title: Phil's Hope
author: Hunnel, C.J.
description: She has been at one college campus after another over the years. She is ready to set aside this academic endeavor and return home. He returns home from college years ago and is works with the Sherriff’s Office. Sparks fly when he enters her life again. Spring Hope Mason is the baby of the family and wants to return home. However, to do so she needs to let her sisters know just what she has been doing the past ten years besides being a flakey student. Ten years ago, Phil Jackson was called away from Hope's hospital bed to see to the funeral arrangements for his parents'. Leaving her then was the hardest thing for him to do, but it could not be helped. He lost contact with her but knew she was alright because her brother was with her. Over the years, her sisters managed to keep him apprised of her latest course of study. Hope developed a crush on Phil when she was a teenager. She managed to attend the same college he was. Phil has always had an attraction for Hope. In college, he refused to date her because she was his best friend's, Baby Sister. There was no way to get around that stigma back then. As adults, ten years later, they have to work together on a joint task force investigation. They each have a job to do and do their best to ignore the attraction that still simmers below the surface of their friendship. She won't discuss the past and does not know what she will decide for her career. He knows what he wants to do with his life, but not what the future holds. Will these two manage to work through the obstacles of the past, or will they drift apart once they return to New Mexico.