44 parts Complete MatureAfter losing her job and her girlfriend, it's time for Annie Abraham to admit defeat and move back in with her parents. She has hardly been back to her tiny Montana hometown since the unforgettable summer before her senior year of college, when she agreed to babysit for Laurel Jacobs. Annie didn't expect to fall in love back then, and she never thought that after all this time she'd still be in love with the woman she walked away from when she was twenty-one.
Laurel Jacobs has never gotten over Annie Abraham. It's been almost a decade since their fling and she can't move on. She has her kids to think about - at least, she tells herself that's why she hasn't been on a single date since Annie left. Her life was different back then: when they met, she was in the middle of a divorce with two young kids and no idea how the future looked. Now she owns a bookstore, her kids are growing up, and she's too busy for romance.
Annie thought she would have more time to settle back into life in Deer Pines before being confronted by the love of her life, but she's not that lucky. After all this time, she's back for good and Laurel is the first person she sees, when she has just spent seventeen hours on a train and she's desperately in need of caffeine. It's the first time they've seen each other in eight years and it isn't long before all those old feelings come rushing back to the surface. They weren't buried as deep as they thought they were.
A lot has changed since they last saw each other, more than either of them realize, but life hands out second chances for a reason. The first time they fell in love, the timing was wrong. Now's their chance to make it right.
© Elle Carrigan 2023
