Heartstrings: The Complete Collection

Bonus Content

Dad Bod Mountain Man Sneak Peek

Kurt

Being a firefighter isn't just a vocation, it's who I am - until an injury on the job sets me on an unfamiliar path. Suddenly, my life has no direction, and my whole future becomes an unfamiliar landscape.

Seeking solace in the mountains of Colorado, I try to put my past behind me and start over. There, I rediscover myself between the pages of the steamy romance novels I write. Stories of men finding the women who complete them fuel my soul, but my empty heart still craves its own happy ending.

So when a blonde-haired angel in need of my help literally tumbles into my path, I know it's no coincidence, and my future suddenly becomes crystal clear...

Kat

Losing my hearing as a kid left me feeling more disconnected from the world than ever. I've spent my life looking for something, some one who makes me feel whole again - but I never expected to find it in the mountains of Colorado.

During a road trip to visit my brother, I take a nasty tumble and end up in the arms of mountain man, Kurt, who rushes me back to his cabin, single-minded in his mission to save me. His nurturing spirit, attentive touch, and intense gaze makes me feel seen and heard in a way I haven't experienced in a long time - if ever.

He thinks he's just healing my wounds when in reality, he's healing his own...and stealing my heart in the process.

**Please note, this story features a heroine who is deaf. I have tried to represent her as authentically as possible within the confines of a shorter novella.

Chapter One

Kat

Shivering in the frigid wind, I finished pumping gas into the car and headed inside to pay the cashier. I’d just spent a week visiting with my brother, Link, in Garland, Colorado, and had stopped to refuel at the gas station before making the long drive to the airport to catch my flight back to Maryland.

Link had moved here four years ago to set up an auto repair shop with his high school buddy, Jim. He’d offered to return to Maryland when our parents were killed in a car wreck three years ago, but I’d talked him out of it, knowing he wouldn’t be happy leaving Garland. He’d made a life for himself here.

And I could see why. This place was beautiful. Breathtaking scenery. Friendly people. The freezing winter temperatures would take some getting used to, but I could see myself relocating here, too—one of the many things Link and I had discussed during my visit. My big brother and I were close, and I’d missed him since he’d moved here, but my loneliness had been amplified after our parents’ death and my best friend, Maggie, had moved to New York City. Video calls with Link and Maggie were all well and good, but it wasn’t the same as seeing them in person.

I’d been considering selling the house my parents had left to Link and me for several months, but my visit here had solidified my decision. My brother and I were co-owners of the property, but I’d known he would jump at the chance to have me closer—and he had. Which is why I was headed home to Maryland to quit my dead-end job in a discount clothing store and put the house up for sale.

"Thank you." I smiled at the female cashier as I finished paying. She returned my smile and said something that I couldn’t decipher.

I hurried back to my vehicle, shivering again in the bitter temperature. I needed to get a move on. Darkness would be falling soon, and I wanted to get to the airport and return the rental car with plenty of time to spare before my flight.

I’d covered about ten miles, and the daylight was just beginning to fade when it started to snow. I frowned. I’d checked the forecast before I left Link’s, and there hadn’t been any predictions for more snow. Looked like an unexpected storm was blowing in.

Great.

I was suddenly grateful I’d made sure to rent a vehicle with snow chains. It was never advisable to visit the Colorado mountains in February without taking precautions against the snow.

Even so, I wasn’t used to driving in these kinds of conditions, and my anxiety kicked up a notch. I released a shaky breath, forcing myself to focus as I clutched the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. The snow was coming down thick and fast now. My route took me steadily up one side of the mountain before dropping down the other, from where it was a straight run to the airport. Hopefully, this was just a flurry and not the storm I feared.

But my hopes were in vain as the snow continued to fall in thick, fat blobs that tried to blanket my windshield. I was beginning to regret turning down Link’s offer to give me a ride to and from the airport when I’d first told him I was coming to visit, but I was a twenty-four-year-old, independent woman who was more than capable of looking after herself, damnit. I’d been doing it since Mom and Dad had died. I could certainly get myself to the airport without… oh, crap!

I rounded a hairpin bend too fast and felt the tires slide underneath me. Acting on instinct, I yanked the wheel hard to try to correct the skid, realizing too late that the only thing to stop my momentum were the huge Aspen pines lining the side of the road.

The tires slipped despite the chains, and my stomach clenched with a sense of impending doom. Panicked, I hit the brakes hard, and the whole vehicle vibrated before hurtling into a sideways slide.

That’s when it dawned on me that the car—with me in it—was heading down the side of the mountain.

“No, no, no!” I shouted, gripping the wheel until it felt like my knuckles were going to shatter. I tried to regain control, but the sideways slide became a spin, and the car lifted off the ground.

“Holy shi…!”

The car hit the snowy ground hard, ripping the steering wheel from my hands. Something collided with the passenger side, and shards of glass sprayed me as the window shattered. I screamed in pain as my shoulder connected sharply with the driver’s door, and the car lurched once more, tumbling through trees and branches.

Then, thank God, I seemed to be slowing. The spinning leveled out, and I began to think maybe I would get out of this in one piece. Nope. The car tipped forward, becoming airborne once more. The tires touched down, rattling every bone in my body and causing my seatbelt to cut into my ribs. My breath whooshed out as my solar plexus locked up, robbing me of breath.

The contents of my car became projectiles as they flew in all directions, striking my head and face. The car barreled past trees and shrubs, bouncing over rocks, and fallen branches.

A huge tree appeared in front of me, and I screamed, knowing that this was where my journey—and my life—ended. Wrapped around the trunk of a massive Aspen.

Somehow, I managed to unsnap my seatbelt and wrestle open the driver’s door, launching myself into the frigid snow around me…