Nellie Moriarty (Poconos Life, #6) / Poconos Life (ePub)

In Afghanistan, Medevac pilot Captain Cornelia Richardson gives an arm and a leg and her good looks for a grateful nation. After rehabilitation she discovers she has also given her marriage. She ends up back with her folks in a small town in the Poconos, divorced, back to her maiden name, learning to deal with major disability, and looking for a job. Listless and depressed, Ms. Moriarty goes out for a burger and beer with her brother Todd and his friends, one of whom is Quincy Holmes. It's the start of a friendship highlighted by a fistfight, a hog slaughter, and an exploding sewer line. She hadn't seen so much mischief in one place since she had been nine years old. Holmes made her laugh, teased her mercilessly, introduced her to people and helped her find a job that she liked and that she was good at. They planned for Holmes & Moriarty Excavations, Inc. Sometimes they planned for "their family:" Sherlock, Mycroft, and Hemlock, Arabella, Betty, and Charlene, and maybe even Abigail, Bertie, and Charlie.

It was all great fun, even the cotton candy fantasies. But Nellie didn't want a boyfriend. She was freshly divorced, from a husband who had rejected her because of her disfigurement, who hadn't been able to give her the physical care she needed. She didn't want any romantic entanglements that would end up hurting both parties. It was hard for her, it made her miserable, but she broke it off with him. Out of sight, out of mind.

That lasted almost two weeks. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.