Long-Lost Mom Read online

  Her goal hadn’t changed,

  Letter to Reader

  Title Page

  Books by Jill Shalvis

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  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

  Epilogue

  Copyright

  Her goal hadn’t changed,

  Jenna reassured herself as she watched Stone move toward her. She still wanted to atone for the things she’d done. But if she told Stone the truth about who she was, he would turn from her, his eyes icy and distant.

  But as Cindy Beatty, a complete stranger, she could do anything.

  Stone held her gaze as he came close. Jenna couldn’t have looked away to save her life, not when so pinned by his burning intensity.

  And she knew by the very power of what shimmered between them that it was the same for him—except he had no idea that this...thing between them was not new, that it had been there since the very beginning.

  “Hello,” Stone said in that voice like dark honey. “It’s... Cindy, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she murmured, sealing her fate with yet another lie. “It’s Cindy.”

  Dear Reader,

  Happy New Year! And welcome to another month of great reading from Silhouette Intimate Moments, just perfect for sitting back after the hectic holidays. You’ll love Marilyn Pappano’s Murphy’s Law, a MEN IN BLUE title set in New Orleans, with all that city’s trademark steam. You’ll remember Jack Murphy and Evie DesJardiens long after you put down this book, I promise you.

  We’ve got some great miniseries titles this month, too. Welcome back to Carla Cassidy’s Western town of MUSTANG, MONTANA in Code Name: Cowboy. Then pay a visit to Margaret Watson’s CAMERON, UTAH in Cowboy with a Badge. And of course, don’t forget our other titles this month. Look for Dangerous To Love, by Sally Tyler Hayes, a book whose title I personally find irresistible. And we’ve got books from a couple of our newest stars, too. Jill Shalvis checks in with Long-Lost Mom, and Virginia Kantra pens our FAMILIES ARE FOREVER title, The Passion of Patrick MacNeill.

  Enjoy them all—and be sure to come back next month for more of the most exciting romantic reading around, right here in Silhouette Intimate Moments.

  Yours,

  Leslie J. Wainger

  Executive Senior Editor

  * * *

  Please address questions and book requests to

  Silhouette Reader Service

  U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

  Canadian P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont L2A 5X3

  * * *

  LONG-LOST MOM

  JILL SHALVIS

  Books by Jill Shalvis

  Silhouette Intimate Moments

  Hiding Out at the Circle C #887

  Long-Lost Mom #905

  JILL SHALVIS

  When pressed for an answer on why she writes romance, Jill Shalvis just smiles and says she didn’t realize there was anything else. She’s written over a dozen novels so far, and doesn’t plan on stopping. She lives in California, in a house filled with young children, too many animals and her hero/husband.

  To Matrice, for believing in me, even when I didn’t. Thank you!

  Chapter 1

  He came every year without fail. Same day, same time, and he wondered, as he always did, if Jenna knew it. If she was haunted by their past, too.

  Of course she wasn’t, and never had been.

  Annoyed at himself, Stone Cameron tossed a curious squirrel a handful of his trail mix. “This is the last year I do this,” he told the animal over the roar of the surf.

  The squirrel sat up on its haunches, hoping for more.

  Stone tossed some more food, then laughed in spite of himself when the greedy thing tried to eat it all on the spot.

  “Oh...my God.”

  At the soft gasp Stone shifted on the large rock and looked over his shoulder.

  A woman stood on the sand of the deserted beach, covered from head to toe in black. Black trousers, black hooded wool coat, gloves and boots. The early-morning spring sun spilled over her, bathing her in a golden glow, and for an instant she looked so familiar his heart all but stopped.

  Jenna.

  A shaft of pain sliced through him, neatly destroying his calm. For a moment he’d thought she’d come back, but he knew now that was impossible.

  Jenna Loggins was gone. Long gone.

  And he was glad.

  The woman standing before him appeared rigid, practically unbreathing. All he could see of her was her nose, but somehow it was enough to know she was deeply troubled.

  Great. For the past ten years Stone had made it a habit to stay away from women in distress. Far away.

  The woman, medium height and willowy as a reed, suddenly swayed on her feet as though feeling faint.

  Dammit. “Are you all right?” His voice was rougher and grittier than he would have liked, but sitting here, in this precise spot, where he hadn’t been in an entire year, was tearing his guts out.

  She nodded, then raised a glove-covered hand to her face. Behind her mirrored sunglasses he sensed her intense unwavering stare, which he returned.

  She didn’t look all right, although he couldn’t see her well at all, just a vague impression of porcelain skin, carefully painted lips and shuttered eyes. “Maybe you should sit down,” he suggested, shifting over on the large rock. There was ample room for two.

  Slowly, as if in a trance, the woman walked around the rock to face him. For a long minute she said nothing, did nothing, just stared at him.

  And despite Stone’s resolve to be alone and miserable on this day, something about the woman caused a stir deep within him. It wasn’t her body; he couldn’t see it clearly. It certainly wasn’t the face she’d hidden from him with such care. No, it was something much more profound, and it disturbed him in a way he hadn’t been disturbed in some time.

  He was inexplicably aware of her as a woman. And he didn’t want to be. God, he so didn’t want to be.

  “I...can’t believe it,” she whispered.

  Neither could he, but he couldn’t deny it. Some silent connection was drawing him to her.

  The squirrel, clearly sensing snack time had come to an end, took off, chattering loudly, and disappeared into the thick woods lining the California beach. The noise seemed to snap the woman out of her spell. Again she lifted a hand to one cheek as if protecting herself from his gaze. Stone couldn’t see her eyes behind the reflective sunglasses, but he knew she stared at him as if waiting for something.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” The minute the words were out he wished them back. Would he never learn to stop trying to fix everyone’s problems but his own?

  “You...don’t know me.”

  She sounded so shocked that Stone took a closer look. Her hood had fallen back some, revealing a crop of fawn-colored hair, artfully cut to fall in soft waves about her face—a face still more than half-covered by her scarf and the tilt of her head, almost as though she was afraid he would recognize her.

  He didn’t.

  A horrible bone-seizing tension seem to grip her, a tension he didn’t understand and told himself he didn’t want to.

  “Don’t tell me you have amnesia,” he quipped, trying to lighten the mood, when in fact, for some reason, he really wanted to take her hand and tell her everything would be okay.

  He was an idiot.

  “No, I don’t h