Twelve years ago, Ava Carlisle left Magnolia Grove in search of everything the quiet Southern town couldn’t offer—success, independence, and a life free of the fears she refused to face. Now a high-powered attorney, she returns only out of necessity, to care for the aunt who raised her… and to keep her distance from the man she left behind without a word.

Luke Turner never forgot Ava. Not the girl who once dreamed beside him on warm summer nights. Not the woman who vanished and took something of him with her. Now she’s back—and so are the memories. And the hurt. And the heat.

Thrown together by a town renovation project and the whispers of old wounds, Ava and Luke must confront what was left unsaid. The tension simmers. The attraction never died. But second chances aren’t handed out—they’re built from the ground up. One truth. One risk. One choice at a time.

Is Ava ready to stop running and finally face the life—and the love—she once walked away from?

Or will history repeat itself… before the foundation is even set?