Don't Take the Girl

At ten, I was the unwanted tagalong on London Hale's fishing trip-the fatherless girl next door he resented having to include. But all it took was one hot Texas summer afternoon of fishing to change everything.

At sixteen, he saved my life, and then he kissed me. The star quarterback and the quiet outsider, we defied every small-town stereotype as we fell hopelessly in love. By eighteen, we had our futures mapped out together until four desperate words shattered everything.

"Don't take the girl."

With those words, my world collapsed, and London disappeared from my life.

Six years later, I'm starting fresh at my best friend's ranch, healing among horses instead of people, until I discover that the rival rancher next door is none other than London Hale. The boy I loved. The man who should be in prison.

He wants me gone, and I understand why. His sacrifice cost him everything. But I never asked him to save me, not the first time or the second.

Sharing another small town with him isn't going to be easy, but I'm not going anywhere. I need this job, and besides-it's temporary. At the end of the summer, I'll have my certification, and I'll leave just as he asked me to.

But when I uncover the truth behind that fateful night and why London never went to jail, I realize our story wasn't finished at eighteen-it's been waiting here all along.

Some chapters aren't meant to be closed. Sometimes, the most beautiful stories are the ones brave enough to try again.