Denim and Dust

He can’t go back. She has to.I didn’t want to leave Calder-I had no choice. The destiny chosen for me meant leaving the one I wanted behind.I remember him bulldogging with the sun setting behind him, thinking I’d never seen anything so breathtaking. Not the sky. Him.His chiseled jaw, sun-streaked brown hair, his strength and confidence. Raising his arms into the air with the steer down, his eyes searched for me in the stands, flashing that deep-dimpled grin when he saw me watching.The way he looked at me back then-quiet, sure, like he’d already decided I was his future. His blue eyes inhaled me, and I felt his love. I saw it in his eyes. That I never doubted. He loved me.But we were kids. What do kids know?It’s been ten years since I left him. What does he look like now?I clear my throat, shift in my seat, and try to focus on the road as the stars come out, but all I can think is how long it’s been since I let myself remember him like this. Calder Boone. The boy I left. The man I’m sure to run into in a town of a few thousand.The land, the sky, and the sunset were exactly the same back then. But I’m not.When Laurel Prescott lands back in Ladera, Texas, she finds a very different Calder Boone than the boy she left behind. A man forged in fire and carrying scars he doesn’t let anyone see. One thing hasn’t changed, though.Their chemistry is explosive. 6