Shattered Promise

Mason Porter: Avalon Falls’ hottest single dad, my brother’s best friend, and the only man who’s ever broken my heart.

Oh, and now he’s my neighbor.

I came back to town without telling anyone—just me, a half-forgotten cabin I inherited, and the quiet hope that a few stolen weeks might be enough to outrun the pressure closing in from all sides.

I didn’t expect to run into Mason and his son by the creek. I didn’t expect him to keep my secret. And I definitely didn’t expect the way it would feel to slip into his life like I’d always belonged there.

Now I’m living next door, falling into a rhythm that feels dangerously close to peace. I watch his son while he works, cook dinner more nights than not, and for the first time in years, I don’t feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

For a little while, it works.

Until it doesn’t.

Because this town has secrets, and I’m not the only one running from something.

Someone is watching me.

And the danger I thought I left behind might be closer than I ever imagined.

He was never mine to begin with.

But loving him now might cost me everything.