Smoke Screen: A Novel, by Terri Blackstock, Paperback

A forbidden love between two teenagers left one father murdered, and another convicted of his death.

 

Nate Beckett spent his life fighting wildfires instead of the lies and rumors that led him to leave his Colorado home town. Now that his father's been released from prison, his mother begs him to return home to Carlisle. It isn't until he's sidelined by an injury that he's forced to return home to face his past. Even though that means facing Brenna too.

 

Fourteen years ago, Nate fell in love with the preacher's daughter. When Pastor Strickland found out Brenna defied him to sneak out with Nate, the battle between Strickland and Nate's drunken dad got loud and very public. When Strickland was found murdered later that night, everyone accused Roy Beckett, and when the church was burned down, people just assumed it was Nate getting even for his father's conviction. When the rumors erupted, he left Carlisle without looking back.

 

Now, Brenna is shocked to learn that the man convicted of murdering her father was pardoned. The events of that night changed the course of her life. She's fighting a brutal custody battle with her ex and his new wife where he's using lies and his family's money to sway the judge. She's barely hanging on, turning to alcohol to cope, while fear and shame consume her.

 

As they deal with the present, including new information about that fateful night and a wildfire threatening their town, their past keeps igniting. Nate is still the steady force Brenna desperately needs in her life, but she must first learn to trust him again.