In the days immediately following the Civil War, Yankee soldiers called bummers straggled home, emotionally ravaged, exhausted, and hungry. Forced to steal what they needed along the way from weary families themselves devastated by war, they often left a wake of cruelty and violence.

One such bummer impulsively grabs an 18-year-old Tennessee girl who is home alone with her young brother while their parents are gone to replenish needed supplies after the years of deprivation and hardship. The bummer stubbornly holds her for three days as they make their way north. But Meg is not a typical kidnapping victim. Her spunk and fortitude forge an unexpected bond between the two by the time they near his home.

The soldier, coping with PTSD, is not a typical criminal, either. He gains solace from this resolute and hardy young woman who reminds him of home. Although he treats her with care, she remains a captive. When he comes to his senses and releases her, neither realizes the time spent together will forever bind them.

Filled with regret, he covertly makes sure she gets home safely, even surreptitiously visiting her a few weeks later. During that encounter, they confirm and consummate the romance that had begun to blossom during their journey north.

When he learns that Meg’s wedding to her childhood sweetheart is imminent, he vanishes without explaining that he is unselfishly withdrawing from further interference in her life. He does not realize that he is leaving behind not only a resourceful and tenacious woman but a child he knows nothing of.

Meg’s pluck and spirit see her through several years with a husband who uses what happened to his wife as an excuse to seek solace in the bottle. She finally accepts that she can’t change him and establishes a life on her own, vowing that she will never give up searching for her soldier. Their son, at age 16, has the gumption to carry on that search and make his mother’s desire come true.

Wasche was first published at age 17 after winning a state writing contest in Minnesota. She continued to be a contributing writer to regional and national publications while pursuing careers in business and the health sciences. She served as president of the Alaska chapter of Romance Writers of America, editor of the Chugiak Eagle River Historical Society newsletter, founded a book club and has held membership in the Chugach Writers Group, the Alaska Writers Guild, the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association, 49 Alaska Writers, and the Independent Book Publisher’s Association. She is currently writing from lake country Minnesota.