having more and more trouble plowing through the deepest of the drifts. There was no way he was going to make those last fifteen miles.
Luckily he wasnât far from a cabin owned by the family of an old friend. When he noticed his patchy cell service was working for the moment, heâd called Rickie Dale to find out if the cabin was still standing and if he could use it.