Ryder Hayes chose the rodeo over Y/N just as his career was finally taking off. What he never knew was that she was pregnant when he walked away. Nearly a year later, Y/N returns to their small hometown with a baby and one secret only her sister knows. Ryder doesn’t know the child is his. He only knows Y/N is back, she wants nothing to do with him, and something about that baby feels strangely familiar. Old feelings, unfinished hurt, and one life-changing truth are about to make this small town feel a whole lot smaller.
Y/N came to a small town looking for a fresh start, not a forty-year-old tattooed mechanic with a sharp mouth, a protective streak, and absolutely no patience for her stubbornness. Jace is everything she should avoid: older, intimidating, authoritative, and far too good at seeing through her defenses. But when her past refuses to stay buried and the people who were supposed to protect her still don’t understand, Jace becomes the one person who never asks her to make herself smaller. Slow burn, age gap, hurt/comfort, protective grump, daddy issues, and one very bad ex.
Y/N moves into a small house bordering the Mercer ranch, hoping for a quieter life and a fresh start. She doesn’t expect her first real introduction to the neighbors to involve a frightened horse loose on her property—or Cole Mercer, the 41-year-old rancher who comes looking for it. Cole is steady, quiet, and impossible to rush. Y/N is independent, guarded, and far too used to handling everything alone. What starts with chance encounters across a fence line slowly turns into shared mornings, small favors, teasing, family tension, and a connection neither of them planned for. Cole never tries to rescue her. He just keeps showing up. And for Y/N, that may be the hardest thing to trust.
