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

“To arrest him!” Aaron glanced at Lennox through the dusty windshield.


“Aaron, I don’t have any evidence yet,” Uncle Will said, his voice slow and patient like it was when he explained something to a child.


“Everyone knows he shot Ian MacGregor!”


“What people know and what I can charge folks with are very often two different things.” Uncle Will sighed heavily. “Go home, Aaron. The situation is under control, okay? I promise.”


But what about Quinn? The longer Jimmy was a free man, the more danger Quinn was in. Except he couldn’t tell Uncle Will who Quinn really was, not after Quinn had sworn him and Charlie to secrecy.


“How is it under control? Jimmy MacGregor is a free man!”


“Aaron.” There was a hint of steel in Uncle Will’s voice now—he was suddenly very much the sheriff. “I’m telling you that it’s under control, okay?”


Aaron squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and tried his hardest to believe that. “Yeah, okay.”


Chapter 53