His pa named him Cain because his birth was a curse… but what happens when he’s the only one who can save the town?

Anna Mae Harding never thought getting married would be so hard. It’s not that she hasn’t had any offers. On the contrary, it seems like someone is always asking her to be his wife. The trouble is, she up and fell in love with the wrong man years ago, and no matter how much she tries to forget him, no one else she’s met has measured up.

Texas Ranger Cain Whitelaw is happy to leave the town where he grew up behind him forever. Being around his childhood friends stirs up too many old feelings—feelings that are best left buried beneath the cracked desert dirt. The hardest part is seeing Anna Mae Harding. Each time he looks at her, he gets a hankering to sweep her off her feet and carry her to the church for a surprise wedding. But he had too rough of a childhood—and has seen too many things as a Ranger—to ever become a family man. That’s why he’s better off shaking the dust of Twin Rivers from his worn boots and never returning.

When one of Cain’s enemies sets his sights on Twin Rivers and threatens both Anna Mae and his friends, Cain finds himself not only returning home, but facing a choice between his duty to the Rangers and the closest thing he has to a family. And he’s not quite sure who will survive the outcome…