Nora Roberts - First Impressions (Language of Love)

Dear Reader,

Its that time of year again! Time for a fresh blanket of snow to make everything look beautiful, and time for another charming holiday delight from Silhouette Books! We are pleased to bring you this gift hardcover edition of First Impressions, a classic tale from New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts about how appearances can be deceivingand how two people find someone to love them for who they truly are.

First Impressions is a story about a woman determined to do a good deed only to have her kind offer of work thrown back in her face by the rudest unemployed man shes ever met. Its also a story about a man determined to retreat from the world only to have his best intentions turned upside down by one of the most caring and beautiful women hes ever met. And in the end they both learn that first impressions arent necessarily what they seem

We hope you and yours enjoy a safe, wonderful holiday season, and that the New Year brings you all that you wish for!

Happy holidays!

The Editors
Silhouette Books

To Georgeann,

neighbour and friend

The morning sun shot shafts of light over the mountains. It picked up the hints of red and gold among the deep green leaves and had them glowing. From somewhere in the woods came a rustling as a rabbit darted back to its burrow, while overhead a bird chirped with an insistent cheerfulness. Clinging to the line of fences along the road were clumps of honeysuckle. The light scent from the few lingering blossoms wafted in the air. In a distant field a farmer and his son harvested the last of the summer hay. The rumble of the bailer was steady and distinct.

Over the mile trek to town only one car passed. Its driver lifted his hand in a salute. Shane waved back. It was good to be home.

Walking on the grassy shoulder of the road, she plucked a blossom of honeysuckle and, as she had as a child, drew in the fleetingly sweet aroma. When she crushed the flower between her fingers, its fragrance briefly intensified. It was a scent she associated with summer, like barbecue smoke and new grass. But this was summers end.

Shane looked forward to fall eagerly, when the mountains would be at their best. Then the colors were breathtaking and the air was clean and crisp. When the wind came, the world would be full of sound and flying leaves. It was the time of woodsmoke and fallen acorns.

Curiously, she felt as though shed never been away. She might still have been twenty-one, walking from her grandmothers to Sharpsburg to buy a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. The busy Baltimore streets, the sidewalks and crowds of the last four years might have been a dream. She might never have spent those four years teaching in an inner-city school, correcting exams and attending faculty meetings.

Yet four years had passed. Her grandmothers narrow two-story house was now Shanes. The uneven, wooded three acres of land were hers as well. And while the mountains and woods were the same, Shane was not.

Physically, she looked almost as she had when she had left western Maryland for the job in a Baltimore high school. She was small in height and frame, with a slender figure that had never developed the curves and roundness shed hoped for. Her face was subtly triangular with its creamy skin touched with warm color. It had been called peaches and cream often enough to make Shane wince. There were dimples that flashed when she smiled, rather than the elegant cheekbones she had wished for. Her nose was small, dusted with freckles, tilted up at the end. Pert. Shane had suffered the word throughout her life.

Under thin arched brows, her eyes were large and dark. Whatever emotion she felt was mirrored in them. They were rarely cool. Habitually, she wore her hair short, and it curled naturally to frame her face in a deep honey blond. As her temperament was almost invariably happy, her face was usually animated, her small, sculpted mouth tilted up. The adjective used most to describe her was cute. Shane had grown to detest the word, but lived with it. Nothing could be done to alter sharp, vital attractiveness into sultry beauty.

As she rounded the last curve in the road before coming into town, she had a sudden flash of having done so beforeas a child, as a teenager, as a girl on the brink of womanhood. It gave her a sense of security and belonging. Nothing in the city had ever given her the simple pleasure of being part of the whole.

Laughing, she took the final yards at a run, then burst through the door of the general store. The bells jingled fiercely before it slammed shut.

Hi!

Hi, yourself. The woman behind the counter grinned at her. Youre out early this morning.

When I woke up, I discovered I was out of coffee. Spotting the box of fresh doughnuts on the counter, Shane rolled her eyes and headed for them. Oh, Donna, cream filled?

Yeah. Donna watched with an envious sigh as Shane chose one and bit into it. For the better part of twenty years, shed seen Shane eat like a linebacker without gaining an ounce of fat.

Though they had grown up together, they were as different as night and day. Where Shane was fair, Donna was dark. Shane was small; Donna was tall and well rounded. For most of their lives, Donna had been content to play follower to Shanes leader. Shane was the adventurer. Donna had liked nothing better than to point out all the flaws in whatever plans she was hatching, then wholeheartedly fall in with it.

So, how are you settling in?

Pretty well, Shane answered with her mouth full.

Youve hardly been in since you got back in town.

Theres been so much to do. Gran couldnt keep the place up the last few years. Both affection and grief came through in her voice. She was always more interested in her gardening than a leaky roof. Maybe if I had stayed

Oh, now dont start blaming yourself again. Donna cut her off, drawing her straight dark brows together. You know she wanted you to take that teaching job. Faye Abbott lived to be ninety-four. Thats more than a lot of people can hope for. And she was a feisty old devil right to the end.

Shane laughed. Youre absolutely right. Sometimes Im sure shes sitting in her kitchen rocker making certain I wash up my dishes at night. The thought made her want to sigh for the childhood that was gone, but she pushed the mood away. I saw Amos Messner out in the field with his son haying. After finishing off the doughnut, Shane dusted her hands on the seat of her pants. I thought Bob was in the army.

Got discharged last week. Hes going to marry a girl he met in North Carolina.

No kidding?

Donna smiled smugly. It always pleased her, as proprietor of the general store, to be the ears and eyes of the town. Shes coming to visit next month. Shes a legal secretary.

How old is she? Shane demanded, testing.

Twenty-two.

Throwing back her head, Shane laughed in delight. Oh, Donna, youre terrific. I feel as though Ive never been away.

The familiar unrestricted laugh made Donna grin. Im glad youre back. We missed you.

Shane settled a hip against the counter. Wheres Benji?

Daves got him upstairs. Donna preened a bit, thinking of her husband and son. Letting that little devil loose down heres only asking for trouble. Well switch off after lunch.

Thats the beauty of living on top of your business.

Finding the opening she had hoped for, Donna pounced on it. Shane, are you still thinking about converting the house?

Not thinking, Shane corrected. Im going to do it. She hurried on, knowing what was about to follow. Theres always room for another small antique shop, and with the museum attached, itll be distinctive.