Her Dream Come True

Her Dream Come True
Donna Clayton

IF WISHES WERE WEDDINGS…Her dreams had been simple when she left for Little Haven. A reunion with her long-lost sister and then a return to city life and her stellar career. But when Hannah Cavanaugh stepped foot in her small hometown once again, she discovered she needed more. And from the moment she set eyes on ruggedly handsome Adam Roth, she knew what she needed was him!Something about Adam had Hannah yearning for a home filled with happiness and children and love. But now that she'd discovered what she wanted in his strong and loving arms, did she have the courage to win this eligible bachelor's heart?

“You surprise me, Hannah,” (#u7f1ec9b5-2154-52e6-b7fb-501512c9e268)Letter to Reader (#u45c803ca-a941-5d1a-9284-b56c0b87889b)Title Page (#uf8f76a5c-cb1c-5aab-adf4-b75c716694e2)Dedication (#u715f15f9-144e-5e85-95d6-c17b3ca8f408)About the Author (#u015e66db-94f5-54ba-a2b1-11632271e1cb)Letter to Reader (#u12c9c0d1-4ecc-5842-9305-2c903c7bf553)Prologue (#u1f8faf43-44e7-5cfb-a95f-97e7053aaae1)Chapter One (#u5dd50e8c-c75c-5a65-80a4-1f2e26114d51)Chapter Two (#u5ed508d0-8fc8-5e48-95ad-1536b0f573e8)Chapter Three (#ua538e5dd-63cf-57b2-9351-fe87eae7982b)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“You surprise me, Hannah,”

Adam said. “I thought I knew you.” His voice was as soft as the approaching nightfall. “I had you pegged as one of those women who was so focused on getting what she wanted, and getting it quickly, that she took no notice of anything or anyone around her.”

He smiled in the dim waning light, and Hannah’s heart ka-chunked in her chest.

“I’m coming to the conclusion,” he said, “that I may have been mistaken.”

Many moments passed in silence. Hannah didn’t know what was taking place between her and Adam. They didn’t touch. Didn’t speak. But she felt somehow closer to him. This man she barely knew had suddenly become important to her.

What was happening to her? What was this heated magnetism she felt when she was near Adam? When she simply thought of him?

She had no answers. None at all.

Dear Reader,

Silhouette Romance blends classic themes and the challenges of romance in today’s world into a reassuring, fulfilling novel. And this month’s offerings undeniably deliver on that promise!

In Baby, You’re Mine, part of BUNDLES OF JOY, RITA Awardwinning author Lindsay Longford tells of a pregnant, penniless widow who finds sanctuary with a sought-after bachelor who’d never thought himself the marrying kind...until now. Duty and passion collide in Sally Carleen’s The Prince’s Heir, when the prince dispatched to claim his nephew falls for the heir’s beautiful adoptive mother. When a single mom desperate to keep her daughter weds an omery rancher intent on saving his spread, she discovers that McKenna’s Bartered Bride is what she wants to be...forever Don’t miss this next delightful installment of Sandra Steffen’s BACHELOR GULCH series.

Donna Clayton delivers an emotional story about the bond of sisterhood...and how a career-driven woman learns a valuable lesson about love from the man who’s Her Dream Come True. Carla Cassidy’s MUSTANG, MONTANA, Intimate Moments series crosses into Romance with a classic boss/secretary story that starts with the proposition Wife for a Week, but ends...well, you’ll have to read it to find out! And in Pamela Ingrahm’s debut Romance novel, a millionaire CEO realizes that his temporary assistant—and her adorable toddler—have him yearning to leave his Bachelor Boss days behind.

Enjoy this month’s titles—and keep coming back to Romance, a series guaranteed to touch every woman’s heart.

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

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

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Her Dream Come True

Donna Clayton

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

The “sister bond” is special and so very sacred it cannot

be broken by time or distance or even death.

This book is lovingly dedicated to

Melissa, Susan and Reneé Jeglinski.

