The Welcome Home Garden Club, by Lori Wilde

J. Foster Goodnight is the wealthiest man in Twilight, having two legitimate boys, Bowie and Crockett, and then the illegitimate Gideon.  As the story begins, we are at J. Foster’s funeral when a motorcycle comes down the road and stops next to the service.  The last line of the prologue:  "Then he stripped off his helmet, pulled away his goggles, and Caitlyn stared straight into the eyes of a dead man." gets you right in to the story.  Cait passes out because she is so shocked to see Gideon, who she thought died in Afghanistan.  She does not take time to think about the fact that Gideon is her son Danny’s dad, and neither child or father know the truth.  Later that night, the circumstances of the day give her plenty to think about.

The story unfolds, the garden club asks florist Cait to to take on the victory garden for a contest they would like to enter.  After giving the garden some serious thought, she thinks this is something she can do and would enjoy participating in.  Even though this is a competition, she would do this garden for Gideon, who was her first love, and her love for the people who have served our great country.  The other thing that hinges on this event is getting her families old carousel  up and running, which means refurbishing 50+ carousel  horses.  That means Cait has to have a conversation with her estranged father to ask for this, knowing it will be difficult since her mother died while riding the carousel.  Caitlyn asks the Judge, and surprisingly he complies.  Thoughts of that carousel only bring back bad thoughts of his deceased wife.  He also asks Cait if she is aware that Gideon is in town, they argue over that topic, and Caitlyn stomps out, but the Judge  promises to have the carousel delivered to her. 

Now that Gideon is back, everyone is thinking he is Danny’s father.  Seems everyone in town knows except Danny!  Gideon comes to visit Cait, and they both have raging feelings for one another, but she is very overly cautious with her son, somewhat smothering him.  Cait tells Gideon she will let him know when she is ready to approach Danny.  Days go on, the garden grows and Gideon works on the horses.  Gideon lost half an arm in Afghanistan, but his new prosthetic arms lets him perform almost any job, so he is up for the painting and carving that needs to be done on the horses.  Danny and he become best palls, but that darn half brother of Gideon’s keeps butting in. 

As the judging day for the victory garden draws near, so do more spine tingling events.  Lots of twists and turns towards the end, and the culprit was not someone I expected.   J. Foster’s will is probated, cursing Gideon from the grave by bestowing him with everything.  Gideon, being way more generous than anyone espects, ends up giving the ranch and land to his siblings.  Considering how they treated him over the years, that was somewhat of a surprise.    And of course the HEA.     **sigh**  This is why we read books!  Every now and then it all comes together, and that’s the way it’s been with every book Lori Wilde has written in this series.