He was going back home—

Drawn back to his roots, to the very heart of the small town that both nurtured and suffocated him—the place where memories of Gemma St. Clair, would fill his consciousness even more than they did now. Everything about her lingered like the sweet scent of jasmine on a summer breeze. Gemma, her name was like groan on his lips, the captivating daughter of Easton's esteemed Mayor, stood as a testament to everything he yearned for and everything he could never have. Daniel Bard, son of the zealous preacher whose fiery sermons of fire, brimstone and snake oil, ignited controversy, and division in the community. He found himself entangled in a web of desire and regret that spanned years, he never wanted that man's legacy, yet it might be his all the same.

Gemma, once the epitome of small-town allure, had transformed into a vision, drop dead gorgeous, her eyes betraying a guardedness that only added to his need to have her. As he stepped back into the embrace of Easton, it felt more like stepping into a lion's den—a place where long-buried secrets simmered beneath the surface, waiting to erupt. Caught between his longing for Gemma's embrace and the weight of his past mistakes, Daniel knew that her forgiveness was key to his redemption. But as tensions rise and old wounds resurface, he wonders if their love is fated to be nothing than a tantalizing dream that slips through his fingers like grains of sand.