They didn't break up to leave - they broke up to survive.
For six years, Keira and Lance shared everything: sweat, soil, debts, and dreams. Together, they built Rancho V from nothing - until one fight shattered the bond they thought was unbreakable.
But the ranch is under both their names. The workers depend on them. The herd can't run itself.
So neither of them left.
They just moved into separate rooms, pretending their love ended cleanly while their lives stayed hopelessly tangled.
Now, with drought season closing in and a major investor threatening to pull out, Keira and Lance are forced to live and work side by side once more. The fences are breaking, the storms are rising - and the land is demanding more from them than they're ready to give.
But in the quiet rhythm of farm life, as days turn to nights and distance softens into longing, they begin to realize that love - like the land - only survives when it's cared for, even after it's been abandoned.
[ARDENT SERIES #1]
This a dangerous kind of love.
A love that is like a fire that can't be ceased and kept on spreading around your heart until you finally burnt down into powders of ash.