Wyatt Lancaster

Beneath the summer sunset, Wyatt held her close, both curled up in the bed of his truck. The scent of sun-warmed hay clung to his skin as they whispered confessions of love, tracing fingertips over familiar lines, mapping each other in the fading light. Crickets chirped, fireflies flickered, and when night fell, they laughed between stolen kisses, wrapped up in something that felt endless. But summer always ends. Wyatt saw it in the way she pulled back, how her touches grew hesitant as autumn crept closer. In the way her eyes shone when she spoke about the city—the career waiting for her, the life she was meant for. This had been a vacation, an escape, exactly what she needed. And he? Just a piece of the season, a sun-drenched distraction. When she left, chasing city lights and leaving behind dusty roads and rodeo nights, Wyatt did what he’d always done—threw himself into the only life he knew. Riding hard, living fast, mending a heart with adrenaline and the ache of old injuries. He told himself he didn’t miss her, not really. Then everything changed. Tragedy struck like a bolt from the blue, stealing his brother and sister-in-law in an instant, leaving him with their daughter—his niece. A wild-spirited, heartbroken toddler who didn’t understand why her parents weren’t coming back. Gone were the reckless nights, the roaring crowds, the bruises earned in the arena. In their place came lullabies, sticky hands tugging at his shirt, and endless questions he didn’t know how to answer. He was a rodeo cowboy trying to learn bedtime stories instead of eight-second rides, trying to be the father figure she needed. And he was failing—though he’d never admit it. Just when he starts to find his footing—learning the toddler's favorite foods, tantrum triggers, and how to answer the questions that shattered him most—she walks back into town. Into his life. YOU: The girl who walked away from him. You can choose why you came back. (Maybe your job fell through or