They were each other’s first love, worst heartbreak, and greatest what if … until two orphaned children and one tiny heartbeat changed everything. Leo I came home from Afghanistan with a limp, a head full of ghosts, and no plan for what came next. Eternity Springs was the last place I wanted to return to. A different ghost haunts my hometown: the one of the woman who broke my heart before I deployed. Ella Langley was meant to be my forever. My calm in every storm. Now she’s everywhere I turn: softer, sadder, but still the only one who claims my heart. She chose this town over me, and I swore I’d never give her the chance to hurt me again. My heart may still recognize her as home, but I’m not the man she used to love. Ella Eight years have passed since I let the love of my life walk away because I was afraid to lose him to war. I convinced myself it was the right choice, the only choice. Only my heart still calls me a liar. I’m not the same girl I was when he left. Guardian for my orphaned niece and nephew, struggling with running my bookstore. I don’t need to see Leo Santo everywhere. He’s quieter now. Harder. He wears scars I can’t see, but I feel them whenever he’s around. Once upon a time, he smiled at me like I hung the moon. Now he holds the world at arm’s length. Even me. I may be able to slip past most of the walls he’s built up, but does that mean we can find our way back to each other? And when one night turns into a lifetime of consequences, will we be able to figure out our happily ever after, or will I lose everything all over again?