Two childhood friends. One long forgotten pact. And the almost kiss that changed everything.

Paige Darlington fought hard for the Twilight Tavern—the neon-lit bar she won in her divorce and is rebuilding from the ground up, one battered countertop and flickering light at a time. She doesn't need rescuing. What she does need is for her ex-husband to stop making trouble, for the bar to stop falling apart, and for Hunter Cassidy to stop being so impossibly reliable and kind when she's already got too much on her plate.

Hunter has been in love with Paige since they were kids—long before she married the wrong man, and every single day since. He's not going to rush anything or push too hard. But he's also not going to pretend he doesn't notice the way she's shouldering everything alone, or that it's killing him to watch. So he shows up. He fixes what's broken. He stays late. He waits.

When Paige's ex threatens everything she's built—her bar, her home, her kids—Hunter makes it very clear he isn't going anywhere. There's also the small matter of the pact they made as kids—single at forty, they'd marry each other. Hunter just turned forty. Paige is right behind him. The problem is, letting him in means trusting someone again. And Paige isn't sure she remembers how.

By Your Side is a heartfelt small-town romance about a woman reclaiming her life, a man who never stopped believing in her, and the quiet, unshakeable love that grows when someone chooses to stay.