Waiting for the Rain — M. Jean Pike

Abandoned by her husband after receiving a fatal medical diagnosis, twenty-eight-year-old Willow Mackenzie is determined to realize her unfulfilled dreams. On a jaunt to a lonely quarry called Baker's Gully in the hope of photographing an eagle, she discovers an abandoned cottage and its reclusive owner, Darby Sullivan. Captivated by the rose-covered dwelling, and intrigued by its stern, sexy owner, Willow knows instinctively that she is meant to spend the rest of her life in Baker's Gully. A man of secrets, Darby is content with his hermit-like existence, but troubled by the deadly illness he senses within her, he agrees to rent Willow the cottage, knowing it is the one place on earth that can heal her. But saving Willow's life may cost Darby his own.