Broken Hero

I don't have time for Lucy Rhodes.

I'm a former Marine, a ranch owner, and if my sister's to be believed, a hermit. Since I returned to my small home town, I've spent every waking moment turning my family's ranch into a hotel. The absolute last thing I need is a blonde complication.

But then little Lucy Rhodes comes to town for the summer. She's running from demons of her own, and somehow, she runs straight into me.

She awakens something in me that I thought gone.

She's young and beautiful, sure, but it's more than that. She doesn't look at me like I'm damaged. She listens when I speak, and when she opens up to me, I know I want to spend my life protecting her.

But as we grow closer, one thing feels inevitable… I'm going to let her down somehow, just like I've let everyone in this town down. I don't know how to be the man she deserves.

I'm not the man I once was.

****

Lucy

"Next stop, Claremont!"

I watch through the window as the town rolls into view. Two-story houses and tree-lined streets, an iron-wrought lamppost on every street corner. I haven't been back here for years-not since I was a teenager. But it looks just like I remember. Just as small, just as cute, and just as empty.

I shoulder my heavy bag and make my way off the bus. Everything I own is in it; my whole life. In the span of a few weeks, I've gone from a woman with a boyfriend, friends, a job, and an apartment, to a woman with nothing. It's not an attractive look for a woman who's nearly twenty-five. The only part I can focus on for the moment is the no job part. I need to find one, ASAP.

"Luce!"

I spot my aunt and uncle immediately-they're the only ones waiting by the desolate bus stop. My throat closes as I see them. Auntie Claire is as rosy-cheeked as ever, wrapped snugly in one of her rainbow-colored ponchos. Uncle Phil is waving so vigorously that the watch on his arm is twisting with every movement. Oh, how I've missed them.

Claire laughs when I tell her. "We've missed you too, sweetie. And we're so happy you're back."

Her drawl is achingly familiar and more pronounced than my own. Nearly six years away in the big city does that to you, not to mention a boyfriend who used to mock it when he'd been drinking. I had tried to fit in real fast after that.

Uncle Phil hoists my bag into the back of their small van, and we're off through the quiet little town.

"Claremont looks pretty much the same."

Phil snorts from the driver's seat. "Don't let appearances fool you. The old pharmacy on Fourth Street and Maple has closed. It went right out of business."

"And there's a new bird-watching society visiting," Claire adds. "There is some sort of warbler in these parts, hasn't been seen for a hundred years, and it's thrown the Ornithological Society into a tizzy."

Phil taps the steering wheel. "A sparrow. It was a sparrow."

"Oh yes, that's right. It was a sparrow."

I grin. "Wow, that's quite a discovery."

"It was featured in National Geographic," Phil says proudly.

"Are you hungry, dear? You must be hungry."

"A little. It was a long bus ride."

"Just as well, then. Let's drop off your things at the studio and then we'll grab something to eat. How about Ricky's? Do you still remember that old place?"

I lean in between the front seats. "How could anyone who has ever spent a day in Claremont forget about Ricky's?"