Liana was singing Christmas songs along with the radio as she drove home. It had been a very successful half-day of shopping in Coff's Harbour for her. A beautiful six-foot-tall Christmas tree was tied to the roof of the Land Cruiser. The back of the vehicle was stuffed with ribbon, ornaments, and other decorations.

Once she'd gotten everything they'd bought in Sydney into place in the house, her next thought had been that Christmas was almost here, and that it would be her first Christmas with Ben. She'd decided to surprise him for a change, by bringing home the tree and decorations. She could shop for those nearer to home.

Convincing him to let her go into Coff's Harbour for half a day of shopping on her own had not been easy. To say that her husband liked being in control of things would be an understatement, she thought to herself, grinning. Finally, she'd managed to talk him into staying home by pointing out that the first horses were arriving tomorrow and, as the new foreman had not yet arrived, she knew he'd want to make sure the stables were ready himself.

Pulling into the driveway, she stopped the car and got out. Opening the rear of the Land Cruiser, she stepped up and began trying to figure out a way to get the huge tree off the top of the SUV. As Liana was untying the ropes, she failed to notice the pickup truck pulling into the driveway behind her until the door slammed.

Looking up, she saw a slightly built young man with reddish hair and a beard walking toward her. "Could I give you a hand with that, miss?" he asked in a drawling American accent.

Jumping to the ground, she wiped her hands on her jeans. "Well, I-"

Liana had never been frightened of Ben, not even after he'd revealed to her who he really was, what he'd done. He had killed men and yet, somewhere deep inside, she was sure that he'd never hurt her. But this man- This man in front of her now. Something about the look in his eyes gave her a deep feeling of apprehension. She had no idea why.

He was walking toward her, smiling, holding out his hand. "Hope I'm in the right place. If this is the Wade ranch, I'm the new foreman."

Automatically reacting to the hand held out to her, Liana took it. And had to control the shiver that came over her. Something told her this man meant trouble. Controlling her emotions, she smiled at him in return. "You are in the right place. I'm Mrs. Wade."

"You?" A look of surprise had come over the young man's face. "You're Mrs. Wade. Pardon me, ma'am, but you're just not what I would have pictured. Name's Charlie. Charlie Prince, ma'am. Pleased to meet you."