Nancy Kleso Szabo

Matt had been sexually abusing Alexis for fourteen years. It started after their son, Jimmy, had been born. After sexually abusing her with a mini-baseball bat, Matt gave her the option, "Okay, Alexis, you or the baby. Make your choice now."She pleaded with him. "Matt, please don't touch the baby. Do anything to me, but please, please don't touch the baby.""Okay, Alexis, one word to authorities, one sound comes out of you, and I go straight to that miserable piece of crap that came out of you. You know I can't control myself once I get that urge. Yeah, yeah, I know he's my kid, but I have no control, you know that. Watch what you say and do. It might turn out to be both of you when I get like this," said Matt.Just after he turned fourteen, Jimmy was killed in a drive-by shooting. Alexis was devastated. She missed her baby. She was heartbroken. It was a horrible way for it to happen, but it became her way out. Now all her fantasies of how to leave Matt could be realized.Will she make it? Will she be able to get away before the urge to use the bat on her again overtakes him? She knew if she got away and he found her, he would kill her. He had a girlfriend. In the past, it always saved her when he had a girlfriend. She didn't understand why that worked in her favor, but she'd take it.

Chad Hawk was a single rodeo cowboy destined to be a champion. He proved his abilities with winning every event in which he competed. Time and again, he succeeded pushing his abilities to the max. At the threshold of being a super champion, he finally met his match. While attending the wedding of a friend, Chad heard a woman singing and immediately fell in love. He hadn't even seen the woman but knew he wanted to marry her. Chad was fiercely devoted to his profession, the guardianship of his niece, Haley, and his friendships. After years of being the playboy of the rodeo circuit, would he be able to settle down? Haley Hawk's parents both died when she was a young child. From the age of eight, she was homeschooled by her guardian uncle. She traveled the rodeo circuit with her uncle Chad Hawk and his best friend, Tex Cole. Her education encompassed not only schoolwork but everything there was to know about rodeos and how to survive using quick thinking with physical strength. When her uncle's best friend, Tex, met his soon-to-become-wife, Marie, Haley bonded with her. She needed a female role model. With Marie's encouragement, Haley's uncle sent her to boarding school. While away at boarding school, Haley learned about herself, what she wanted to be, and about her innermost self. Haley had become an intelligent, emotionally and physically strong young woman. Was she ready for the relationships that found her when she went back to live with her uncle on the rodeo circuit?