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“I’ve never seen anything so incredible,” Emily whispered.
Bering agreed, but he was watching her, not the deer ouside the cabin.
They stayed silent for a long time. He wanted to take her hand, to take her into his arms. Instead, he willed himself to get ahold of his emotions.
It was too late, he realized. He was owned by Emily Hollings, a smart city girl who worked for the enemy. He began to wonder about his resolution to remain only friends.
Was there some way he and Emily could be more than just friends? He wasn’t sure which to listen to—his heart or his head—but he knew he couldn’t touch her again until he had an answer to that question… .
Dear Reader,
This is my first novel. Not just my first for Mills & Boon, but my first published work ever, and I am so very excited that it’s a part of the Heartwarming series.
Growing up in a small town is truly life-defining. No matter where you go from there or what choices you make along the way, it just…sticks with you. And yes, there is much about it that is annoying—seeing the same faces day in and day out, unbearable people, gossip…. But there is also a lot that is wonderful about it—seeing the same faces day in and day out, incredible people, gossip…. But no matter how you look at it, when it comes right down to it we love our small towns—just as they are.
So what happens when the face, the very character, of one special small town in Alaska is threatened irrevocably? I know you’re thinking “This is a romance—it’s love that happens,” right? Eventually, yes, of course. But not without a rousing battle of wills and wits between two headstrong rivals complete with all the fun that the advantages and frustrations small-town life can bring. I hope that you are as taken with the charming little town of Rankins and its inimitable characters as I have come to be.
Thanks so much for reading,
Carol Ross
Mountains Apart
Carol Ross
CAROL ROSS
lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two dogs. She is a graduate of Washington State University. When not writing, or thinking about writing, she enjoys reading, running, hiking, skiing, traveling and making plans for the next adventure to subject her sometimes reluctant but always fun-loving family to.
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For Paul,
My champion—I will miss you always.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
SOMEONE NEEDED TO invent a new word, Emily decided as she stared out the window, glaring really, at the three-foot-long icicles hanging from the eaves. Cold just didn’t cut it. Cold was “don’t forget your jacket because a chilly wind is picking up.” Cold was that bite in the air that made you wish you were wearing jeans instead of a skirt. This place was so far beyond cold that not even freezing, frigid or icy could do it justice. Chilly, nippy, cool—what a joke.
She’d read one time that Alaskan Natives have numerous words for different types of snow, so maybe they could just borrow one of those. Whichever one referred to the eyelash-freezing, nostril-frosting, step-outside-at-your-own-risk-because-you-may-die-of-hypothermia type would be perfect. Although to be fair, Emily wasn’t actually cold now. Nope. In fact, she was currently sweating like a flyweight boxer in the middle of the tenth round.
It was approximately ten degrees below zero outside, and in between appointments she was running around in bare feet and a thin skirt and tank top. Because, like every other piece of equipment in this run-down, antiquated, tin shack that was currently serving as her office, the
