Heartsight - The Heart stories, #1

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 with 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 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. But how can a blind man search for a little girl and bring her to safety in any condition, much less in a hurricane?