2nd EditionRevised 8 - 14 - 13 Amazon Best Seller # 35 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Anthologies Rachel Connors loved her life , and her job as a manager at a ski resort in Aspen Colorado , but after learning she was ill , she decided to take a long needed vacation to her parent 's home . This was when she met Kyle Landers , who in her absence had moved into her parent 's lives , and before he 'd even met Rachel , Kyle had decided not to like her . Kyle had been alone in the world when Rachel 's parents had taken him in ; and he couldn 't understand why their ungrateful daughter had chosen to distance herself from them . Rachel and Kyle grew closer , and she knew she was falling for him . Everything changed when Rachel was scheduled to meet Kyle , but a call from her doctor summoned her back to Aspen , telling her parents there was a problem at work . When Kyle hears of this , he boards a plane to find her , learning the truth of her condition . Their love blossomed but it was to be short lived when on their flight back to the ranch the plane crashed . Despite an extensive search , Kyle was never found , and Rachel was forced to go on without him . Four years had passed , and Rachel 's relationship with Marcus , her new boyfriend , was moving to a different level , but at the same time , the thought dead Kyle had come out of his coma ; his mind lost in the events four years earlier . After Rachel accepted Marcus ' proposal , Kyle returns , leaving Rachel with a dilemma . For four years Marcus had been by her side , but now Kyle was back , wanting her just as much as he had the day of the crash . She needed to get away to make her decision , so she left for Aspen , only Kyle followed her to try to convince her that they belonged together . Who will Rachel Chose ? Is Kyle 's love enough to bring her back to him ? The snow was coming down hard , quickly blanketing the ground as it fell . Rachel Connors sat on her window sill , watching it fall . The tears rolled down her face , as the thought of going back home haunted her . She hadn 't seen her parents in five years , and wasn 't completely positive she was making the right decision in going back now . She needed to be near family now more than ever . Rachel decided to keep her medical problems to herself . There was no sense in making her parents worry about her . She would tell them nothing . The sound of the cab 's horn jarred her out of her thoughts . She wiped the tears away and grabbed her bags . She would be staying with her parents until after the holidays . The doctors didn 't need to see her until the new year . How am I supposed to forget everything and enjoy a vacation at a time like this ? Rachel sat in the back seat of the cab as it headed to the airport . It would be a long plane ride from Colorado to her parents ' ranch in Tennessee , an hour and a half outside of Nashville . It was always beautiful there . They always teased her growing up about being a singer , but she never had any interest in singing . She always wanted to be a talent agent . She wanted to be the one who found the talent , which was exactly what she did . She was very successful at it , until she received a job offer to manage a friend 's ski resort in Aspen . It was a great escape from the harsh realities of the past , and she grew to love her new life . Rachel took a long nap on the plane . She had been under a lot of stress lately . It seemed like only minutes after her head hit the pillow that she heard the flight attendant say they were landing . She looked around and saw that they were coming onto the runway . She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms before standing up . Kyle Landers waited for her in the terminal , holding up a sign for a woman he had never met . How do I get myself into situations like this ? he thought as he started to pace back and forth . He couldn 't tell Sue and Tom that he wouldn 't go pick up their daughter for them even though he knew he wouldn 't like her . He couldn 't understand how she could stay gone as many years as she did knowing her parent 's missed her . Kyle would do anything for Sue and Tom . They took him in four years ago when he didn 't have anywhere else to go . He had no family and them gave him a job on the ranch . He looked back and forth for Rachel . He had seen many pictures of her over the years . Kyle decided he didn 't want to give some stuck up , too good to come home to her family , uptight woman a ride . He dropped the sign into the trash can and walked out . He would tell Sue and Tom the flight must have been delayed . He felt a little bad lying to them , but he knew that their daughter could use a good lesson on how you treat people . As she entered the terminal , Rachael looked for her ride . Her parents told her a man named Kyle would be picking her up . Not seeing him , she thought he might be outside , or in the luggage area . As she left , she saw a large cardboard sign lying in the trash can with her name on it . Where was he ? Why didn 't he wait ? The plane was right on time . She collected her luggage and walked out of the building , hopeful of catching a cab . Rachel walked up and down on the sidewalk trying to hail someone , with no luck . All the cabs were busy and she wanted to go home . She grabbed her bag and started to walk . Surely somebody would give her a ride within an hour and a half 's distance , she thought . As she looked around for prospects , she saw a young man getting ready to get into his truck . " Excuse me , sir . My name is Rachel Connors . Can you please give me a ride to my family 's ranch ? I 'll pay for the gas and if you can 't take me all the way there , I would be happy with anywhere close . My ride didn 't show up to pick me up and I can 't seem to get a cab . " Kyle shot her a look that let her know he wasn 't in