Return to Rosewood

Return to Rosewood
Bonnie K. Winn

After an accident left big-city gal Samantha Harrison in a wheelchair, she returned to her hometown a changed woman. But Bret Conway, her former fiancé, whose heart she broke when she left, insists she's the same girl he loved and lost.And that, with his help and some Texas determination, she will walk again. But Samantha is afraid to believe in anything–herself, her caring community…or a second chance with the handsome man who's still not ready to forgive her. Until Samantha surprises them both in the most wonderful way of all.

Samantha looked over the devastation in the kitchen. “I’ve ruined their house.”

“Not ruined,” Bret rebuked her. “Damaged. But it can be fixed.”

Helplessly she stared at him.

Bret’s gut told him to get as far away as possible from the one woman he’d never been able to stop loving. He’d learned to live without her, but he had never felt the same way about anyone else. Yet the deep blue of her eyes chased away his good sense. “I know my way around a saw and hammer. And I can recruit some help.”

“But you have—”

Bret resisted the pull of old, unresolved feelings. He doubted he’d survive another desertion. And once she was well, he knew she would be gone again. “A friend who needs help.”

Samantha’s eyes, devoid of hope, flickered just a bit.

Friend… He had to keep it that way. Or he might not get over the pain this time.

BONNIE K. WINN

is a hopeless romantic who has written incessantly since the third grade. So it seemed only natural that she turned to romance writing. A seasoned author of historical and contemporary romance, Bonnie has won numerous awards for her bestselling books. Affaire de Coeur chose her as one of the Top Ten Romance Writers in America.

Bonnie loves writing contemporary romance because she can set her stories in the modern cities close to her heart and explore the endlessly fascinating strengths of today’s women.

Living in the foothills of the Rockies gives her plenty of inspiration and a touch of whimsy, as well. She shares her life with her husband, son and a spunky Norwich terrier who lends his characteristics to many pets in her stories. Bonnie’s keeping mum about anyone else’s characteristics she may have borrowed.

Return to Rosewood

Bonnie K. Winn

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.

—II Corinthians 4: 8-9

For my love, Howard.

Always and forever.

Contents

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

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Ice! The ocean-sized sheet sucked her in, paralyzing, drowning her. Samantha shot up from her nightmare, drenched in sweat. Breathing so hard the gasps hurt her chest, she painfully lifted one leg, then the other over the side of the bed. She reached for her wheelchair. Still not accustomed to her damaged body, Samantha tried three times before she levered herself up from the bed.

Trembling, she wheeled slowly through her parents’ home to the kitchen, which was in the rear quarter of the old, large Victorian house. Accustomed to her streamlined New York apartment, she’d forgotten how many doodads her mother had everywhere. Between the little tea tables, plants and trinkets, it was hard to navigate the distance, especially in the aftermath of her nightmare.

Hands shaking, Samantha decided to have a cup of tea. She turned the knob on the stove, but it didn’t light. Ignitor switches were getting old, her mother had said months before. Samantha was lucky they’d decided to leave the utilities on in the empty house.

Muttering to herself, she searched through the lower shelves of the pantry and three drawers before she found a kitchen match. She returned to the stove. Hands not yet under control, it took her several tries to light the match.