Customer Reviews

ISBN-13:

9781426878404

Publisher: Harlequin
Publication date: 09/01/2010
Series: Harlequin Super Romance Series , #1133
Sold by: HARLEQUIN
Format: eBook
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 363,774
File size: 670 KB

Rebecca Winters lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels because writing is her passion, along with her family and church. Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at: www.cleanromances.com

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Home To Copper Mountain

By Rebecca Winters

Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.

Copyright © 2003 Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-373-71133-6

Chapter One

"Shall we go over to my desk and get the paperwork done so we can put you behind the wheel today?"

Until early this morning, Rick Hawkins hadn't intended to buy a car. But an unexpected phone call from his father, who knew that Rick was on his way to Arizona to sign some racing contracts, had been the lifeline Rick was looking for. He had grabbed for

it with both hands. It was decided - he would visit his father in Texas on his way west.

Loath to suffer through hours of airport lines, security checks, plane changes and rental cars, he decided to do himself a favor and arrive at the Jarrett Ranch outside Austin on his own power.

The black BMW M3 two-door coupe with the eighteen-inch wheels, 350-horsepower engine and six-speed manual transmission sitting in the middle of the showroom floor would do fine.

He turned to the young salesman. "If you can put me behind it in ten minutes, I'll take it."

"I think we could manage that. My name's John Dunn, by the way."

"John." Rick shook his hand, then followed him inside his office to answer the inevitable series of questions about his finances.

"Who's your employer?"

"I'm out of work at the moment, but don't be alarmed. I plan to pay cash for the car. Check with my bank."

The salesman blinked before getting up from the desk. He handed him a brochure from a pile sitting next to a desk calendar.

May eighth. Spring had been here for a while. Rick hadn't noticed its arrival.

"While you're waiting, you might want to look through it. I'll be right back."

Rick didn't need to see any literature. If he hadn't felt such a strong loyalty to Mayada for signing him at nineteen, he would have switched to BMW when they'd offered him a racing contract two years later. Their engineering was unequaled.

But his drive to Texas wouldn't be like circling the track. This trip would be open-ended. And he would be driving his own car.

After another hellish night like last night, he decided to leave immediately and drive the whole distance in one shot. It would be a different race than any he'd run before.

Instead of outdriving the competition, he'd be facing his own worst enemy - an enemy chiseling away at his sense of self, his confidence, his happiness, his virtual raison d'être. Himself.

Many times in his racing career he'd been subjected to near-death experiences that had tested his grit and resilience.

This was different.

His mother, with her eternal spirit of optimism, was dead. The only home he'd ever known was gone. He had no woman to share his life. The thought of going back to racing didn't set him on fire. For the first time ever, he could see no sure path before him. And this thought terrified him.

Preoccupied by his demons, he hadn't noticed Mr. Dunn had already returned, accompanied by a smiling middle-aged manager. The manager carried a camera.

"Mr. Hawkins? I'm Lewis Karey. It's a great honor to meet you, sir."

"Thank you." Rick stood up and shook hands with him.

"John didn't realize he was dealing with the Lucky Hawkins, one of the world's most famous sports celebrities."

"Hardly."

"Wait till I let Munich know the three-time winner of the Laguna Seca purchased an M3 from us."

"This is a red-letter day for me, too," Rick murmured. "I'll tell you a little secret. I've never owned anything but a motorcycle to get around. This will be my first car."

"You? One of the greatest Formula One drivers in racing today and you've never owned your own car?" The manager looked and sounded incredulous.

Rick chuckled. "That's right, but when I decided I needed one, I knew exactly where to come."

Lewis Karey beamed. "I hope this business of your being out of work is temporary. This is the first I've heard you've left the racing circuit."

"Only time will tell what the future holds. Since no one outside of Mayada and my former sponsor knows the situation, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything."

Mr. Karey looked at John. "Our lips are sealed. Before we move the car out of the showroom to get it ready for you, could I take a couple of pictures of you standing by it?"

He had been through this experience hundreds of times before, why not once more? No one owned him yet. He was still a free property.

"Sure."

Until his father's severe depression had caused him to retire early from Formula One racing, his motorcycle had accompanied him on the racing circuit and had been the only transportation he'd needed.

Before returning to his family home in Copper Mountain, Colorado, to help his grieving father run the family ski business, he'd given his bike to the college-age son of his crew chief, Wally Sykes. Rick saw no reason for keeping it when he knew he could rely on the company Blazer or his deceased mother's car to get around.

But in a shocking turn of events, he'd arrived home to discover his father had overcome his grief enough to be married again. Furthermore, he was selling the ski shop and the Blazer, and was moving to Texas.

Believing his mom's Nissan would still be available to him while he decided whether to try to get a new sponsor and return to the racing circuit, Rick underwent a second shock.

His older brother, Nate, a former F-16 fighter pilot who'd resigned his commission to fly home and help their father, too, suddenly decided to get married and become a flight instructor for the air force academy.

Nate, Laurel and the baby from her first marriage were now living in the Hawkins family home while they waited to move into their new house in Colorado Springs. Since they needed two cars, it was decided Laurel would keep the Nissan.

Everyone had somewhere to go, someone to be with. Except Rick, who felt totally displaced.

Since Nate's wedding, Rick had been staying in Denver with Laurel's sister, Julie, and her husband, Brent, just trying to hold on. But he couldn't impose on the Marsdens any longer. It was time to go.

The question was, after Arizona, where?

He felt like a man without a country, a man who belonged nowhere. It was a lonely experience, foreign in ways he couldn't describe. The nights were the worst, when he had no choice but to lie in a cold sweat and tough it out until morning.

"Okay," the manager said. "Now let's get a couple of pictures of you sitting in the car. I think we'll leave the door open for the full effect."

Rick obliged. Once he slid behind the wheel, he could smell the new tan leather upholstery. Nice.

By now every salesman, lot attendant, receptionist, cashier, mechanic and client in the building had materialized. There was quite a crowd assembled. Mr. Karey wasn't the only one taking pictures.

Rick ended up signing autographs on brochure after brochure while dozens of questions were fired at him by those who followed the sport.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Home To Copper Mountain by Rebecca Winters Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Home To Copper Mountain

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