Prologue

RYLAND

“I can see the vein in your forehead pulsing,” Abel, my best friend, says as he lifts his stout to his lips. I watch his eyes stay fixated on me, in that examining way he does so well as he takes a pull. “Kind of scary, man.”

I lean back in my chair and twist my glass of beer, staring down at the amber liquid.

MacKenzie, my niece, who I have custody of, is with my sister Aubree and her husband, Wyatt, at the farmhouse playing horsey. I know this because I’ve received several pictures from Aubree of Wyatt being combed, brushed, and saddled up. Seeing his grown ass with flowers in his hair and a collar around his neck is the only reason I haven’t broken the glass in my hand.

“Not in the mood,” I say as I take a large chug of my beer.

“I can sense that.” He lifts one of my untouched fries from my plate and pops it in his mouth. “I have to say, your company this evening has been unmatched.”

I eye him. “Do you think poking the bear is going to help?”

“I mean, when you first arrived, you stated you wouldn’t be talking about your day. You huffed. You grumbled. And then you shoved your cheeseburger in your mouth without a word. I’ve continued to bother you with snide, sarcastic comments, and I feel like I’m right on the edge, almost getting you to tip over and tell me what’s been bothering you.” He waggles his brows. “I’m right, aren’t I? You’re ready to spill.”

“Fuck you.”

“A-ha!” He points at me with a large grin. “I knew it, you’re ready.” He sets his beer down and leans his arms on the table. Batting his lashes like a fucking moron, he says, “Go ahead, big boy, tell me what’s going on.”

I shake my head, annoyed with my best friend, but I also know he won’t let this go. So I stare at my glass of beer as I say, “The newest school board member has decided that I shouldn’t be involved in hiring my assistant coach.”

Abel’s expression morphs into confusion. “Wait, so as the head baseball coach for the high school, who has brought the team to a state championship win, who is also bringing interest from colleges all around the country, you won’t be involved in hiring your own assistant? Tell me how that makes sense.”

“It fucking doesn’t,” I grumble. “But this fucker who thinks he knows what’s best for the program thinks I need to step away from the process since I’m already too involved in the program.”

“Uh . . .” Abel blinks. “Because you’re the fucking head coach.”

“I know,” I practically shout. People around us turn in our direction. Lowering my voice, I say, “It’s all fucking politics at this point. The guy has no experience in managing a baseball team and what goes into it, nor does he even have a child in the school district.”

“What?” Abel asks. “How the fuck was he elected to the school board?”

“Money,” I say. “And boredom. The guy probably has nothing else better to do with his life than fuck with mine.”

“Who is it?”

“David Ganbear,” I answer. “Just moved into town. And somehow was able to infiltrate. Not sure how the fuck that happened but it did.” I drag my hand over my face in frustration. “They had a bunch of interviews today, and from what I’ve heard, they think they found their person.”

“Jesus,” Abel says. “When you first got here and I saw your mood, I thought it was because you’re often just irritated, but I’ll hand it to you. You have the right to be angry.” He tilts his drink in my direction as a nod, then takes another drink.

“Thank you?” I say in question, unsure if I should take that as a compliment or not.

“You’re welcome.” Abel smirks at me. “Now that you’ve shared, I think I have a solution for you.”

“If it’s to walk up to David Ganbear and introduce him to my fist, I’ve already considered the option, but given I need to think about Mac and how my actions affect her, I ended that thought rather quickly.”

“Smart, but that’s not what I was going to suggest.”

I raise a brow. “If that’s not your suggestion, then what is?”

“Easy,” he says with a grin. “You need to take out that energy elsewhere. You need to hook up with someone.”

I roll my eyes. “Jesus, Abel. You’re a well-respected doctor in town, and you’re suggesting frat boy-type behavior?”

“As your personal doctor who is concerned with the color of your balls, I’m simply prescribing a way to take care of yourself other than using your hand.”

I shake my head. “And this is exactly why I should have gone out with Hayes instead. He would have sat here in silence with me, letting me stew.”

Hayes Farrow is our other best friend and my sister Hattie’s boyfriend. We used to be enemies, and when he started dating my sister, I thought I was going to murder him, but we resolved our differences, and even though I hate to admit it at times, I’m glad he’s back in my life.

Abel presses his hand to his chest. “When you say things like that, it hurts.”

“You deserve it when you offer stupid ideas.”

“Finding someone to help you dispel this pent-up anger and energy . . . that’s stupid? Pretty sure if I asked anyone what you should do, given your situation and how . . . backed up you are, they’d suggest the same thing.”

“Who’s to say I’m that backed up?” I ask.

He folds his arms across his chest and stares me down. “You have not once looked at a woman since Cassidy passed and you took guardianship of Mac. Don’t even tell me I’m wrong.”

He’s not.

He’s absolutely right.

And my celibacy started months before that, when Cassidy got her cancer diagnosis with only months to live. I went into protective mode like I’ve always done. I set aside everything in my life, did the bare minimum to make sure my responsibilities were taken care of, and then put all my focus on my dying sister and her daughter.

And now with Mac being my number one responsibility, my needs, well, they’ve been put on the back burner.

“See, you have no response because you know I’m right.” He nudges my shoulder. “Come on, let’s go to the bar and see if we can find you someone. Aubree and Wyatt have Mac taken care of.”

I shake my head. “I’m not about to just go do it with some townie. That shit would stay with me.”

“Then let’s see if we can find someone from out of town.”

I roll my eyes. “In a small town? Yeah, good luck with that.”

“Never know until we try,” Abel says as he stands and tugs on my arm, pulling me up with him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Doing something I should have done a while ago.”