PREVIEWA devastating loss.
A second chance at love.
A first love that may forever destroy it.
****Holland
Holland Ballinger had loved Dane Greer since she was sixteen years old. And for one fleeting night, she'd thought he felt the same way. But she couldn't have been more wrong.
Now, fifteen years later, she was back in Whistling Creek to bury the only person she'd ever felt really close to since her father's death -- her Aunt May.
And unlike she'd planned, it wouldn't be a quick stop. Aunt May had left her an inheritance that could give her the financial security she desperately needed. But keeping it depended on the one man who'd destroyed her all those years ago -- Dane Greer.
"Oh Aunt May, how could you do this to me?" Holland groaned.
***Dane
Dane's muscles tensed the way they always did when he saw the sign announcing Whistling Creek.
At one time, making a life in the little mountainous Georgia town had been all he'd wanted. But if life had taught him one thing, it's that dreams were made to be broken.
If it wasn't for his elderly uncle, he wouldn't have set foot back in the town. And now that he was back, leaving seemed impossible. Not only was his uncle ill, he'd come into an unexpected inheritance.
***
"Did she leave any explanation as to why she left me part of the inn?" Dane said.
"No, Dane," Jonny Mack, May Ballinger's portly attorney, said. "And as for your confusion Holland, I get it. Your aunt was a simple woman on one hand, but she could be very complicated on the other. But, she always had her reasons for doing stuff and right now, I'm just here to see that they're done exactly the way she wanted. With that being said, there are a few caveats to the inheritance - for both of you," the attorney said, clearing his throat.
"Caveats?" Holland and Dane said in unison.
They looked at each other, then back at Jonny Mack.
***The Decision of a Lifetime
Holland's Aunt May had left her in a financial pickle. If Dane wouldn't agree to the terms of her aunt's will, Holland would lose her inheritance. And from the looks on his face, it was as good as gone.
He'd destroyed her once, and now, he had the power to do it all over again. Yet, she had to find a way to convince him to adhere to the terms of her aunt's will. She had to.
Even if it meant putting her heart on the line -- again.
Even if the attraction between them was as all-consuming as it had always been.
***
Holland moaned as Dane expertly massaged the full weight of one breast. Her hands explored the angles of a face she'd dreamed of too many times to count over the years. "Hmmmm," she cooed. The hardness of his body seeped into the softness of hers, igniting a need that had been too long denied.
Dane pulled her up. "Come," he commanded gruffly.
"No," Holland said, sucking air into her overheated lungs.
"I told you Holland, this ... it's inevitable between us."
And that's exactly what she was afraid of.
Holland had survived loving him once. She didn't know if she could do it again.
Will Holland and Dane's journey end once and for all? Or, will they find everlasting ... Love at Honeysuckle Inn?
