Midnight Curfew

This standalone contemporary romance centers on the Jaeger family of Sanoa Bay, Florida, a tight-knit, working-class community locked in a generations-long struggle with the wealthy residents of neighboring St. Carmen over land, power, and survival. The novel alternates between the present-day perspectives of Dallas Jaeger and Callum Ames, with interspersed flashbacks to a secret affair five years earlier that left both men scarred.

Dallas Jaeger, the 25-year-old middle brother among six siblings, works as a philosophy teacher at Marymount Academy, the elite private school in St. Carmen. His position is part of a deliberate family strategy: after their oldest brother, Macon, fell in love with Krisjen Conroy four years earlier, the Jaegers placed themselves in key roles across St. Carmen to protect their land. Their brother Army became a police officer, Krisjen joined the city council, Trace opened a bar, and Dallas took the teaching post. The family funds its community through a hidden cache of centuries-old coins and artifacts stored in the family tomb at the Sanoa Bay cemetery.

Callum Ames, 22, is the son of Garrett Ames, a powerful real estate developer who has long sought to seize Sanoa Bay. Callum returns after four years at the University of Pennsylvania, taking his place in the Ministry, an all-male alumni organization that controls Marymount's decisions. Five years earlier, when Dallas was 20 and Callum 17, the two began a secret sexual relationship. Their affair deepened when Dallas confided a secret he had never shared: He was home alone the day his mother hanged herself and chose not to intervene. After Garrett caught them together and attacked Callum, Dallas panicked at his growing feelings and cut off all contact. Devastated, Callum retaliated by targeting Dallas's sister, Liv. He and his friend Milo Price abducted her and attempted to coerce her into a sexual situation at Fox Hill Country Club. Liv fought back and escaped. Her brothers beat Callum, and Clay Collins, whom Garrett expects Callum to eventually marry, slashed Milo's face with a knife. Callum left a voicemail confessing his love for Dallas, who never listened to it.

Now back in St. Carmen, Callum orchestrates a citywide midnight curfew, ostensibly for storm safety but designed to cripple the Jaegers' smuggling operation. The family transports black-market liquor by truck at night to supply Trace's bar, and the curfew traps them. On the first night, Dallas acts as a decoy, drawing police while his brothers deliver the shipment. He then confronts Callum at the school pool, where their old dynamic reasserts itself: sexual provocation layered over genuine hostility.

A parallel storyline involves Callum's stepsister, Sophia Beaumont, who prefers to go by Anna-Katherine. She is 20 and experiences PTSD-induced age regression after being sexually abused by Garrett. She dresses and behaves as a child, finding safety as a volunteer assistant in Dallas's classroom. Callum is fiercely protective of her, and Dallas grows genuinely fond of her as well.

At Liv's suggestion, Dallas proposes entering the Wolfe Room, an exclusive sex club beneath Fox Hill Country Club, alongside Callum. The plan is ostensibly to help Callum perform with women for his father's approval but really to gather leverage against St. Carmen's elite. Jerome Watson, a Ministry member, introduces Callum to Micah Hearst, an older hotel owner, as a potential romantic interest, provoking Dallas's jealousy. At midnight, Dallas flees, and his brothers escort him across the golf course while Callum's group gives chase. Meanwhile, Macon successfully moves the liquor while St. Carmen is distracted.

Unable to return home past curfew, Dallas breaks into Callum's house, where he witnesses Callum tenderly calming Anna-Katherine after a PTSD episode by singing "Once Upon a December." Moved by this vulnerability, Dallas stays. They fight violently in the bedroom before the aggression transforms into passionate sex. Afterward, they agree that the curfew stays and nothing changes between their families.

Over the following weeks, they continue sleeping together while maintaining their adversarial positions. When Callum accepts a dinner date with Micah aboard his family's yacht, Dallas and his siblings sabotage the evening, and Dallas declares that no other man may touch Callum. When Milo attempts to undress Anna-Katherine at Marymount under the pretense of disciplining her, Dallas rescues her and brings her to the Jaeger home. Callum is furious but acknowledges Dallas's role in protecting her, deepening their bond.

Callum, however, has been playing a longer game. Visiting the Sanoa Bay cemetery, he deduces that the Jaeger family tomb contains their hidden treasure. He arranges a second Wolfe Room visit, bringing Aracely Diaz, a trusted Jaeger associate, as a prop for Callum's performance. While Dallas is occupied inside, Callum's hired crew, assisted by police, empties the tomb of approximately $260 million in artifacts. Callum announces the curfew can end: He now possesses everything he needs to claim the Bay through eminent domain, a legal process by which the government can force the sale of private land for public use.

The Jaeger family reels. Army blames Dallas for being manipulated, and Dallas spirals into drinking and self-loathing. Yet he cannot stay away from Callum: He goes to the Ames house to watch over Anna-Katherine, and when Callum returns, they sleep together again. Callum places a silver chain necklace around Dallas's neck, declaring that Dallas belongs to him. During a tropical storm, Dallas takes an ax to the wooden rafter from which his mother hanged herself, and his family restrains him. He confesses that he was present during her death and did nothing. Rather than condemning him, Macon explains their mother chose to be with Dallas that day because he was strong enough to survive it. When Army demands Dallas name what he truly wants, Dallas breaks down and admits he loves Callum. Macon rallies the family to bring Callum home and recover the treasure.

The Jaegers find Callum and Anna-Katherine on the road, their car rammed by Milo and two accomplices. Dallas and his siblings fight off the attackers, and Callum reveals the treasure is hidden in a bread truck inside Two Locks, an old barn off a rural road. Together they race it back to Sanoa Bay. Dallas and Callum spend the night together, exchanging declarations of love. Dallas finally listens to Callum's five-year-old voicemail, hearing Callum's younger self crying and confessing his love.

Their reconciliation is interrupted when Garrett tracks Anna-Katherine to Marymount via a GPS signal. He corners her with a firearm, threatening to return her to the Wolfe Room unless Callum surrenders the treasure. Dallas fights Garrett, and Anna-Katherine shoves her stepfather over a second-floor railing to protect Dallas. Garrett survives with serious injuries and is arrested after security footage captures him assaulting Officer Grady during the confrontation. Milo Price is later found stabbed to death in a canal; the killer is never identified.

Two months later, Garrett awaits prosecution. Callum holds proxy over his father's businesses and develops plans to expand Marymount into a boarding school to protect students from unsafe home environments. Dallas and Callum live together in the Ames house with Anna-Katherine, whose PTSD episodes have ceased. The Jaeger family thrives: Krisjen is pregnant, Liv's film secures distribution, and the treasure is safe. Macon instructs Dallas to marry Callum and take the Ames name, as having an Ames in the family serves their long-term interests. By Christmas, Dallas and Callum prepare for a trip to Vail with Anna-Katherine, where Dallas plans to propose. They discuss wanting children and filling their home with memories, both recognizing that they were always meant to find their way back to each other.