Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Emery McAllister once dreamed of leaving Cold River with the boy next door, but one devastating night destroyed their future and left her heart carefully guarded. Twenty years later, she’s built a life of control: running the town’s police detachment, raising her daughter, and keeping a fragile peace with her ex-husband, the mayor.
She’s certain she has moved on until the day she has dreaded—and secretly hoped for—finally arrives.
Logan Landry is home.
After two decades behind bars for being in the wrong place at the wrong time—and the choices that haunted him ever since—Logan returns to his family’s bison ranch carrying the weight of everything he lost, but especially Emery. Friendship is all he dares hope for now, but seeing her ignites a fire he thought long extinguished.
When a teenage girl disappears and old wounds reopen, Logan becomes Cold River’s favorite suspect, despite his airtight alibi. As distrust closes in, Emery must choose between the life she’s built … and the love she can’t let go
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Playlist
Available on Spotify
Pg. 1: “Santa Monica” by Theory of a Deadman
Pg. 51: “4AM” by Our Lady Peace
Pg. 58: “Long Time Running” by The Tragically Hip
Pg. 100: “Quitter” by Cameron Whitcomb
Pg. 109: “Blown Wide Open” by Big Wreck
Pg. 129: “Wheat Kings” by the Tragically Hip
Pg. 134: “Let Me Down Slowly” by Alec Benjamin & Alessia Cara
Pg. 173: “Home” by Matthew Hall
Pg. 226: “Quitting You” by Arkells
Pg. 256: “You and Me” by Cameron Whitcomb
Pg. 277: “Silent Night” by Sarah McLachlin
Pg. 291: “Everything is Alright” by Glorious Sons
Pg. 295: “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Jeff Straker
Pg. 298: “The Breakdown” by The Trews
Pg. 305: “Next to You” by Charlotte Cardin
Pg. 331: “Sing Me a Song” by William Prince & Serena Ryder
Pg. 325: “Gordon in the Willows” by Patrick Watson & Charlotte Cardin
Pg. 357: “Weak in the Knees (Acoustic Version)” by Serena Ryder
Pg. 364: “New Plan” by The Glorious Sons
Pg. 377: “Feels Like Home” by Chantal Kreviazuk
Chapter 1
Emery
Twenty years ago, May
“Busted!” Logan’s chuckle carries over the music.
“Damn it.” My curse is punctuated with a creak as I try to slip up the stairs unnoticed. There’s no point in this charade anymore. I run the rest of the way, taking the steps two at a time, until I reach the loft above the Landrys’ garage that has become our sanctuary.
Logan is sprawled out in the middle of it on his back. The only thing between his solid six-foot-two frame and the plywood floor is an unzipped sleeping bag that never leaves this room. The window on the far side welcomes in afternoon sunlight, and the rays capture the dust in the air. A five-disc stereo system clunks and whirs as it shuffles noisily to another CD, its display lights flashing like an ’80s techno party.
“Took you long enough.” He sounds groggy. I’ll bet he drifted off.
“I had a long shift.” I drop to my knees behind his head and peer into golden-hazel eyes that are indeed bleary from sleep. My stomach flutters. It always does around him.
He inhales. “You smell like chlorine.”
“Yeah, I had to pull a kid out of the pool.” I lean down to plant an upside-down kiss on his mouth before whispering, “Happy birthday.”
His plump lips curve into a smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re officially an adult.” I don’t turn eighteen until September, when we’re in Toronto for university. We were both accepted into the University of Toronto’s downtown campus—me, for criminology, Logan for mechanical engineering.
“That’s right, I am.” In the next beat, he’s reaching over his head to grab my ribs. I squeal as he lifts and flips me around to land against him with little effort. Another quick move and he has me on my back, my arms pinned over my head with one hand, long since calloused from helping around his family’s bison ranch. “Are we still allowed to do this?” He punctuates the question by slipping his free hand under my shirt.
“Yes. As long as you’re not in a position of authority over me.”
Logan’s face dips toward my neck, his lips finding a sensitive spot below my earlobe. “Okay, Officer McAllister.”
“Wait! I want to give you your present.”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” He guides my shirt up.
The warm spring air grazes my bare skin, stirring a base need. “No!” I tug against my restraints, but I can’t break free. He’s too strong. “I’ve been sitting on this forever.”
His fingertip traces the seam of my lacy bra before relenting with a groan of frustration as he releases me.
From my pocket, I slide out the envelope.
Logan’s eyebrow arches with interest as he collects it and gives it a shake.
I bite my bottom lip to quell my excitement.
“You’re kidding me.” He holds up the receipt for the two VIP Edgefest concert tickets, his eyes wide with disbelief. “But how? I couldn’t get through!”
My laughter is giddy. “I hit redial, like, a million times, as soon as they went on sale—”
He cuts off my words with a hard kiss before whispering, “This is fucking amazing. I wanted to go so bad.” I get another kiss and then, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I beam, grazing my nose against his. “You have no idea how hard this was to keep secret. I almost ruined the surprise so many times.”
He rolls onto his back to study the wooden beams zigzagging across the rustic ceiling. “Now I have to decide who I’m taking.”
“Umm, shut up.” I climb on top of him, straddling his jean-clad hips. “You better be kidding.”
He laughs as he grips my slender waist within his strong hands. “Of course it’s you, Em.” He stares up at me with a mixture of awe and desire.
The moment grows heady as I feel him reacting to my body pressed against his. “Can’t you skip going out with Jay tonight? Hang out with me?” I punctuate that by rocking my hips.
“You know I can’t. He’s my brother. He’s been planning this for weeks.”