Gunnar Knox is on his second tour in Iraq when he gets an unexpected lifeline in the form of letters from a stranger, Pastor Trace Atwell. After six months of correspondence, the letters from the pastor stop coming. The last letter contains a family picture of the pastor, his wife and their son and an invitation to come and visit them at their farm when Gunnar’s tour is up. Eighteen months later, he’s back in the States, with a wish to meet the happy family in the picture. However, things aren’t as he had anticipated when he arrives at the Atwell farm. Pastor Trace has passed away… Grace Atwell is a widow raising her son alone, starting a new business, and things are falling down around her ears. When the aloof U.S. Marine shows up on her doorstep, she assumes he is there for the advertised handyman position and hires him on the spot. Once he starts helping around the house, going above and beyond, she realizes how much she has missed having a man around the farm—and the feeling of being wanted. No man has ever made her feel this special, this desirable. Caught off guard by the unexpected emotion he feels for Grace and her son, Gunnar keeps the letters and picture a secret. He believes an unseen force had brought him to Buttermilk Valley, Georgia to help Grace and Daxton, and to protect them. He owed the pastor. After all, his encouraging words had been Gunnar’s support when he thought he’d never make it out of the Middle East alive. As Grace and Gunnar grow closer, the secret becomes heavier and a dangerous presence awaits an opportunity to tear their passionate love affair apart. Will love be enough? Will Grace accept Gunnar’s baggage? Did fate bring them together?