Her Very Own Family

Her Very Own Family
Trish Milburn

Audrey York isn't letting the scandal in her past stop her from making a fresh start in Willow Glen, Tennessee. And now, with the help of a kindhearted neighbor, she's getting the chance to build her dream cafе. Then she meets her neighbor's son–sexy, single carpenter Brady Witt–who makes it clear he doesn't trust her one bit. Someone has to protect Brady's father from women out to hook a lonely widower. Only, the beautiful blond restaurateur doesn't fit the profile.In fact, she isn't like any woman Brady knows. Just when Brady's starting to believe in her, Audrey's past comes barreling back. Can she trust Brady with the truth? Or will she lose the family she's found at last when he discovers who she is–and what she's running from?

She watched Brady run his fingers over the surface of the rock slabs

An unexpected warmth flowed along Audrey’s arms at the thought of those long fingers doing the same thing to her skin. Maybe she had stayed in the sun too long that morning and baked her brain.

She felt as if she was experiencing Brady overload. She’d caught herself snatching glimpses of him ever since they’d arrived at the store, glimpses she didn’t dare make in the car because he would have noticed.

Each time she looked at him, the more attractive he became.

The archetypal sexy carpenter. She wondered if he looked as good as she imagined in nothing but a pair of jeans and a tool belt.

But she couldn’t risk getting too involved, not when it could put everything she had and was trying to build at risk.

Dear Reader,

I’m excited to share my second Harlequin American Romance novel, Her Very Own Family, with you. The backdrop of the story is a place familiar to me—the gorgeous northeast corner of Tennessee. The area is verdant, mountainous and filled with soothing creeks and rushing rivers.

The beauty and calm of the setting are just what Audrey York needs when she arrives in tiny Willow Glen. Audrey came to life while I was pondering how someone would respond if she were caught up in a scandal not of her making. How could she start over when the scandal made national news? Could she escape the guilty-by-association way people looked at her and find a man to see and love the real her?

This book is the result of all that pondering, and it is Audrey’s journey to letting go, trusting, forgiving and finding love with a hunky carpenter named Brady Witt, who has his own past to overcome on the road to love.

I hope you enjoy Audrey and Brady’s story. I’d love to hear what you think. You can e-mail me through my Web site at www.trishmilburn.com.

Happy reading!

Trish Milburn

Her Very Own Family

Trish Milburn

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trish Milburn wrote her first book in the fifth grade and has the cardboard-and-fabric-bound handwritten and colored-pencil-illustrated copy to prove it. That “book” was called Land of the Misty Gems, and not surprisingly it was a romance. She’s always loved stories with happy endings, whether those stories come in the form of books, movies, TV programs or marriage to her own hero.

A print journalist by trade, she still does contract and freelance work in that field, balancing those duties with her dream-come-true career as a novelist. Before she published her first book, she was an eight-time finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart contest sponsored by Romance Writers of America, winning twice. Other than reading, Trish enjoys traveling (by car or train—she’s a terra firma girl!), watching TV and movies, hiking, nature photography and visiting national parks.

You can visit Trish online at www.trishmilburn.com. Readers also can write to her at P.O. Box 140875, Nashville, TN 37214-0875.

To Shane,

who has been my own real-life hero for nineteen years.

And to Jennifer and Jeanie. Thanks for introducing me

to the world of romance fiction way back when.

Writing groups and friends mean a lot to a writer,

and I’m very fortunate to have great wealth

in this area. Although I can’t name everyone,

I want to thank three groups in particular for their

unceasing support and wonderful friendship.

Here’s to you, Music City Romance Writers,

Wet Noodle Posse and Romance Bandits.

Finally, huge thanks again to the ladies

who are my partners in my career—

my fabulous agent, Michelle Grajkowski;

my wonderful editor, Johanna Raisanen;

and senior editor extraordinaire, Kathleen Scheibling.

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