He was an outcast Ex-Union colonel Andrew Stone had had his fill of "Southern hospitality." The War had been over for years, but the local townsfolk still held a mighty grudge. His marriage to the respectable Miss Carlisle would make life a lot easier for his young daughter. And love would never complicate this union—no matter how bewitching Margaret's eyes began to look. Margaret Carlisle was "on the shelf," as the good people of Huxley, Texas, would say. She had spent the better part of her twenty-two years looking after her siblings—and was forced to live off the charity of her carping aunt. But all that changed when the Yankee walked into her life...