Yesterday's Gone
Tomorrow's a new beginning… When a digitally aged photo of a girl named Hope Lawson is posted online, Bailey Smith can't deny the similarity to herself. But could she really be the same woman who was abducted as a child twenty-three years ago?When she meets Detective Seth Chandler, who opened the cold case of Hope's disappearance, suddenly everything changes. Not only does Bailey have a family she barely remembers–and a sister she's never met–she's connecting with a man for the first time. A man who's loving and gentle. But Bailey's not sure she's ready to be found: by him or the parents she once lost.
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Tomorrowâs a new beginning...
When a digitally aged photo of a girl named Hope Lawson is posted online, Bailey Smith canât deny the similarity to herself. But could she really be the same woman who was abducted as a child twenty-three years ago?
When she meets Detective Seth Chandler, who opened the cold case of Hopeâs disappearance, suddenly everything changes. Not only does Bailey have a family she barely remembersâand a sister sheâs never metâsheâs connecting with a man for the first time. A man whoâs loving and gentle. But Baileyâs not sure sheâs ready to be found: by him or the parents she once lost.
Detective Chandlerâs expression never changed.
But Bailey wasnât surprised that his pupils had dilated when he finally lifted his head. They stared at each other, and she thought, Donât let him want me. It would be incredibly unrewarding for him. Men...well...she didnât do men. Not anymore.
When she looked at him again, his crooked smile sent a jolt through her.
âItâs a pleasure to meet you, Hope Lawson,â he said.
âJust...donât call me that.â
âAll right.â There was that astonishing gentleness again. âBailey it is. Unless you prefer Ms. Smith?â
âEither is fine.â She retreated to her side of the table. âThank you, Detective.â
âIf youâre going to be Bailey, Iâll be Seth.â
The flutter in her belly wouldnât let her respond to that. Weâre not friends, she wanted to say, but she didnât want to alienate him, either.
This desire to cling to him was completely unfamiliar to her.
You see the articles about girls or women rescued after being held captive for months or years. Thereâll be occasional follow-ups that include photos in which she is now stylish and remarkably poised.
Studying them, youâd never guess what she endured. But on the inside, I doubt she is anywhere near as together as she appears. I can imagine many excellent reasons for her to develop a facade to hide the damage she still feels.
But as I contemplated this story idea, I started thinking about an adoptive sister who was always aware her role was to substitute for the ârealâ daughter who had been abducted and was still mourned by their mutual parents. And what about Hope Lawson, who finds her way home after twenty-three years to discover her parents replaced her with another little girl, whom she is now supposed to call sister?
What a cauldron of family conflict on top of deep emotional scarring!
The heroes? Not hard to figure out for each of these sisters what man would both draw and threaten her on an emotional level.
Minor confession: sometimes Iâm a little ashamed of myself, being intrigued by such painful experiences. I meanâromance writer here.
But I tell myself a love story isnât really about the romantic stuff, itâs about the terror of making an awful mistake, about being hurt and healed and ultimately believing in another person.
I hope you find Hope aka Baileyâs miraculous homecoming moving, and will be on board for Eveâs story in my October Superromance, In Hopeâs Shadow.
Janice
An author of more than eighty books for children and adults, USA TODAY bestselling author JANICE KAY JOHNSON is especially well-known for her Mills & Boon Superromance novels about love and family, about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her 2007 novel Snowbound won a RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America for Best Contemporary Series Romance. A former librarian, Janice raised two daughters in a small rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She loves to read and is an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter. Visit her online at janicekayjohnson.com.
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DETECTIVE SETH CHANDLER tugged his tie loose and undid the top button of his white shirt as he settled into his chair. Testifying in court that morning had demanded his best getup.
Unfortunately, the detective bull pen was upstairs in the aging building that housed the county sheriffâs department. In winter, they appreciated the scientific fact that heat rises. A heat wave right before the Fourth of July weekend meant today they sweated, as they would off and on all summer. A couple of window air-conditioning units rattled away inadequately. Doing the job meant tuning out physical discomfort along with the noise of too many conversations around him.
No surprise to find that, in his absence, over a hundred new emails had arrived. He was being inundated with âtipsâ right now. Thatâs the way it was when you got word out there. Most were worthless, but once in a while, he found wheat among the chaff.
