Originally published in 2002 as “Good Husband Material”. When Kari Asbury left Possum Landing, Texas, for New York City eight years ago, she was thinking only of the future--not of her ex-boyfriend, Gage, the one she left without saying goodbye. Gage Reynolds had planned to propose to Kari on the night of her prom but instead he finds himself jilted and abandoned without a word. Shocked and heartbroken, Gage does his best to move on, building a life in Possum Landing and working his way up to becoming the town sheriff. He's all but forgotten Kari--until she comes back to sell her grandmother's house and turns his carefully built world upside down.

Includes “Hometown Hero's Redemption” by Jill Kemerer
Firefighter Drew Gannon needs help when he becomes guardian to a troubled ten-year-old boy. To get former social worker Lauren Pierce to agree, he'll have to prove he's changed from the sports jock she knew back in high school. Lauren wants no part of her old profession, or a reunion with Drew. But a desperate boy and his handsome guardian may be more than Lauren can resist.