Fighting legal battles eighty hours a week has left Raine Cantrell burned out and empty. Although she once dreamed that success might make the father who walked away without a backward glance take notice, the high-power big city lawyer now finds herself feeling very alone. Then she gets an urgent call from three kids in trouble in her Washington state hometown, and suddenly Raine is returning to face unresolved feelings, unhealed wounds—and an unexpected desire. Sheriff Jack O’Halloran, a man with tragedy in his past and a six-year-old daughter to raise alone, has three teens barricaded inside a house and the media clamoring for a story. He isn’t ready for Raine to invade his territory—or his thoughts. And Raine isn’t ready for anyone to touch her heart. Unable to deny their attraction to each other, their solution is adult, reasonable—and totally foolish. They decide to have a simple affair. But they are about to discover that love is rarely simple—and that lives can change forever in a single heartbeat. “Few storytellers have JoAnn Ross’s magical touch for creating warm and memorable characters whose lives you delight in visiting. Like cherished silver, just shines” ( ).