Daniel is looking to turn his life around. After the death of his outdoorsy father, he decides to leave his job as an 28 photographer and find greener pastures, which leads him to Seyda Ranch in Wyoming. He thinks things can’t get worse after his boyfriend dumps him over this new venture, until his truck breaks down before he even makes it to his new cabin. Help arrives in the form of Seyda Ranch’s most trusted cowboy, Cole, a handsome young man with a kind heart. As Daniel spends more time with Cole, he wonders if his streak of misfortune has finally ended. But fate has one more cruel trick to play, and Daniel will need all the luck he can get to survive it.

Daniel in Distress

At Daniel’s cabin, Cole tied Ziggy to a nearby tree using the same rope that had pulled Daniel from the river. Cole helped Daniel inside, just as he had after Daniel injured his leg. “I’ll get the stove burning,” he said. “You go get changed.”


“Okay, I’ll just—” Without Cole to hold him, Daniel didn’t have the strength to stand. Two steps on his own and he fell to his knees.


“Shit,” Cole hissed. He grabbed Daniel around the waist and brought him to his feet. “Did you hit your head? Are you going to pass out? Come on, Daniel, don’t do this to me.” He got Daniel to the couch. “Stay here, stay awake, I’ll get you a towel and some dry clothes.”


Daniel nodded. He didn’t want to sleep. His brush with death had every cell of his body on edge, but his muscles were weary and twitchy as warmth returned to his core. A cup of coffee would be nice. That’d perk me up again.


Chapter 10