Guarded - Hardcover

FORMER NEW YORK CITY flight attendant Annie Taylor is adjusting to farm life when her grandmother considers tearing down the old stone house, unable to finance a restoration after a summer fire. Annie's boyfriend, Jake, has severed his corporate life in Cincinnati and is jumping headlong into sustainable farming on the land next door. Their new relationship is wonderful-but can it last? As they take steps forward, her paralyzing fear of abandonment threatens to destroy her trust in Jake. As Annie works to save the old stone house, she finds letters written during World War II that reveal a family mystery and an Italian connection. Her grandmother is hesitant to uncover the secret, afraid of what it might mean to her family's name if they discover the truth. Comments from a nosy neighbor solidify Annie's fears about herself and when Beulah agrees for Annie to travel to Italy to uncover the truth about her family, Annie is happy for the time away to sort out her feelings. In the meantime, Beulah is left with an unexpected Italian-Catholic houseguest who wreaks havoc with Beulah's Baptist ways and country routine. As the family mystery unfolds in Italy, Annie is forced to face her own past. Will she let history sabotage the future?