TO LEARN TO LOVE...HE WILL HAVE TO LET GO...
The illegitimate son of the wealthiest man in Cedar River, Jonah Rickard spent his life avoiding his father. Forced back home for a wedding, heâs brought face-to-face with the only woman to ever threaten his hardened heart. Connie Bedford knows what it is to be haunted by the past, betrayed by trust...scared by desire. Years ago, Jonahâs father saved her. Now only Connie and her love can save Jonahâand, maybe, his family...
HELEN LACEY grew up reading Black Beauty and Little House on the Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven, a story about a girl and her horse. She loves writing for Mills & Boon True Love, where she can create strong heroes with soft hearts and heroines with gumption who get their happily-ever-afters. For more about Helen, visit her website, www.helenlacey.com.
Also by Helen Lacey
A Kiss, a Dance & a Diamond
The Rancherâs Unexpected Family Married to the Mom-to-Be The Cowgirlâs Forever Family Lucy & the Lieutenant Three Reasons to Wed A Fortunes of Texas Christmas The CEOâs Baby Surprise Claiming His Brotherâs Baby Once Upon a Bride
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-07790-3
THE SECRET SONâS HOMECOMING
© 2018 Helen Lacey
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a âLicensed Deviceâ) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ⢠are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk
For Robert
Who walks beside me
and catches my hand whenever I fall.
Chapter One
Connie Bedford knew from experience that regrets were pointless. She also knew that foolish behavior could not be undoneâonly not repeated. And she certainly had no intention of repeating the foolishness sheâd carried out with the man standing across the dance floor from her.
Jonah Rickard.
Six feet plus of dark-haired, broad-shouldered, blue-eyed handsomeness that made her knees weak and turned her good sense to mush every time he was within a few feet of her.
Everyone had a weakness, she told herself. For some, it was chocolate or champagne. For others, it was extreme sports and adrenaline rushes. For Connie, it seemed as though it was Jonah. Even though she knew he was bad news and that he didnât appear to feel anything for her other than disdain.
And she didnât like him, either. Not really. It was simple chemistry. Alchemy. A straight-up physical reaction. The fact that it was still wreaking havoc with her good sense even though that crazy night had been over ten months ago frustrated her beyond belief. Particularly considering that every time sheâd seen him since, each encounter had been even more awkward than the last. And it wasnât as though anything had really happened. Just a few minutes of insane impulsiveness. It should have been easy to forget.
Iâm the master of forgetting things. I can forget this, too.
âEarth to Connie?â
She instantly turned on her heels. Nicola Radici stood behind her. Nicola OâSullivan now, she corrected herself. And the very reason that Connie was at the OâSullivan ranch. Sheâd had three weeks to help prepare her friend for the Cedar River wedding of the year, and she was delighted that the whole day had gone off without any drama. The tent, the tasteful decorations, the lighting, the electric fire pits keeping the cold early November air at bayâit was a dreamy and beautiful event. And Nicola looked amazing in her antique lace gown. Connie was thankful and happy that all the preparations had come together and the bride and groom had had a lovely ceremony. What didnât make her happy was the fact that Jonah was the groomâs half brother, and since she was a bridesmaid, she knew she was about ten minutes away from being partnered with him on the dance floor.