He must protect her.Even from his own secrets . . . The minute Emerson Bennett arrives in Cider Creek, Texas, asking about her missing mother, she's in someone's lethal sights. And rancher Rory Hayes isn't about to let her face his suddenly hostile hometown alone. An outsider since childhood, he knows the damage secrets can do-especially his own. But will helping this beautiful stranger uncover the truth be enough to keep them alive?Contains mature themes.