Sudden Summer

Beau Ford

The Silver Ridge Ranch is not just my family's legacy, it's everything to me. Being a cowboy is as much a part of my DNA as being a Ford is, and boy, do I love what I do. The long hours, the time spent out with the herd on horseback, watching the sun set over our land day in and day out. I'm fine with the fact that this lifestyle doesn't leave much time for anything else.

Except for my best friend, Birdie Calloway. I'll always have time for her. She is strong and sweet, spending most of her time bringing new life into the world as the best midwife in Clarence County. The two of us have been inseparable since kindergarten, and I'm convinced I've loved her just as long. Not that anything has ever happened between us-we've never crossed that line-but trust me when I say holding her as she sleeps in my bed most nights is torture. I'm her safe place and I won't ever do something that could jeopardize that.

That is, until the night I have my arms wrapped around her and someone starts knocking on my door. Suddenly I'm standing in front of a woman holding a baby who has eyes so blue they match my own. Oh, God. They match my own.

I messed up. I messed up so badly. Holding my daughter in my arms, I can't regret the one-night stand I had. She's an unexpected blessing whose whole life is now completely dependent on me. But seeing the pain in my best friend's eyes just might be my undoing.

It's wrong, and selfish, but I ask Birdie to stay with us at the ranch. To help me step into fatherhood. And I see it instantly. The way she looks at my daughter is the same way she looks at me. With hope, and so much unconditional love. I'm starting to think it might just be possible to change everything between us and come out stronger on the other side...

But when Birdie is hurt one day after work, I vow that nothing will stop me from keeping her safe. It becomes clear that someone has painted a target on her back, and after thirty years of friendship, I'm willing to put everything on the line-including my own life-for the woman who has always held my heart in her hands.