HIS UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS SURPRISE...
A babyâs cry was the last thing former SEAL Gideon Snow expected to hear on an Arizona mountain trail. Nor was he prepared for the sight of the young mother suffering from memory loss. Gideon has plenty of reasons for avoiding peopleâand his painful pastâbut two fragile people now depend on him to survive. Can he just fall for the lovely Jane Doe?
Jane doesnât deny the pull of the gruff-yet-sweet cowboy who saved her and her baby. Heâs more than a cowboy heroâGideonâs given them a chance at a new life and love. But Jane knows that any day, her memory might come back. And the woman Gideon is falling in love with might disappear forever...
âChristmas is right around the corner...â
âThough Iâm not big on holidays, since this is Chipâs first one, letâs do it up right,â Gideon said. âWhile weâre in town, weâll grab lightsââ
âCan we make all the ornaments?â
âWhy not? Just add what supplies you need to our list.â
Jane laughed. âThat list of yours is going to rival Santaâs.â
âTrue.â He reached for her, hovering his hands midway between them.
Please touch me, hold me, her heart begged. More than she needed any random item on his list, she craved human contactâhis contact. But was that wrong?
For all she knew, she could be married.
Did that make her an awful person?
Dear Reader,
Most of my books tackle at least one heavy issue, but Jane and Gideonâs story had so many that at times, while writing, I found my own pulse racing. Jane battles amnesia. One scene in particular tugged at my heartstringsâwhen she was in a department store, trying on clothes and didnât recognize the woman staring back at her in the mirror.
Enter Gideon. As a Navy SEAL, his entire life centers around helping others in need. But when he loses his leg in battle, he also faces an identity crisisâmade all the worse when his wife leaves him because she doesnât want to be with a disabled man. Because of this, Gideonâs emotionally scarred, believing no woman will ever again want him.
I fear many disabled veterans experience this same sense of loss. Gideon is one of the lucky ones who has forged a new life as a horse whisperer, fulfilling his need to help by nurturing emotionally scarred horses. But once Jane becomes a fixture in his home, he finds himself once again longing to help peopleâmore specifically, her and her son.
I hope you enjoy this heartfelt read. More important, if you or anyone you know is a disabled vet, I pray for you to find your lifeâs second chance.
Warmest wishes,
Laura Marie xoxo
LAURA MARIE ALTOM is a bestselling and award-winning author who has penned nearly fifty books. After college (go, Hogs!), Laura Marie did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mom to boy-girl twins and a bonus son. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps.
When not immersed in her next story, Laura plays video games, tackles Mount Laundry and, of course, reads romance!
Laura loves hearing from readers at either PO Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, or by email, [email protected].
Love winning fun stuff? Check out lauramariealtom.com.
This story is dedicated to all disabled veterans who have lost their way. Please know you are loved and appreciated by me.
Chapter One
Why was a baby crying?
Gaze narrowed, Gideon Snow hunched forward in his saddle. He tugged his cowboy hatâs brim lower against the driving sleetâs pinprick assault. At least twenty miles in on a sixty-mile trail through northern Arizonaâs Asuaguih mountain range, on an early December day fit for neither man nor beast, the last thing he should be hearing was an infantâs wail. But there it was again.
Waaahuhah.
Had to be a fox.
No woman in her right mind would bring a baby out in this weather.
Jelly Bean, the pinto mare heâd been rehabilitating for a good twelve weeks, snorted. The cold had her exhalations wreathing her head in white.
âGood girl.â Gideon leaned forward, smoothing his hand along her left cheek. Sheâd been through a lotâtrapped in a burning barn during a Nevada sandstorm. Her fourteen-year-old owner died trying to save her. The girlâs father had carried his lifeless daughter from the flames, then returned for the horse she loved. But the normally easygoing pinto charged into the heart of the storm. Three days after the girlâs funeral, Jelly Bean returned to what was left of the barn. It had taken six men to corral her into a trailer. Her coat had been ravaged by the storm. Her eyes filled with protective mucus.