Hannah looked straight at Rex. Tell me why you walked out on me that night.
She sighed, then looked away. What about children?
God, she was covering six years of ground here, while he was thinking of one step at a time. He thought of his own miserable childhood, how he had vowed he would never visit that kind of pain on himself. Kids were never part of my plan.
Something shuttered in her eyes. She was closing him out as he watched. He reached out. She gently pushed his hands away and closed her eyes as tears slid out from under her lids.
He didnt know what to say.
Dear Reader,
This is a month full of greats: great authors, great miniseriesgreat books. Start off with award-winning Marie Ferrarellas Racing Against Time, the first in a new miniseries called CAVANAUGH JUSTICE. This family fights for whats rightand their reward is lasting love.
The miniseries excitement continues with the second of Carla Cassidys CHEROKEE CORNERS trilogy. Dead Certain brings the hero and heroine together to solve a terrible crime, but it keeps them together with love. Candace Irvins latest features A Dangerous Engagement, and its also the first SISTERS IN ARMS title, introducing a group of military women bonded through friendship and destined to find men worthy of their hearts.
Of course, you wont want to miss our stand-alone books, either. Marilyn Tracys A Warriors Vow is built around a suspenseful search for a missing child, and its there, in the rugged Southwest, that her hero and heroine find each other. Cindy Dees has an irresistible Special Forces officer for a hero in Line of Fireand he takes aim right at the heroines heart. Finally, welcome new author Loreth Anne White, who came to us via our eHarlequin.com Web site. Melting the Ice is her first bookand were all eagerly awaiting her next.
Enjoyand come back next month for more exciting romantic reading, only from Silhouette Intimate Moments.
Leslie J. Wainger
Executive Editor
Melting the Ice Loreth Anne White
LORETH ANNE WHITE
She currently lives with her husband, two daughters and their cats in a ski resort in the rugged Coast Mountains of British Columbia, where there is no shortage of inspiration for larger-than-life characters and adventure.
To Pavlo for believing in me, JoJo for her support and Susan Litman for making it all happen.
Contents
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 1
Hannah looked up from her computer. Als face was ashen.
They think its Amy. Up in Grizzly Bowl. The forty-five-year-old publisher of the White River Gazette dug his hands into his hair, held his head, as if trying to keep reality from seeping in.
Hannah pushed her chair back. She said nothing but moved quickly across the newsroom toward Al. He was shaking, the dial tone still buzzing from the telephone receiver that lay on his desk. She took it, gently replaced it in the cradle and sat next to him.
Was that the police? she asked softly.
He nodded. Theyre waiting for the coroner to come in from Vancouver by
chopper.
God, Im so sorry, Al.
He wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand. Hell, Hannah, I guess I always knew the news would come sometime, but he looked away from her, out the floor-to-ceiling windows toward the wild sun-kissed peaks that rose in an amphitheater around British Columbias White River Valley it still comes as a gut slammer.
It was last October, almost a year ago, that Amy had vanished, seemingly into thin air. A winter had come and gone. Upwards of two million skiers had carved tracks into Grizzly Bowl on Powder Mountain, where a womans cries had been heard by hikers last fall. And once the snows had begun to melt, thousands of sightseers had been ferried via gondola to hike the Grizzly Traverse and look back out over Grizzly Bowl, the glacier and the spectacular Coast Mountain scene below.
How could they have missed her?
Hannah reached forward and took Als rough, sun-browned hand in her own. Howd they find her?
He cleared his throat. Wildlife activity. It alerted mountain staff this morning.
Hannah knew search-and-rescue personnel had told Powder Mountain employees to keep a watch out for any abnormal wildlife activity as snows receded. It was standard procedure in these parts. But nothing had turned up in the spring. Nothing throughout the summer.
And, as long as thered been no body, no proof that Amy had died, thered always been hope. Al had hung on to that. All the while he had hoped. And hed kept paying the rent on Amys apartment. Just in case, hed said.
He turned to her, eyes, the same azure as Amys, shimmering with emotion. Sven was the one who found her.
Hannahs chest felt tight. Sven Jansen was the mountain guide Amy used to go out with. Things cut so close in a small community like this. As a foreign correspondent Hannah had covered wars and natural disasters, yet there was nothing to compare; this touched her in ways those stories seldom had. When tragedy hit a town as small as White River, it touched everyone. It became personal.