Stand

TW: Spousal abuse, attempted child kidnapping, past bullying, gaslighting
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"I know who you were then," he said into her hair. "And I know who you are now. And I like you just fine."
Sam Fielding has never needed anyone, and she doesn't plan on starting now-not her annoying siblings, and certainly not the man she meets years after ignoring him and his kind all through high school.
Ty Cavanaugh just wants his kids to feel safe and to have some kind of relationship with their unpredictable and impulsive mother. But every time she comes back into their life, she hurts them, and Ty is getting to the end of his patience. He certainly doesn't need the mean girl from high school coming into his life and upending all his promises not to think about his own needs.
But when Ty's ex-wife tries to kidnap the kids and then attacks him at a school event, it's Sam who protects his family. It's Sam who steps up and takes them on her journey back to New Mexico to get away from Julia. Could it be Sam who, despite her past and her free-spirit attitude, is the perfect woman for Ty and his children? And can Ty teach Sam that there are men who can be trusted?