CHAPTER 1

THE ARRIVAL

The sun was beginning to set, casting a golden glow over the sleepy coastal town of Westbrook. Nestled between rugged cliffs and the endless blue of the Atlantic, the town was small, unremarkable to most, but to Emma Caldwell, it was everything. It was where her heart had always longed to return.

She stood at the edge of the cliff, the breeze carrying the faint scent of salt and the crashing of waves below. Emma hadn't been here in ten years, not since she left after high school with her dreams packed in a suitcase and a one-way ticket to the city. But life had a way of bringing people back to where they started, especially when everything in her life had fallen apart.

Her career as a journalist, once so full of promise, had crumbled after a scandal she hadn't seen coming. She had trusted the wrong person, relied on the wrong sources, and now… well, now she was standing on the precipice of her past, trying to figure out where to go from here.

Westbrook was unchanged. The little cottages along the main street, the lighthouse that guided ships to safety, even the boardwalk café where she'd had her first summer job still looked the same. But Emma was different, and she wondered if anyone would remember her — especially him.

A pang of regret twisted in her chest as she thought of Luke Weston, the boy who had once meant everything to her. They'd been inseparable that summer after high school. He was her first love, the one who knew all her secrets and dreams, the one she left behind without a word. It had been too painful to explain why she couldn't stay, why the pull of the city was stronger than her love for him.

Would he still be here? Would he hate her for the way she left? A part of her didn't want to find out, but another part couldn't help but wonder what had become of him. She hadn't dared search for him online. She wanted to remember him as he was — with that boyish smile and eyes as blue as the sea.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she turned back toward the town. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she knew she couldn't avoid her past forever. The soft sound of footsteps on the gravel path behind her made her freeze.

"Emma?"

That voice. Deep, familiar, and tinged with disbelief. Her breath caught in her throat as she slowly turned around.

It was Luke.