Nicholas Ackerman was the boy who made her believe in forever-charming, bold, and impossible to ignore. But just when things started to feel real, he shattered it all. Now he's expecting a baby with someone else, even if his heart still lingers where he left it-with Vanessa.
Then there was Colby Tucker. Brooding, soft-spoken, and unexpectedly tender. Their connection ran deep, but when emotions got too real, he pulled away, leaving her with a trail of almosts and unanswered questions.
Vanessa swore she was done with love. Done chasing boys who didn't know how to stay.
Then came Jace Kensington-wealthy, sharp-tongued, and impossible to outwit. What started as a game of clever insults and heated competition turned into something neither of them expected. Jace, haunted by the tragic loss of his first love in a freak accident, had been sleepwalking through life-until Vanessa. With her, he feels something again. And she, for the first time in a long time, feels seen.
Now, with summer stretching ahead and college on the horizon, Vanessa is choosing herself. But love isn't finished with her yet.
Because Nick is back-still magnetic, still full of what-ifs. Colby has returned too-quieter, but more certain. And Jace? He's the surprise twist in her story-the one she never saw coming, but might be the most real of all.
After embracing the rush of life beyond college graduation, gently avoiding the summers that whispered of what could've been.
Iris Madden returns to Oak Island, where the salt air still carries echoes of warmth, belonging, and the boy who once unraveled her heart-Ethan Cohen.
She tells herself it's just one last summer before she leaves for Spain, a brief pause to pack up the past by healing and prepare for what's next.
But Oak Island has a way of pulling you under. It always has for Iris.
When Iris runs into Paxton Cohen-her best friend's little brother, now grown and impossibly familiar-she's caught off guard by the quiet confidence in his smile and the way he's changed into a young man and not the same 13 year old kid she left behind 6 years ago. As old haunts stir up buried grief and long-lost memories, Iris finds herself tangled in the bittersweet tension of what was and what could be.
With the tide rising and time slipping, Iris must decide: is this summer just a farewell to the Cohens and Oak Island, or the beginning of something she never saw coming?
[[WORK IN PROGRESS...NEW PARTS UPLOADED REGULARLY]]
"That house, those boys, the rhythm of our shared seasons...
they were the one constant I could count on.
The one place where life felt simple, safe, and real.
Oak Island wasn't just a destination.
It was tradition.
It was ours."