Danger lurks in every hallway of the school, and the cowboy she never got over is serving as her new head of security.
Returning to Heart Lake is a dream come true for Hope Remington. As the new principal, she’s determined to bring healing to a divided town by uniting students from two fiercely competitive high schools under one roof. But the students aren’t the only challenge.
Josh Hawling, the champion bull rider who broke her heart, owns the company that’s been hired to patrol the school grounds. When ancient town rivalries simmer to dangerous levels both on and off campus, working alongside Josh rekindles feelings neither of them can ignore.
📚 OPENING LINES:
She’s home.
Josh Hawling had always known this day would come…eventually. He watched the Gulfstream catch the sun and gleam like white fire as it banked left and circled around for its final descent to the narrow landing strip. A few mountain gusts rocked the aircraft, but the pilot expertly steered through them. He nosed downward and touched the landing wheels to the tarmac. Throwing the engine thrusters in reverse and raising the wing spoilers, he swiftly reduced his speed and rolled to a stop.
Hope Remington was finally back in Texas, where she belonged.
“She’s been gone ten years.” Mr. Elmer Remington, superintendent of the Heart Lake School District, eagerly regarded the airplane on the other side of the glass. Indulgent pride radiated from his lined features. He’d come straight from the district office in his business suit, but his straw Stetson and leather boots underscored the fact that he was and always would be a rancher first. “Her return is nothing short of a miracle.”
By a miracle, Josh knew Mr. Remington was referring to the fact that he’d negotiated long and hard with his fellow school board members to tweak a few of the job requirements in Hope’s favor. He’d wanted to hire a hometown girl as the next head principal of Heart Lake High, but she wouldn’t have stood a chance during the interview if the powers-that-be hadn’t waived the prior experience requirement. The ink was still drying on her PhD, and she’d only served as an assistant principal so far. This was the first time she would be running an entire high school on her own.
Josh was concerned about how much responsibility the school board was placing on her shoulders this early in her career. However, no one had asked for his opinion on the matter, so he was keeping it to himself.
For now.
He was simply the guy they’d hired to protect her — off the record, of course. On paper, his security team was actually under contract to guard the student body and school facilities. Not any one person in particular. The private agreement for Josh to stick as close to Hope as a cocklebur had happened in a closed-door meeting with the superintendent. Alone. Though the older gentleman was only distantly related to Hope — a cousin twice removed — he’d always considered her to be family.
The door to the gleaming white Gulfstream opened, and a set of metal steps descended. A red high-heeled boot appeared next. It was soon followed by the rest of the woman Josh had waited so long to see again. Her long, blonde hair was draped over one shoulder, cascading nearly to the waist of her denim dress. She wasn’t as tanned as she used to be, probably because of how much time she spent indoors these days. But she still walked with the same energy and confidence of the barrel racing, rodeo queen he remembered.
Though he didn’t so much as flinch, it felt like a sucker punch to watch her walk down the steps and move across the pavement to the airline terminal. Toward him, instead of away from him, for the first time in ten years.
Only a single wall of glass separated them now. He and the district superintendent had been awaiting her arrival on the other side of it. Though Josh sorely doubted Hope would appreciate his presence, Mr. Remington had insisted he be included in her welcome party. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t care one way or the other. Maybe she’d long since forgiven and forgotten his past sins.
There was a distinct possibility she wouldn’t even recognize the older version of him. He was a good four inches taller than the last time they’d been together — bigger, broader, and wiser. Infinitely wiser. A man who’d learned from his mistakes and had no interest in repeating them.
There was no way she’d be feeling even half of what he was feeling when she finally laid eyes on him and realized who he was — pain laced with bitter longing over the way he’d left things between them. Of all the things he’d left unsaid. And even worse, the things he’d left undone. Like failing to show up at their favorite rendezvous point on the bridge and run off to college together like the lovesick fools they’d once been.
She’d been a slender teenager at the time, full of dreams and plans that were bigger than him, anxious to leave their small town behind and explore the world in ways only a Remington could afford to do. She was a grown woman with big city polish now, one who’d tasted and experienced the globe from Anchorage, to Amsterdam, to Paris. Yeah, he’d followed her adventures by lurking on her social media accounts since she’d never bothered kicking him off. His lurking had also kept him painfully informed about her social life. There’d been pictures of all the places she’d visited and all the friends she’d made along the way. Guy friends. Lots of guy friends. He wondered how many of them she’d dated.
