With a young son who cries more than he smiles, a house in a frontier town plagued by violence, a job that all but guarantees heartache, and a death certificate for his first wife, Sheriff Aaron Hotchner cannot imagine anyone wanting to marry him. But at the urging of his few friends and family, he places an advertisement in a national paper seeking a woman of fortitude who can love his boy and tolerate his temperament. Victoria Beauregard cannot imagine ever wanting to marry someone. She stopped believing in romance and happy endings years ago, too busy trying to survive on her own and outrun her past. But when an advertisement in the paper catches her eye, she cannot stop wondering what life would be like on the frontier with the widower and his son. Updates on alternating Sundays at 5 pm EST

A series of short stories detailing the lives of Aaron Hotchner and Tor Beauregard during and after the events of "Shadows and Light" by the_grey_lady_weeps. I will be uploading new additions on Saturdays at 8 pm EST. There are at least 8 chapters across 5 stories that I want to share with you!

❝ 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 ❞ ❝ 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦?❞ he raised his eyebrows The story of two people brought together by a choice made in a helpless, desperate moment. Daphne Smith never thought that her impulsive decision would lead to an actual arrangement; she never believed someone could be as desperate as she was. After her divorce from Dan, she could no longer bear to hear the whispers that followed her around. The arrival of Ryan in their neighborhood came at the perfect time. So they set rules and began pretending they were dating, she would help him with his domineering family, and he would be the cure for the plague of gossip that flourished every time she stepped outside her house. She had stopped believing in love a long time ago, thinking that the only unbreakable bond she could have was with her daughter. But there he was, making their act much more difficult with his smile and warm gaze. Daphne hadn't asked for him to penetrate her armor, and she didn't know if she had the power to run away or the ability to give in. Ryan would be the death of her.

❝𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 '𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦' 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴?❞ ❝𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦! 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵❞ ❝𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩...❞ The story of two people who had an instant connection when they first met in high school. Noah and Claire became inseparable best friends within their close circle; love was never part of the equation of course. Especially since they felt so different from each other-Noah with his faith and Claire with her skepticism about it. Their relationship was innocent, filled with playful teasing and amusing bickering. After graduating, they went their separate ways and lost touch-at least until Noah showed up at her hair salon door. He was just as surprised to see her standing there. Once again, their journey began, but this time it wouldn't end where it stopped last time. Their friendship would turn into something more, facing tests that would bring new changes into their lives-challenges that would shake the foundations on which their love was built.

❝ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳 ❞ ❝ 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙡? ❞ The story of two people who never wished for their paths to merge the way they did, but life had already shown Dan and Kristen that it was never on their side. Hate was a powerful word, a deep, maddening emotion; yet it still fell short of capturing their feelings for each other. But as they continued to walk the same trail, that emotion gradually transformed-from pure loathing to indifference and eventually to something neither of them believed they could feel again. Was it friendship? Innocent fondness? Trust? 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚? They didn't know the definition themselves.