By Her Side

By Her Side
Kathryn Springer

THE DAVIS LANDING OBSERVER THE GOSSIP GURU is back with more news. Seems intrepid reporter Felicity Simmons, at rival newspaper The Davis Landing Dispatch, is being threatened by someone who is not happy with her articles. Your faithful source hears that police officer Chris Hamilton, the only family member not working for Hamilton Media, is protecting her.Independent Ms. Simmons will bristle at being guarded, but she doesn't know how stubborn Chris can be - or how determined he is to be by her side until her stalker is caught .

As soon as Chris Hamilton was out of sight, Felicity crossed her arms on her desk and buried her face in them, willing her heart to stop racing.

Had she managed to convince him that the letters were the unsettling but harmless result of someone with too much time on their hands? Because she’d certainly tried to convince herself. It had taken every ounce of self-control not to let him see that she was just as concerned as he was. She’d noticed his assessing gaze, looking for chinks in her emotional armor. As a reporter, she knew all about reading people’s body language, too.

It had taken a lot of concentration to make sure her real feelings didn’t show, and for some reason, with Officer Chris Hamilton sitting close enough for her to breathe in the warm, spicy scent of his cologne, it had taken more effort than usual.

DAVIS LANDING:

Nothing is stronger than a family’s love

KATHRYN SPRINGER

is a lifelong Wisconsin resident. Growing up in a “newspaper family,” she spent long hours as a child plunking out stories on her mother’s typewriter. She wrote her first “book” at the age of ten (which her mother still has!) and she hasn’t stopped writing since then. Initially, her writing was a well-kept secret that only her family and a few close friends knew about. Now, with her books in print, the secret is out. Kathryn began writing inspirational romance because it allows her to combine her faith in God with her love of a happy ending.

KATHRYN SPRINGER

BY HER SIDE

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

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to

Kathryn Springer for her contribution

to the DAVIS LANDING miniseries.

This book is warmly dedicated to Diane Dietz, my editor at Steeple Hill, who understands the great mysteries of commas, semicolons and ellipses, indulges my fascination (obsession?) with …’s (most of the time) and who gently polishes my words until they shine.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

—Joshua 1:9

Contents

Prologue

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

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Prologue

Ten Years Earlier

“Hamilton, maybe you should just throw a cot in the corner over there.”

Chris Hamilton opened his eyes and saw his coach grinning at him.

“Are you leaving already?” he muttered, feeling his muscles tremble under the punishing weights he was balancing over his head.

He must have lost track of the hour. The last time he’d looked, three guys on the other side of the gym had been having a good-natured bench-press competition while the custodian mopped the floor. Now the lights were dimmed and someone had turned off the country and western music that had been blaring from the radio.

“Already?” One of Coach Swanson’s ragged eyebrows kicked up a notch. “It’s almost ten o’clock. And I know for a fact that you have a big English test tomorrow first period.”

Chris grimaced, but not from pain. The only reason Coach knew about the exam was because he happened to be married to Chris’s English teacher. That was a bummer. He couldn’t get away with anything. For all he knew, they traded notes about their students over their bran flakes every morning.