Spring Forward by Ember Davis

NOEL
It’s been hard to find my place after returning to Wintervale once I left the military. Not that it was ever a breeze being the middle Burns brother. It was easier connecting with the horses than fighting it out between my brothers, while our sister was the princess.
I’m determined to make my mark on Limitless Ranch and prove to my brothers, and myself, that I’m not as broken as I feel. The horses on our ranch have helped me heal and find solid ground again. If they can do it for me, I know they can do it for others who are searching for a little understanding and peace. Even though I have Fletcher’s blessing, I need some help to get an equine therapy program up and running which leads me to Delaney Reeves.
When she blows into Limitless, she tames our horses and my heart. But she’s not alone. Her younger brother is the only family she has left, and he helped her to find her current path. There’s plenty of room for both of them in my heart, on the ranch, and in our family. Delaney is mine, my peace; I’m going to give her the home she’s been searching for.

DELANEY
I used to have a different dream, but horses have always had my heart. I grew up around horses and couldn’t have imagined a life beyond my family’s ranch. The death of my parents eight years ago changed everything. I became a college student with a four-year-old brother, August, who needed me to step up as a parent and to help him physically heal from the accident that took our parents.
Even though I couldn’t hold on to my family’s ranch, I still found solace amongst the gentle souls of horses. As August physically healed, horses helped me reach the scattered parts of his mind and bring him back to me and out of his trauma. It was a journey which gave me purpose and takes me all over the country, but with so much traveling what we don’t have is a home.
When Noel Burns contacts me to help Limitless Ranch set up an equine therapy program, it should be like another other contract. While I expect Wintervale to be another temporary stop, what I find is a man who needs me the same way I need him. I desperately want to bring the broody man out of the darkness and into the light. Maybe what started as temporary can turn into deep roots and a place to call home for me and August.