Taking a leave of absence was unheard of in Emerson Taylor’s financial world. She’d never even taken a vacation. Her life comes to a screeching halt when she gets a call that her mother is sick, and she must return to her hometown in south Alabama. With every intention of going back to NYC once she gets her mother settled, Emerson fights the need to stay connected to work while the sights, sounds and slower pace of the south draws her in. Being home has given her a chance to decompress—lowering her blood pressure, easing tension in her neck and shoulders, and allowing a thread of joy to take root in her soul.

Nick Valentino thought he’d never see his high school love again. Emerson hadn’t even known he’d existed back then but the infatuation he’d felt for her hadn’t completely disappeared in the twelve years she’d been gone. When he learns that she’s home again, he’s determined to make a connection with her, and as the owner of an outdoor store on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay he promises to show her the beauty of her surroundings. Hoping that maybe this time she’d want to stay.

Emerson falls for Nick’s warm, whiskey-colored eyes and his joy over creating a Gotta-Do action-item list for her, but her timeline for returning to her normal life is fast approaching. Can she walk away from the warmth and happiness she feels with him to return to the grind of the financial world? Or will she realize that the slow-paced, southern way surrounded by the bay and creeks, alligators and gulls, and lapping shores is the life she now needs?