He gave up his rock star dreams for a family obligation. She’s hiding a four-year-old secret behind the bar. Together they’ll discover that some songs are written in whispers, not spotlights. HOLT I had it all—world tours with CB Rice, my songs on the radio, everything I ever dreamed of. Except now it’s my turn to fulfill the requirements of a family trust I’d foolishly hoped wouldn’t involve me. If I don’t spend three hundred and sixty-five days straight in my hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado, my siblings and I will lose our inheritance along with our family legacy. What else is the secret trustee forcing me to do? Play gigs in a local bar and donate my earnings to a kid’s charity. It’s not the money I’m worried about, I’m making plenty of that from royalties. Instead, it’s watching my shot at stardom slip away. The only bright spot of playing night after night at the Goat is its owner, Keltie Marquez who serves up mysteries I can’t resist. Like why the rattling cough of her tiny daughter, whose wild dark curls frame her face like her mama’s do, haunts my dreams. KELTIE The last thing I need is Holt Wheaton asking questions about my daughter. He’s supposed to be on tour with CB Rice, not playing at my bar, not looking at my little girl like she holds answers to questions he doesn’t even know to ask. Every time he picks up that guitar, I see pieces of a puzzle that could shatter everything. His family’s past and my daughter’s future are tangled in ways that could break both our hearts—or maybe heal them. If only I could tell him the truth.

_He left her to honor a promise made in blood. She survived his abandonment but carries secrets of her own. Together, they must confront the past that tore them apart and the truths that could destroy their future._ JW Thirty years ago, I left Echo without an explanation, choosing a dying family member’s desperate plea over the woman I loved. I told myself I was protecting her by disappearing, but I shattered both our hearts. Now, my family obligations are complete, and seeing her again at a small-town parade reminds me that some wounds never heal—and some loves never die. I want a second chance, but first, she needs to understand why I vanished and why I can never let her go again. ECHO JW destroyed my world when he disappeared without a trace. One day, we were planning our future; the next, he was gone, leaving me to pick up the pieces of my shattered life. I survived by building a career helping families through crisis, convincing myself I’d moved on. But when he walks back into my life after three decades, every defense I’ve built crumbles. He says he can explain everything, that there were secrets bigger than our love. What he doesn’t know is that I’m hiding secrets of my own—ones that could destroy not just our second chance, but everyone we both love. While each book in the Roaring Fork Ranch series features one couple and a guaranteed HEA, the series may be more enjoyable read in order.