Promise Me Tomorrow

Cranberry, Conn., seemed way too old-fashioned for Ash Wheeler, so he headed for L.A. to be a cop instead of signing on to the smalltown police force run by his dad and brother, Pete. But for the girl he left behind, Abby McGuire, Cranberry is the only place she wants to be, helping her Aunt Lucy run a deli and enjoying the simple life. Six years later, when Ash returns to Cranberry scarred by an L.A. shooting that left a young criminal dead, he thinks he’s just passing through, intent on starting a security business in Miami. He doesn’t count on his love for Abby reigniting and his feeling compelled to help her at the deli after her frail aunt has an accident. Few surprises and a sweet happily ever after await the well-drawn couple, and Ingmanson inserts a wry sense of the inevitable malling of small towns everywhere. (Mar.)