Malachi Hawkins left his home to move west as soon as he was old enough. Running from a family secret that he can never escape, he takes a job on the ranch of an old family friend, Lee Rose.<br><br>The first night he's there, he meets Christian Rose, Lee's foster daughter, a young woman of mixed Comanche blood. They call her a savage and treat her like the family slave, but Mal doesn't see a savage at all. He sees a woman of unbelievable strength -- and a kindred spirit.<br><br>But his secret is bound to catch up with him, and when it does, it could destroy both of them forever ...

Maybe I'm Amazed

Cooper Grant was a mountain of a man. Big enough to be intimidating, until you saw his face—the ruddy complexion, the friendly pale eyes, the comically bushy eyebrows. Mal would have placed his age somewhere in his late twenties, but Christian insisted he was even younger than that. His father had been rich and died when he was still a child, leaving a very nice inheritance. Cooper had taken the money as soon as he had turned eighteen and headed west. Chased by his own demons, no doubt.


Mal met him the morning after he woke up, and he liked the man as soon as Cooper enveloped his hand in one massive paw. He didn’t know what Christian and Mercy had told him, but he didn’t have any problem shaking Mal’s hand, and he made it clear Mal could stay as long as he needed to, or wanted to.


Chapter 24