One Morning Came Brightly — Allen Glick

One Morning Came Brightly depicts the pell-mell retreat of Favor Rousseau, Vietnam veteran and widower, as he fights to keep his little girl from harm's way. Favor, a former marine, is reaping the danger he had so carelessly sown when he grew a crop of marijuana in the East Texas woods. Redneck thugs, the Kiley brothers, are out for his blood as Favor desperately seeks a safe haven.

Favor had lost his darling wife, and Laurel Ann her beloved mother, to a drunk driver. The toughest task Favor ever had to face was to hold their fragile family circle together. A modest stake was all he thought he needed to build a small business, to open a wood working shop and secure a steady income that would enable he and Laurel to have a decent life. With the skills he'd learned in the bush in Vietnam, growing the sin semilla in the deep East Texas woods had been easy. But the Kiley brothers had gotten wind of Favor's marketing scheme. After he wounded one of them in a brief but vicious shoot-out, they swore revenge, and they knew where he lived.

On the run, Favor heads deep into the Texas hill country. Concealing his terror from his four-year-old daughter, he explains their trek as a vacation, an exciting adventure for just the two of them. Along the way, they befriend a beautiful woman and her two boisterous young sons. This chance encounter will determine the new course of their lives.

Joelyn Steadham has roots in the Hill Country. Ranch-born and country bred, she is looking to make a new start, as well. But her new start is to be built on the solid foundation of her childhood home. Her parents, Homer and Sarah, hope for her return to the ranch life, but they know that something new must be there for Joelyn if she is to stay. Favor and Laurel quickly become part of their lives, and a welcome diversion. Handsome and personable, Favor makes friends easily. But only he knows the danger these new friends might be in.

When the Kiley brothers discover Favor's whereabouts, they come gunning for revenge. Now Favor must depend on the savagery of his war training, a savagery he'd hoped lay forever in the past, an angry disdain that his lost wife had calmed and cooled and sheltered him from. But the life of his daughter, the respect of the Steadham family, and the budding love he feels for Joelyn are all at risk. Favor must go to war once again.