She buried her courage seven years ago. He's been waiting for her to find it. Anna Hartwell is done being underestimated. As the youngest of six siblings in Serenity Crossing, Tennessee, she's spent her whole life as "baby Hartwell"-capable but overlooked, smart but careful, always playing it safe. When she's tasked with coordinating the town's 75th Anniversary Harvest Festival, it's finally her chance to prove she's more than everyone assumes. But the confident girl who once climbed trees and chased adventure disappeared years ago, buried beneath the wreckage of a relationship that taught her one devastating lesson: her judgment can't be trusted. Cameron Mitchell has been secretly in love with Anna Hartwell for years. The former Marine turned firefighter knows what courage looks like-and he sees it in her, even when she can't see it herself.

But Cameron carries his own scars: the memory of a colleague he couldn't save and the helplessness of standing still while someone he cared about slipped away. His instinct is to push forward, to act, to make things happen. Patience has never felt like strength. Working together on the festival throws them into late nights, shared problems, and moments that feel dangerously close to something more. Anna feels seen by Cameron in ways that terrify her-because the last time a man made her feel special, she lost herself completely. And when her past arrives in Serenity Crossing demanding to be faced, Anna must decide: Will she keep hiding behind the walls she's built, or will she finally choose to be brave? As the festival deadline looms and a job offer threatens to take Cameron away, both must confront the lies they've believed about themselves. Sometimes the bravest thing isn't rushing in-it's learning to stay. And sometimes love means trusting that you're worth waiting for.

TROPES ¿ Patient Hero ¿ Wounded Heroine ¿ Forced Proximity (Festival Planning) ¿ Small-Town Romance ¿ Close-Knit Family ¿ Confronting the Past.