Aspen's Ascent

For most people, awakening from a coma after a year would be cause for joy—but what if you remember nothing, not even your own name? And open your eyes to only a blur of gray? Would you consider your renewed life a miracle or a curse?
For newly awake Aspen Windchase, the answer lies in the oblivion he finds in pharmaceutical drugs and the possibility they offer of a permanent exit. The claims of his twin sister Raven of a shared closeness and success as horse trainers mean nothing to him. He has even lost the link to his faith in God that might otherwise sustain him. When his former caregiver Allie offers him a place to stay and unlimited access to his pharmaceutical saviors, he jumps at the chance. But when the smitten young woman claims “Pen” is the father of her child, he can’t remember having made love to Allie—and doubts he would have been able to, given his increasing addiction.
When Allie lands in jail for buying drugs, another of Aspen’s caregivers comes to his rescue: Maura also takes the good-looking young cowboy into her home, but with the mission of helping Aspen kick his addiction. With the aid of Aspen’s pastor, Dave Benson, Maura leads Aspen out of his drug fog and back to his memory and faith in a loving, forgiving God, which she shares. What the woman doesn’t share is a belief that Aspen’s claim of love for her is anything more than misplaced gratitude. Having been twice disappointed by unfounded avowals of love from former patients, Maura flees. When Aspen, having gained personal and financial independence as a writer, goes looking for the woman he loves, she has vanished.
Aspen’s Ascent tells the story of how one man, having lost both his sight and his memory, manages to regain his faith in God, which is the missing piece he needs to rebuild his life on solid ground.