He kissed Mel and felt her instant response. She grabbed the back of his neck and yanked him tighter against her. He smiled against her mouth. Mel didnât do things halfway. Intense. The way it had been two years ago, the two of them connected. Career and ambition had been the bond then. And now? What tied them now?
An accident on both their parts, but a person had resulted. Daniel. And that changed everything.
Suddenly, Mel sat up and straightened her shirt. âI guess thatâs the same,â she said.
âYeah.â He watched her face, a million thoughts in his head.
âBut weâre not,â she said, biting her lip.
âNo.â He was far from the man heâd been. She was weighed down, too, but in a good way, by the child who was her whole world.
âI wish we could go back,â she said. âI do.â She touched his face, desire sparking in her eyes for a moment. âBut we canât.â
âI guess not.â
âThen go, Noah,â she said softly. âGet on with your life and weâll get on with ours. Sometimes the right thing to do is to walk away.â
Dear Reader,
This book is dear to my heart. It stars people whose lives seem so distant from my own I donât know how I got the courage to write their stories. Not to get all mystical on you, but it was as if they grabbed me and wouldnât let go until I did.
Iâve always had an affinity for Latin culture, which has woven through my life in major ways. But Iâm not Latina, so writing Mel threw me at first. Daniel, a baby, wasnât easy either, since I havenât dealt with bibs and bottles in, ahem, two decades.
Then there was Noah. Though Iâve been a freelance feature writer, Iâve never been to journalism school, nor have I covered a war, and I know nothing about the army or Iraq. Needless to say, I was somewhat lost when I began this book.
Thankfully, I got expert help from friends who planted me firmly in the unfamiliar soil I wanted to explore. Eerily, many of my instinctive ideas were borne out in what they told me of their lives and work, which gave me chills and made me even more proud of this book.
The story is about making tough choices in life, about living with mistakes that cost lives, about the sacrifices we make for those we love, and about filling life with meaning. Itâs about love between mothers and daughters and fathers and sons and moreâat least that was my intent. You can tell me if I hit the mark.
I hope this book touches your heart as it did mine, and that it reminds you of your connections with the people you love most.
All my best,
Dawn Atkins
P.S.âPlease visit me online at www.dawnatkins.com.
Award-winning author Dawn Atkins has written more than twenty novels for Harlequin Books. Known for her funny, poignant romance stories, sheâs won a Golden Quill Award and has been a several-times RT Book Reviews Reviewersâ Choice Award finalist. Dawn lives in Arizona with her husband and son.
In memory of Maria Irene Dominguez,
con todo cariño, forever in my heart
Heartfelt gratitude to Iraq veteran U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Dodge, Scout Sniper, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, who made the Iraq sequences come alive. (All errors are mine.) Thanks to investigative journalists Eric Miller and Susan Leonardâgracious friendsâand the Iraq war correspondents who contributed to Embedded: The Media at War in Iraq, by Bill Katovsky and Timothy Carlson. Mil gracias to Julia Martinez, who shared her life with me so I could more clearly see Melâs; to Sonya Morillon, who loved my little boy as her own; and to my dear friend Irene Dominguez, who inspired me to create Mel in the first place.
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
HIP-CHECKING A PERSISTENT blonde, Mel Ramirez broke through the clot of people to reach the star journalist who had packed half the Arizona State University student body into the auditorium. âReady to head to the hotel?â she said to him.
âWith you?â Noah Stone gave her a friendly once-over. âOh, Iâm down.â He was clearly teasing, but sparklers went off in Melâs stomach all the same.
The blonde gave her the evil eye. Who the hell are you?
âIâm your driver,â Mel clarified, her cheeks a bit hot. Sheâd jumped at the chance to escort the J-school graduation speaker to his hotel, but didnât want anyone to think she was propositioning the guy.
Cálmate, chica. Keep your dignity. She was no silly fan girl. Sheâd just graduated with highest honors and had a job at a prestigious newspaper, starting Monday. She and Noah Stone were now colleagues. The short drive ahead gave her precious minutes to glean secrets from a journalist at the top of his game.
Noahâs reporting was incisive, searing, brilliant. She knew that. What she hadnât known was how flat-out hot he was.