DONNA CLAYTON

is proud to be a recipient of the Holt Medallion, an award honoring outstanding literary talent, for her Silhouette Romance novel Wife for a While. And seeing her work appear on the Waldenbooks series bestsellers list has given her a great deal of joy and satisfaction.

Reading is one of Donna’s favorite ways to while away a rainy afternoon. She loves to hike, too. Another hobby added to her list of fun things to do is traveling. She fell in love with Europe during her first trip abroad recently and plans to return often. Oh, and Donna still collects cookbooks, but as her writing career grows, she finds herself using them less and less.

Donna loves to hear from her readers. Please write to her in care of Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Dear Reader,

I have always longed for a sister. However, the good Lord decided I would grow up in a house full of males. With four brothers running around like half-raised heathens, is there any wonder I was a tomboy? I could climb trees and throw a football with the best of them!

Her Dream Come True is a story conjured from my deep yearning for a sibling of the female persuasion. Someone who would enjoy a little “girl talk.” You know what I mean...conversations about boys and makeup and clothes. All the things girls like to whisper and wonder about. Oh, I had friends. But I can’t help but believe that the bond between sisters is special. Magical.

When Hannah came to life on the page, I found her to be a lot like me. Pretty self-assured. Relatively competent. A go-getter. But she had her share of vulnerabilities, too. Like I said, she was a lot like me. I can’t stress enough how surprised I was when I “created” Tammy and discovered she was mentally challenged. Tammy proved to have a thoroughly positive attitude, a sunny disposition, a naiveté that made her...well, almost ethereal, and most definitely a beautiful saul. Once she was in my head, I could no more have changed her than I could have forced the sun to rise in the west. Tammy was who she was...and I grew to love her—challenge and all!

I hope you love Tammy, too. And the unique bond these loving sisters share. Oh, my, and we can’t forget Adam. The extraordinary man who brings Hannah and Tammy together. I do hope you flip head-over-feet for him. I know I sure did!

Enjoy,

Prologue

“What do you mean I have to go to Little. Haven alone?”

Hannah Cavanaugh stared at her mother, who sat behind the massive teak desk seemingly too preoccupied with a dozen different tasks to give the topic at hand the attention it deserved. But Hannah was used to that.

“Well, I can’t possibly go,” Hillary Cavanaugh said, not bothering to look up from her very own handmade A List of the most prominent of New York City’s social set. “You know how busy I am. If I miss an opening night or a television interview or even a silly photo shoot, that’s grounds for terminating a publicity agent in a client’s mind. I have to be on hand to smooth out the rough spots. You know that.”

To anyone else the sigh the woman expelled would have held the perfect amount of suffering to garner the listener’s sympathy; however, Hannah didn’t miss the hollow, well-practiced quality in the expression.

“There simply isn’t a slow season in this business.”

How many times had Hannah heard that statement? How often had that excuse been used over the years to allow her mother to miss all the important events of Hannah’s life?

Stop, Hannah told herself. Mother works hard. She cares about the people she works for. She cares about you. And she’s done her best for you. Then another whispery thought nudged Hannah. She was the parent who wanted you.

After a long, deliberate pause, during which Hannah succeeded in stifling the sigh that threatened to erupt from her own throat, she said, “But, Mother, your husband has died. Don’t you think you ought to go to pay your condolences?”

“My ex-husband,” Hillary firmly reminded Hannah. “And neither of us has seen the man for twenty-five years. Besides, it’s been nearly a month since he passed away. I’m sure the funeral is long over. Unless of course those backwoods people in that little hick town hold some sort of mourning ritual that lasts for weeks.” As an aside she murmured, “Which wouldn’t surprise me in the least.”

The holier-than-thou tone of her mother’s voice rubbed Hannah the wrong way. It made Hillary sound as if she were looking down her nose at others, judging them to be something less than they were.

“But, Mother,” Hannah began, “wouldn’t it be best if you were to—”