When they were teenagers, Quinn MacGregor and Aaron Larsen fell in love over the course of one magical summer. It ended in bloodshed and tragedy. Now, ten years later, Quinn is back in Spruce Creek, Nevada, to inherit his family’s criminal cartel. His cousin Jimmy has been making friends -- and enemies -- in dangerous places, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy to hand over leadership to Quinn. And Jimmy might not be the only one who wants Quinn out of the way for good, especially if Quinn’s secret comes out. Aaron Larsen is back in Spruce Creek to sell his former family home. Aaron lost a leg in Afghanistan, and he’s drinking too much and battling depression and PTSD. The last thing he needs is for Quinn MacGregor to drop back into his miserable life. But when Quinn is shaken by the news that he left more behind in Spruce Creek than his bad memories, he turns to Aaron like it’s old times, and Aaron doesn’t know how to say no. The events of ten years ago cast a long shadow, and in a town where they can’t trust anyone else, Quinn and Aaron just might have to learn to trust each other again.

A Desperate Man

Lennox watched her, his nose wrinkled, and his fingers gripping the straps of his backpack tightly.


It took Aaron about two hours to realize he had nothing to feed a kid. Or himself, either. The few slices of bread he had left were half stale and half moldy, and he didn’t even have anything for the kid to drink except tap water.


“Let’s go to the grocery store,” he said, and Lennox grinned and scrambled to his feet.


Aaron remembered his last trip to the grocery store, and how he’d been juggling his crutches and his grocery bags, and what a trial it had been. Today he was wearing his prosthetic, and Lennox was happily lugging their basket of soda, bread, peanut butter, and snacks. Aaron pretended not to notice when Lennox slid a pack of Junior Mints into the basket.


The sudden flash of memory hit him hard.


Chapter 52