And it had been, … until her accident.
Now she was at a crossroads yet again. And this time, once more, Dani offered a pathway open to Melissa. Back then Dani had pleaded with Melissa to continue staying with her and her father and to not go into service. She’d chosen the navy over her friend back then.
Now Melissa had a chance to choose Dani this time. She had spent many years building up a VA rehab center called Hathaway House—originally built to help her father regain a life after his own injuries had sidelined his military career. With the upstairs part of this center growing, Dani had quickly installed a veterinarian clinic down below. Then that was Dani; she couldn’t help herself from trying to save the world, one person, one animal at a time.
Just as she had tried to save Melissa back then, Dani was trying to save Melissa now.
She had refused back then, but now …
Looking around her four-person room, Melissa took in the apparatus attached to her bed, the wheelchair, and the crutches close by. The life she lived here, while recovering from her latest surgery, was filled with hopelessness at the thought of staying here. In reflection, going into the navy had felt like she was running away instead of running to a new future.
Now it felt the same again.
On impulse she picked up her phone and called Dani. When Melissa heard her friend’s voice, her throat closed.
“Hello? Hello?”
“Dani,” she finally got out.
Silence. Then Dani exploded, “Melissa?”
“Yeah,” she said, half in tears, half in laughter.
“Oh my, I’m so glad you called. I’d be even happier if you’ve filled out that application to come here.’
“No, I haven’t. At least not yet.”
“Please do it,” Dani pleaded. “We can help you here.”
“I don’t know if you can,” she whispered back. “I’m in pain all the time. The journey itself will be incredibly hard.”
“Yes, it could be,” Dani said quietly. “But, once here, we have specialists on staff who can help you.”
Melissa sniffled her tears back. She wanted to believe her friend. She really did. But hope was a little thin on the ground.
“Please,” Dani said into the phone. “Take a leap of faith. Let me help. Last time I pleaded with you to stay. This time I’m asking you to come. You needed someone back then and walked away. You need someone now. Please don’t walk away from me this time.”
Melissa took a deep breath and capitulated. “All right. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do,” Dani said. “Come. You won’t regret it.”
This concludes Book 12 of Hathaway House: Lance.
Read about Melissa: Hathaway House, Book 13
Hathaway House: Melissa (Book #13)
Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.
Health-care worker Shane has been at Hathaway House since the beginning. He’s watched patient after patient scratch and claw their way to recovery and has watched relationship after relationship blossom into love and marriage. He believes in love. Wants a true love of his own. Yet he wonders now whether anyone is out there for him.
Until Melissa walks into his gym.
Broken and beaten by life and overwhelmed with endless pain was never part of Melissa’s long-term plan. But a year after an accident sidelined her navy career, she’s still fighting her way back to a normal life—if such a thing exists for the woman she’s become. Her transfer to Hathaway House is a lifeline to her oldest friend, but, even with Dani’s encouragement, Melissa’s journey back to health is long and hard and maybe just a pipe dream. But she’ll try again. One more time.
Separately, Shane and Melissa have been battling their own personal demons. When they meet at Hathaway House, the tough physiotherapist vows that his newest client will reach successes unimaginable to her. Together, working through her rehab plan, Shane and Melissa find a special tenderness behind each other’s strength.
Find Book 13 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Lance: Hathaway House, Book 12! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.
Dear reader,
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Cheers,
Dale Mayer
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About the Author
Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).
She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!
To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.
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LANCE: HATHAWAY HOUSE, BOOK 12
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing Ltd.
Copyright © 2020
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or
