The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken
Jackie Braun

Breaking down Manipulative and cold as ice, Caro’s ex might be an utter jerk, but she’s got to go back to him to keep custody of her young son. Her journey through a blizzard makes the hard decision harder – and one almighty skid later she’s got a whole new sub-zero problem… Until a mysterious stranger appears out of the mist on horseback! Breaking free? Trapped with him in the ongoing storm, Caro discovers her rescuer is an ex-cop – the grouchy-yet- gorgeous Jake McCabe.Shocked by their intense attraction, Caro will soon face the most difficult choice of all: in Jake she may have found the hero she’s been looking for (and, by God, deserves! ), but to claim him she risks losing her little boy…

Praise for Jackie Braun

‘A great storyline, interesting characters and a

fast pace help immerse readers in this tender tale.’

—RT Book Reviews on

Inconveniently Wed!

‘Quite humorous at times,

with beautifully written characters, this is a terrific read.’

—RT Book Reviews on

A Dinner, A Date, A Desert Sheikh

‘Solidly plotted with an edgy,

slightly abrasive heroine and an equally unforgettable

hero, this story is a great read. Don’t miss it.’

—RT Book Reviews on

Confidential: Expecting!

‘… reading her books [is] a delightful experience that

carries you from laughter to tears and back again.’

—Pink Heart Society on

Boardroom Baby Surprise

About the Author

JACKIE BRAUN is a three-time RITA

Award finalist, a four-time National Readers’ Choice Award finalist, and the winner of the Rising Star Award for traditional romantic fiction. She makes her home in Michigan, with her husband and their two sons.

Readers can find out more about her by visiting her website, www.jackiebraun.com

‘I thought I understood the depth of love when I married my husband. I realised I’d only scratched the surface when our children came along. They changed everything from how I saw myself to how I saw my husband. In addition to being a wonderful man and the love of my life, he’s an exceptional father.’ —Jackie Braun

Also by Jackie Braun

Inconveniently Wed!

A Dinner, A Date, A Desert Sheikh

Confidential: Expecting!

Boardroom Baby Surprise

Did you know these are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

The Road Not Taken

Jackie Braun

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

For my good friend Richard Noble.

What would a book signing be without you?

PROLOGUE

JAKE MCCABE CURLED HIS HAND into a fist. Pain and useless rage had him wanting to use it. On a wall or whatever else might be handy. Bloody and bruised knuckles would be a small price to pay if they brought him even a small measure of relief.

Instead, he relaxed his grip enough to pick up a pen and open the journal. It had only one entry, written a couple of months earlier when the department shrink first recommended keeping a diary as an outlet for his thoughts and emotions.

“This is crap,” it read. “I don’t see how writing things down will make a bit of difference.”

Now, however, with a new wound festering, he penned the words he couldn’t bear to voice. He didn’t find peace in doing so, for that was impossible. But it turned out the shrink was right about his need for an outlet. The words flowed in a bitter torrent. One paragraph, then two, scratched in his slashing penmanship.

Afterward, Jake lowered his head and wept. Tears smeared the ink, turning the first sentence illegible. It didn’t matter. He would remember the words long after the raging storm of his emotions quieted.

“Miranda killed our baby today.”

CHAPTER ONE

THE CAR HIT THE SNOWBANK with enough force that the air bag deployed. But at least it had stopped after what seemed like an eternity of swerving and fishtailing on the maple-tree-lined two-lane highway.

Caroline Franklin Wendell peeled her fingers from the steering wheel and ran one shaking hand over her face. It wasn’t her life that had flashed before her eyes during those seemingly endless moments of terror. It had been her son’s. She’d nearly failed Cabot by dying and leaving it to his father and grandmother to raise him. That thought had her shivering.

Caro gazed out the windshield. The front end of the subcompact was buried to mid-hood in a snowdrift. But she knew her life had gone off track long before she’d hit that patch of ice. It had been skidding out of control ever since she’d foolishly married Truman four years earlier. She’d just refused to believe it. She’d refused to believe that the mistake she’d made couldn’t be fixed.

Even that morning, heading back to him in defeat, she’d held out hope that she would find a way out of this nightmare. Not for her sake, but for Cabot’s. Her son was the only good thing to come from her marriage to the heir of one of New England’s most affluent and powerful families.

Now, with her heart hammering and her limbs still shaking, she laid her forehead against the faux-leather steering wheel and finally accepted the truth. Truman was right. There was no way out.

I’m doing this for your own good. You need me, Caroline.