Heartsight by Kay Springsteen

Captain Dan Conway is a Marine who lost his sight in an IED blast in Afghanistan. He has gone through four years of operations and treatment to regain his sight. With the failure of the last surgery, he has had enough. He goes home to recuperate and regroup. He needs the time alone to come to grips with the fact that he will not regain his sight. This also means his career as a Marine as he knows it, is over. He has been offered a job that will keep him with the Marines, but he’s not sure he wants to sit behind a desk. Dan refuses to let his disability stop him. He has a Seeing Eye dog named Jake. He is also able to maneuver on the beach and in town as he grew up there. Dan plays his guitar to express feelings he cannot verbalize. He is enjoying his solitude until he feels the sticky hand of a little girl in his. When she leaves he realizes how lonely he has become. As Heartsight progresses, Dan shows how he lives the Marine motto, Semper fi-always faithful-in everything he does.

On a secluded beach in North Carolina, three lonely people find hope in each other.
Trish Evers is an artist and single mother, who has inherited her grandmother's Bed and Breakfast in a North Carolina coastal town. Though she must sell the house, she decides to bring her daughter to the beach for one last summer vacation in her childhood town.
Bella is a six-year-old girl who has Down syndrome. Rejected by her father, Trish, is the only parent she's ever known. Bella likes to explore the beach and has a tendency to wander off. One day, Bella goes exploring on her own, and Trish finds her in the company of an intriguing stranger.
Dan Conway is a U.S. Marine, who had been born into a family of Marines. Now blind as a result of combat injuries and unable to "suit up," he feels he no longer has a purpose in life. He's come home to the beach, where he spends his days in solitude. Dan must learn to believe in himself and to love life again, which he begins to do through his interactions with Bella and Trish. When a hurricane strikes, and Bella wanders off again, her only hope for rescue is Dan.
Working within the confines of his blindness, he must overcome his fear of failure and recall his training in order to search for the little girl and bring her to safety.

Trish is the mother of a special little girl, Bella. She is a teacher and an artist. Trish is emotionally upset as she is back at her grandma’s house to settle her estate. Trish was raised by her grandparents after her parents were killed in a car crash. She is earning money while there by selling her paintings, her budget always tight due to medical costs. She is divorced, handed the papers after her daughter is in recovery from heart surgery. Trish has little self-esteem as her ex constantly tore her confidence apart. She has learned to cope and patiently set boundaries for Bella. Bella’s Downs Syndrome needs the structure to keep her healthy and safe. Trish’s ex has never been there for Bella, preferring her to be put in a home. While she is there, her ex’s lawyer sends papers demanding alternating custody of Bella, with primary custodianship, adding more stress for Trish. Her bright spot is the handsome Marine that she meets from down the beach.

Dan and Trish meet when Bella leaves the house when she was supposed to be sleeping. She wandered toward Dan as she heard him playing his guitar. When Trish goes looking for her, she finds them sitting together. Heartsight shows how love can grow other than by what you see. Dan and Bella quickly gain a place in each other’s heart. Dan cannot see Bella’s differences and Bella easily accepts the limitations that Dan has. The interaction between the two is wonderful. As Dan, Trish and Bella interact; they instinctively find ways to overcome the handicaps involved. Trish and Bella come to quickly rely on Dan despite his blindness. Dan wants to become part of their lives, but worries his blindness would put too much of a burden on Trish than she already bears. Trish feels that she has little to offer to Dan with her debts and the special needs of her daughter. Despite all that, Dan and Trish have a hard time holding back the passion they inspire in each other.

Heartsight was a heartwarming story. A very wonderful read. Special dear to my heart as my son is a Marine. Added to that I grew up with my Uncle who has Downs Syndrome and could just see some of the situations being played out! Special children are nothing if not stubborn. They are also always loving and accepting, like Bella. The characters in Heartsight tug on your heart. Trish has fears that every woman has felt at one point in time. Dan is the upstanding, honorable, hot man we all want. Heartsight is appropriately named and thrums throughout the book without being said. You just feel it, and see it, in your heart. This is a book you do not want to miss.