When Maya Rodriguez returns to Crescent Bay to settle her grandmother's estate, she's running from more than her past. She's escaping a scandal that destroyed her career, a betrayal that shattered her heart, and a life in Chicago she barely recognises anymore. The last thing she expects is to find the charming coastal town she remembers threatened by development, or to come face-to-face with Ethan Cross, the boy who left her behind twelve years ago without explanation.
Maya thought she'd come home to sell her grandmother's cottage and disappear again. Instead, she discovers her beloved abuela spent her final months fighting to save the historic boardwalk from demolition, including the century-old carousel that holds three generations of family memories. The developer pushing the project? Ethan's firm. The man leading the charge? Ethan himself.
Thrust together on opposite sides of a battle that's tearing the community apart, Maya and Ethan can't avoid each other or the feelings that never truly died. Long nights working on competing proposals turn into stolen conversations where the past bleeds into the present. Ethan's walls begin to crack, revealing the painful truth about why he left and the impossible choice that's haunted him ever since.
As the town council vote approaches, Maya must decide if she's strong enough to fight for Crescent Bay's future and brave enough to risk her heart on a man who's already broken it once. Their chemistry is undeniable, burning hot enough to ignite every forbidden touch and whispered confession. But chemistry alone won't save the boardwalk or heal two people who've spent years running from pain.
SAMPLE - CHAPTER 1
The rearview mirror showed Chicago disappearing behind her, but Maya Rodriguez couldn't shake the feeling that the city's ghosts had hitched a ride. She gripped the steering wheel tighter, forcing her attention back to the coastal highway that ribboned along the Pacific.
Three years. That's how long it had been since she'd last made this drive to Crescent Bay, and even then it had been a rushed forty-eight-hour visit squeezed between project deadlines. Her grandmother had made tea, they'd talked about nothing important, and Maya had promised to come back soon. She'd run out of time for soon.
The funeral had been five days ago. Maya had sat in a Chicago law office, numb and disconnected, while an attorney explained that her grandmother had left her the beach cottage, some savings, and a request that Maya "take care of what matters." Her grandmother's best friend Rosa had called with an edge in her voice: "You need to come home, mija. There are things your abuela was fighting that can't wait."
So here she was, running again. The familiar green sign for Crescent Bay appeared, and something in Maya's chest loosened fractionally. Whatever waited for her here, at least it wasn't the carefully averted eyes of colleagues or the pitying looks from former friends who'd chosen Trevor's side.
Instead of heading to the cottage, Maya found herself turning toward the boardwalk. The carousel had been Abuela's favourite place, the spot where she'd met Maya's grandfather, where she'd brought Maya as a child to ride the painted horses while eating cotton candy that made their fingers sticky and sweet. The public parking lot was nearly empty. Maya pulled into a spot and sat for a moment, breathing in the salt air through her open window. Seagulls cried overhead, and she could hear the distant crash of waves against the shore.
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