Wayward Sons

He was my high school crush. Now he’s pretending to be my boyfriend—and I’m pretending I’m not falling for him. When Hoyt McNamara stepped in to rescue me from a drunk with grabby hands, pretending to be my boyfriend, I knew two things: One, I still hadn’t outgrown the way I felt about him. Two, it was a terrible idea to let him get involved.

I drowned when I was sixteen. My brother's best friend brought me back, but nothing was the same. I can't remember what happened. My parents dragged me away from my island home in the name of keeping me safe, and thrust me into hell instead. I came back to Hatterwick to rebuild my life and—hopefully—my memory. Now a new inheritance threatens to expose those long buried secrets, and someone will stop at nothing to ensure I never remember what really happened that fateful night.

The last person I expect—or want—to take shelter with as a hurricane bears down on Hatterwick Island is Daniel LaRue—the man who broke my heart barely three months ago. I’m not looking for distractions. The clinic’s been targeted by thieves. The island’s locked down tight against the storm. And Daniel—hot Coast Guardsman, bad decision, walking heartbreak—is the last thing I need complicating my life again.

Ford Donoghue broke my heart a decade ago. And no matter how hard I tried, I was never really over it. I perfected the art of ignoring him whenever he came home to Hatterwick Island—cold shoulders, polite smiles, and walls a mile high. It worked. Until the day his thirteen-year-old daughter walked into my bar, scared and looking for a father she’s never met. One phone call later, Ford’s back in Hatterwick. And so are all the feelings I swore I’d buried. But this isn’t about us. At least, it wasn’t supposed to be. When a body washes up on the beach, the whole island goes on edge.

I built my life on my belief in justice. Until the day the system proved me wrong. Now I’m back on Hatterwick Island with nothing left—no career, no credibility, and no illusions about the law I once trusted. The only thing heavier than the guilt I carry is knowing I once turned my back on a man who didn’t deserve it. Rios Carrera. Twelve years ago, my cousin disappeared, and he was the last one to see her alive. I believed the whispers that he was responsible. I made him the villain of the story —and he has every reason to hate me for it.