She threw up her hands. “You act like caring about people is a weakness!”
His expression darkened. “No. I act like caring about people gets them killed.”
Leona will do anything to start over with her three-year-old son, even if it means begging for a place on a dangerous wagon trail. “I can pull my own weight,” she insists, but the wagon master refuses to let a single mother join. Just as hope slips away, a rugged man steps in. “She rides with us,” Marshall says, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Marshall has spent years outrunning his past, taking on the grueling work of leading settlers west to keep his mind off everything he lost. He never expected to be saddled with a stubborn woman and her son, nor did he expect the walls he built to crack each time she looked at him. “I don’t need saving,” she snaps. “Good,” he replies. “Because I’m not a hero.”
But as storms rage and tensions rise, a dangerous man sets his sights on Leona. With threats closing in and feelings they can’t ignore, they must decide—will they keep running from the past, or fight for the future they never thought they’d have?
Through dust and fire, fear and fight,
They walked the trail by day and night.
Worn but standing, hearts laid bare,
Love found breath in open air.