the mood to talk . He couldn 't believe his luck . Of all the people wanting a ride it had to be the one person he wanted to leave at the airport . " Let 's go . I have a lot of work to get done back at the ranch . " She jumped up into his truck not saying a word . Rachel felt a little uncomfortable being with him . Once she buckled in , she looked over at him . " Excuse me , but you haven 't even told me your name . " " Have I done something to offend you ? I don 't even know you , but you seem to dislike me for some reason . " She said , as she played with her hands nervously . " Wait a minute . Are you Kyle Landers ? The same Kyle Landers that works for my father ? Why were you going to leave me here at the airport ? I wasn 't late . " Kyle really didn 't want to get into it with her right then , but it was going to be an hour and half ride back to the ranch . He knew he would have to talk to her at some point in time . " Why don 't we stop to eat ? I haven 't had lunch yet . " They drove for another thirty minutes in silence before turning into the parking lot of a small restaurant . Rachel had eaten at there before and remembered them having good food although she hadn 't been eating much of anything lately . She hoped the trip back home would take her mind off her problems , but not bring up bad memories in the process . They found a table in the back away from everyone . Kyle sat down and picked up a menu without speaking . When the waitress walked by he waved her over to him . " I 'll take a cheeseburger , fries and a coke please . " Rachel saw the waitress look over at her . " I 'll take the same . Thanks . " She looked over at Kyle . " How long have you worked for my father ? " " That 's great . My father really needed help after Bobby . . . . Well , never mind . I 'm glad my father has you . " She took a sip of her soda trying to hold back the tears as she thought about her brother . Kyle looked surprised to hear that Tom had somebody else work for him . He hadn 't ever heard them talk about anyone else . " Who 's Bobby ? I 've never heard the name before . " Rachel looked surprised by the question . " Oh , well . . . Bobby was my brother . You would have liked him . He died six years ago in a car accident . " The food came and they ate in silence . When they were finished , they started back to the ranch . Neither of them spoke . Rachel couldn 't help but wonder why Kyle seemed to dislike her so much . How could he make a judgment so fast without even knowing her ? She sat there staring out the window thinking about when she was younger . She remembered how her and Bobby would go on long walks exploring the entire ranch or taking the horses out across the range . He would run the horse like he was in a race that he had to win . She could remember staying back , watching him go . He feared nothing and embraced life to the fullest . Rachel could feel the tears starting again . She hadn 't been home in so long that she had buried the memories deep down . She always thought about Bobby during the holidays , but more so this year . Bobby would have handled the news from the doctors better than she did . Rachel wiped a tear from her eyes . Kyle glanced over at the saddest person he had ever seen . He was beginning to think maybe he misjudged her . Could she have good reasons for not coming around ? Did it have something to do with Bobby ? He knew that he didn 't know anything about her , but the same time he knew that he wanted to . " Is everything all right ? " he asked . Kyle could tell that she didn 't really want to talk about it and he wasn 't sure that he did either . " It 's not much further , " he said as he wished he could take the words back . Of course she knew it wasn 't much further . She grew up there . He always got flustered when he got nervous . He stared at the road , trying to focus on his driving . Rachel could see her parents ' house coming into view as she got more excited . She couldn 't wait to see her mom and dad . It had been a long time . They had visited her two years ago in Colorado , but she just couldn 't bear to come back home after Bobby died . She 'd stuck around home for about a year after his death and then she had to get out of there . He was not only her brother but also her best friend . She didn 't know how to live without him . She knew that learning how to was one way she could remember him . The truck stopped and Rachel jumped out as fast as she could . She saw her mother standing on the porch with a smile on her face . Rachel ran to her and threw her arms around her . " I missed you , " she said to her mom . They talked for hours , sitting in the living room around the fireplace . Her mother had made hot chocolate and apple spiced cake . Her mother always made the best cakes in the world . At least that was what Rachel always thought . She loved being home again and hated to think about leaving . She decided to go take a nice long , hot bubble bath before going to bed . She needed it after all the stress she had been under lately . She planned to get up bright and early to go riding on the ranch . It had been too long time since she 'd had the chance . " Yes . It 's been a while . I can 't wait . Would you like to go with me ? " she asked , then blushed . The words came out of her mouth without thinking . Rachel went over to one of the stalls and started brushing a midnight black horse . Its coat was shiny and smooth . " This is my horse , buttercup . I haven 't ridden her in a while . I 'll get her ready for me to ride . If you don 't mind ? " " No . Go ahead . I 'll saddle up Ranger for me . " He walked over to the brown horse in the last stall and started getting the horse ready . Ten minutes later , they headed off across the land . Rachel loved the feel of the wind hitting her in the face as she galloped across the fields . Thoughts