Heart of Gold — Lacy Williams

Please note that this is a completely separate book from older versions. This work has different characters, a different plot, and is in no way related to the previous short story from 2011.

They survived a harrowing near-death experience. Can a poignant family Christmas bring them together?

Ida needs a quiet Christmas at home to rest and find her footing again. But her boisterous family is anything but quiet and things only get worse when her U.S. Marshal brother brings home a prisoner for the holiday -- the same outlaw that saved her life.

Tom Seymour discombobulates her. He's arrogant and unrepentant. But when she's forced to nurse his injuries, she realizes that his persona is all a façade. The man underneath is wounded and kind and in need of redemption.

But Tom must make a choice between his old life and the chance to make a new one with Ida. Can she trust the man he is becoming or will he betray her?