Those pictures were the only reason Josh knew that the auburn-haired man striding at her side right now was more than her pilot. He was one of her closest friends, possibly her boyfriend. A billionaire philanthropist from Alaska, who was supposedly coming to help repair the tornado damage in Heart Lake. His charity foundation was financing several local restoration projects, to include a complete overhaul of their disaster planning and preparedness infrastructure.
Josh wasn’t buying the guy’s story. He could think of only one reason why a man of Kellan Maddox’s connections and financial resources would travel to such a small, rural town — to pursue the woman Josh had never stopped loving.
Well, Mr. Money Bags was in for one mighty big surprise when he discovered he had competition.
Me.
Josh pulled his Stetson low over his eyes as the door flew open and Hope stepped inside the terminal. He didn’t want her to recognize him right away.
Her expressive blue gaze scanned the small waiting area and quickly landed on Mr. Remington.
“Elmer!” she cried joyfully.
Josh experienced a familiar jolt at the sound of her voice. It was all he could do not to step forward and sweep her into his arms as she moved in their direction. She hurried forward with her hands outstretched. Not to him, unfortunately.
Mr. Remington eagerly took her slender hands in his. “Welcome home, Hope.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “We couldn’t be happier that you’ve agreed to join our staff at Heart Lake High.”
She gave his wrinkled hands an affectionate squeeze before dropping them. “How could I say no to such a kind and generous offer? There certainly aren’t many twenty-nine-year-old administrators out there getting this kind of opportunity handed to them.”
The superintendent nodded sagely.
Her smile widened to a full blast of warmth and humor. “I probably don’t want to know how many arms you twisted or favors you called in to make this happen.”
“You’re the right person for the job, Hope,” he assured quickly. “Don’t you ever doubt it. It’s the only reason I reached out and asked you to apply for the job.”
“I’m so glad you did.” Her smile dimmed a few degrees as her gaze clouded with nostalgia. “As soon as I heard about the storm damage, I knew I needed to come home.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Mr. Remington grimaced. “Combining two high school campuses isn’t exactly going to be a stroll around the lake.”
“I understand what needs to be done, sir.” She met his gaze squarely. “That’s why it had to be me, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Josh understood what they meant. Hope was a hometown girl. An insider, despite all the years she’d been gone. She was one of the few people on the planet who stood a chance at maneuvering her way through the politics, family feuds, and old grudges that fueled everything that took place in their small mountain town. She’d grown up in the middle of those politics. She’d been an integral part of them. Only time would tell how much of them remained in her, how they would fuel her plans and drive her decisions.
Elmer Remington and his school board were banking on the fact that her decisions in the coming days would drive their high school in the right direction, toward a unity that the students from the north and south sides of town had never before tasted. They’d been arch rivals for years. Putting them under one roof was a lofty goal at best, a foolish one at worst.
At that moment, Hope’s airline pilot strode over to join their group. Up until now, he’d been conferring with the gate attendant, signing paperwork and such. He held out a hand to the superintendent. “I’m Kellan Maddox. You must be Elmer Remington. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Josh’s upper lip curled at the ruby signet ring riding the man’s pinky finger, along with the diamonds glinting from his cufflinks. What a pretty boy! If this was the kind of man that revved Hope’s motor these days, then she’d changed in ways Josh had never considered her capable of changing. Lifting his jaw, he drilled her with a curious stare while the two men shook hands.
After the briefest of shakes, Mr. Remington dropped Pretty Boy’s hand and turned in Josh’s direction. “Hope, I reckon you remember Josh Hawling? He’s agreed to serve as our new head of security at Heart Lake High.”
At the mention of his name, her slender shoulders seemed to freeze. However, the smile she sent in his direction was one of impeccable politeness.
“Josh Hawling? You’re kidding!”
He tested her bland response by thrusting out a callused hand, silently taunting her to take it.
After a moment of hesitation, she pressed her fingers lightly against his. It was far from a real handshake.
He had no intention of letting her get away with such a half-hearted gesture. “It’s good to see you again, Hope.” He gave her perfectly manicured fingers a full cowboy squeeze. Hate me all you want, darlin’. I deserve it. But he saw no point in pretending they didn’t have history between them. No, he wasn’t going to make a scene in front of her filthy rich boyfriend. But she was going to acknowledge, at least to him, that they’d once meant something to each other.