of her and Bobby racing their horses flooded her mind . She pulled up at a creek to let her horse have some water and a rest . Once dismounted , she looked back to see if Kyle was still there . He was coming up behind her at a slower pace . She walked over and sat down on a big rock and watched her horse drink from the creek . Glancing up at Kyle she said . " It 's okay though . I get paid good money to do what I do . " " Money isn 't everything though . You need family too . " He still wasn 't sure why she moved away , but he was starting to think she had reasons , and maybe he was wrong to misjudge her the way he did . He could tell that she loved her family . Why did she leave ? He wanted to know , but didn 't want to come right out and ask . Rachel sighed . " I know , and I do miss my family . It was really hard on me after Bobby died . I stuck around for about a year afterwards , but then I had to get out of here . Now I don 't know what has been keeping me away . I wish more than ever that I lived here near my parents . " She looked away with a tear in her eye . She didn 't want to cry in front of him , and she didn 't want this complete stranger to know anything about her medical problems . Kyle didn 't know what she meant by that , but he could see a sadness in her eyes . He stood there staring at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen . She was about five foot , five inches tall with long brown hair . She couldn 't be more than a size six . He couldn 't believe that he was looking at her that way . It was only a day ago that he had decided that he didn 't like her . Things were changing for him too . He looked over at her . " I guess you and your brother were close ? " Rachel smiled as the thoughts of Bobby came back to her . " Yes , we were like best friends . We did everything together . It was really hard for me when he died . We had spent the whole day together that day at a baseball game in Nashville . That night Bobby wanted me to go to the store for him and get him some ice cream , but I was tired and said I didn 't want to . He left to go get it himself , and on his way home he was hit by a drunk driver . I can 't help but blame myself . If I had gone to the store , then maybe he would still be here with us . It 's my fault he 's dead . " Rachel couldn 't stop the tears from falling . They were coming down like rainfall . Kyle went over to her and took her into his arms . " It 's not your fault , Rachel . You can 't blame yourself . Is that why you have stayed away so long ? If it is , then I think you need to come home to your family . " Rachel wiped the tears away and walked back to her horse . " You don 't understand . I can 't leave Aspen right now . I have to be there . I wish I could , but I can 't . " She walked over and got up on her horse , riding away without looking back . When she returned to the stables , she removed the saddle and brushed her horse down , thinking about how great it would be if she could move back to the ranch now . But no - she needed to hear from the doctors first . Rachel was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of Kyle walking in with his horse . " How about you let me take you out tomorrow night for dinner to make up for it ? " Kyle had no idea where that came from . He was usually a little on the shy side with women . She looked at him with a little surprise in her eyes . " I would love to go out with you tomorrow night , but I can 't . Mom and Dad are going out of town to the cattle sales , and I promised that I would get some baking done for Thanksgiving for her . You 're welcome to come over and let me cook you something if you would like . We can watch a movie while the cakes are baking . " Rachel couldn 't believe she had made a date with him . She barely knew him , but she couldn 't help but think how great looking he was . He was six foot tall with sandy blond hair and a great complexion . She could tell that he worked long , hard hours out in the sun - he was well muscled and tan . She walked in the house and saw her mom over by the stove cooking . She went over to her and gave her a hug . " Something smells good . " " I 'm cooking dinner for Kyle while you 're gone . He asked me out and I told him I had to do the baking for you , but that I would cook him dinner . He said yes . " She seemed to be talking a mile a minute . Sue hadn 't seen her daughter look that excited about anything in a very long time . " I 'm glad honey , but I would be careful not to lead him on . You 're still leaving at the end of December aren 't you ? " " Yes , Mom . We won 't get serious . It 's just one date . " Rachel tried to make herself believe it more than her mother . She went over to the cabinet to get the dishes down to set the table . Then she went to get her father for dinner . They all sat down at the table together to eat . Rachel made small talk with her dad about the ranch and the horses . " How 's it going around here lately ? " Tom looked over at his daughter . " Well , I could sure use a good manager to run this ranch . Do you know anyone that can run a whole business , like maybe a huge resort , that might be interested in the job ? " Rachel had no idea that her dad wanted her to run the ranch with him . " Dad , I can 't believe you are asking me this . I would love to , but I can 't right now . I have some stuff that I have to take care of back in Aspen . Hopefully I can get that all taken care of in a few months and then I would love to move back here . " Sue 's face could have lit up the whole room . Happy didn 't come close to the way she felt at that very moment . She would do anything to have her daughter back home . " What do you have to take care of ? " Rachel nearly choked on her iced tea . " What ? Oh , I just need to give a notice at work . Help train somebody . That could take a few months . Then pack everything that I own and move it here . It might take me some time to get things in order , but I will work on it as quickly as I can . " After they all finished eating , Rachel went to take a long hot bubble bath . She filled the tub to the top , and then sank down in the steaming hot water . She felt so relaxed for a few minutes . She laid there in the tub , and before she realized what she was doing , her hand reached up and fell on her breast . She couldn 't help but touch it , but when she did the tears came flooding from her eyes . The doctors had found the lump in a routine exam . They told her that it may be nothing but they would have to run some blood tests and CT scans . If that didn 't give them the results that they wanted then she would have to have a biopsy . Rachel laid there in the bathtub crying until her water went cold on her . She didn 't know how long she had been in there but she knew she didn 't want to get out . After what seemed like hours , Rachel got out and dried off . She stood there looking at herself in the mirror for a few minutes . How could somebody as healthy as she had always been be sick now ? It didn 't make sense , and it didn 't seem fair . Was she being punished for something ? That was all that she ever thought to herself . She got dressed and crawled into bed . Maybe thinking about spending time with Kyle would help take her mind off other things . Rachel woke up to the smell of bacon cooking . She had truly missed being with her family . She usually grabbed something quick and easy for breakfast . It had been a while since she had a nice home cooked meal like the one she smelled downstairs . She threw her robe on and headed down the stairs . When she made it to the bottom , she saw Kyle sitting at the table . She turned around and ran back up the stairs as fast as she could . She couldn 't let him see her like that . She had to make herself beautiful . She ran over to the dresser and started combing her hair and putting some make - up on . She grabbed a red t - shirt and some blue jeans . When she finished getting dressed , she walked into the kitchen to find only her mother there . Her father and Kyle had already left to get started on the ranch work . " Yes , you did . Your father and Kyle already went out to the back field to gather the cattle for tonight 's sale . They will be gone for most of the day . I 'm sorry that you missed them , " her mother told her . " It 's no big deal . I was just wondering . " Rachel said as she acted like she wasn 't really interested . " I think I 'll go into town today and do some sightseeing . It 's been a while since I 've been home . " " That sounds like a great idea , dear . " Sue was glad to see her daughter thinking of it more like home . She had wanted her to move back for many years now . Rachel spent the whole day in town going from store to store looking around . She went into the music store and spent hours in there . She remembered going there with Bobby many times . It had a new owner now , but everything looked the same . Rachel picked up a couple of CDs to buy . After she left the music store she went into a small general store . The first thing that grabbed her attention was a pink ribbon pin for sale for one dollar to help promote breast cancer awareness . It seemed like she noticed more things like that now then she ever had . Rachel walked past the pin without picking it up . She didn 't need any reminders telling her that she might have cancer . It was scary enough thinking about it on her own and knowing that she was going through it alone . Rachel couldn 't tell her parents they could lose the only child they had left . She spent the rest of the day in town and then headed back home . She wanted to say goodbye to her parents before they left for their three day trip . They had asked her if she wanted to go with them , but she didn 't want to leave the ranch . It had been too long since she had been back there . Rachel didn 't want to think about leaving . She only had six weeks before she had to go back home for her doctor visit . That 's when she would get the results to the CT scan and blood work . She didn 't understand why the doctors couldn 't get the results before the holidays , but they said the lab was overloaded with work and they were way behind . She didn 't like it , but she understood . She pulled into the driveway and saw the cattle trailer hooked up to the back of her father 's truck . She had made it just in time to say goodbye before they left . Rachel walked in and found her mother in the kitchen making notes . " What are you doing mom ? " " I 'm making you a list of pies , cakes , and breads that I would like you to make for me while I 'm gone . I 'll be delivering them to the church when I get back . They are making baskets for needy families . " Sue told her as she handed her the list . " Wow , Mom . You have enough stuff on this list to feed the whole state . I 'll be busy all night and tomorrow too . " Rachel pretended to be angry , but the whole time she loved every minute of it . She hadn 't done any baking in years . She used to love making things with her mom . It was going to be fun being in the kitchen all weekend . She walked over and gave her mom a hug . " I love you . Have a good trip . " Rachel went back into the kitchen to try to figure out what she wanted to fix for dinner that night . She wanted it to be perfect for Kyle . She put some chicken breasts in the oven to cook . Then she peeled some potatoes to make mashed potatoes . She sliced one of her mom 's fresh loaves of bread and put some butter on the table . Rachel had everything almost finished when she heard Kyle pull in . She ran upstairs to spritz on her favorite perfume before he walked in . After double - checking her hair in the mirror , she hurried downstairs to the kitchen .