Wade Dwyer's life is turned upside down when his father dies and he learns he must marry or he and his siblings will lose the ranch. One last jab of the knife from his father. On top of that, his father's only friend knows about the stipulation and is determined to own the property by any means necessary.<br><br>He's facing the very real possibility of being the reason his family loses their home when his brother's best friend, Lance Matthews, offers to walk down the aisle with him. A faux marriage to the man he's loved for years is a torture he isn't sure he can endure.<br><br>Can he keep the ranch ... and the man of his dreams, too?

The Twisted Oak

Even through all those years, Lance and Casey had a solid friendship that wouldn’t be shaken—they were like brothers. As a child, Wade had even been jealous of the bond they’d shared.


The Dwyer home came into view where the road crested, and he slowed down to take it all in. Coming home always made him feel like things would work out. That all was right in the world. As long as he’d stayed out of his father’s way, home had been a happy place for him. Being around his brothers, working the ranch, it all felt so right. No matter how much he had feared his father when he was younger, this place had always been home and his brothers were his family. So was Lorna. Kenneth Dwyer had merely been a ghost that haunted the ranch. Angry, unwilling to bend or compromise in anything, he’d never shown affection toward Wade.


Chapter 6