The Longest Way Home — Lorrie Farrelly

Heading west in search of a new beginning, Lily Harmon loses her heart to little Maddie Cullinan, an orphan whose father was presumed killed in a bloody battle of the War Between the States. Lily adopts Maddie, so the young widow and the bereft little girl begin to make a new home together in frontier Wyoming, unaware that Maddie's father, former Union Army Major Luke Cullinan, is very much alive.

An angry, determined man who has sworn to reclaim his cherished daughter, Luke is hot on Lily's trail. Nothing, and no one, had better stand in his way.

An evocative, poignant story of the healing power of love after the trauma of war and loss, Lorrie Farrelly's THE LONGEST WAY HOME is the winner of the WESTERN FICTIONEERS PEACEMAKER AWARD for the Best Western Short Fiction of 2015.