Ainsley came into my life in a flurry of vibrant colors, lighting my world up when all seemed lost. It wasn’t our quiet nights by the creek or stolen kisses surrounded by a sea of cotton that saved me. It was her. She was my comfort when life threw one ugly tragedy after another at me. Until she dealt me the greatest blow. Now, abandonment, betrayal, and death darken every corner of my life. Anger and hurt burn bright where love and trust once lived. But, now, she’s back. Sure, she’s changed, but I see through it—straight to her heart.

Five seconds. A deafening blast. Pain. Silence. That was all it took for an IED to end my life as I knew it. The man I was shattered in a hard wave of sound and debris that rained down on me like death itself. And six months later, after waking up to an inescapable hell, I found myself wishing that death had found me. Until her. Miranda Jacobs swept into my life like a cool breeze on a smoldering day. With her smart mouth and her ridiculous jokes, she brought me back to life one minute at a time. Turned out time wasn’t on our side. Five seconds. Screams. Twisted metal. Silence. And I’d lost it all again—only this time, I had no one to blame but myself.

The heart is exquisite. You’ll never hear anyone wax poetic over an organ quite like they do the heart. When you’re lost in the world? Follow your heart. When your love for someone is unwavering, unparalleled and unprecedented? You give them your heart. As a lead pediatric cardiac surgeon, I knew better than anyone that the heart is equally as powerful as it is delicate. The heart giveth just as easily as it taketh away. And until the day Kelly Potter darkened my doorway that was all just part of the job. She rolled in like a slow evening storm, fierce and beautiful, fighting for the life of her unborn child. It should have been business as usual. I was a doctor. Her child the patient. But Kelly was more. She was the one who got away. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. It didn’t matter what the rules were. For once, I was listening to my heart.

I lost a huge piece of myself the day my husband was killed in action. In the months that followed, I felt like my grief would swallow me whole. My only solace was my daughter, whose bright light guided me through the darkest of times. I never wanted to meet someone else. I vowed to never fall in love again, especially with a marine. It was supposed to be no strings attached and for a while it was. But Weston Reeves’s grumpy soul called to my tortured one. Maybe it was the midnight rides on his bike or the way that only I could make him smile. He lit me up, set my body afire, and for the first time in five years made me feel alive. Our relationship was probably the worst gamble I’d ever taken. But my stupid, wild heart needed him, even if our love was destined to burn me to ashes.