The Summer He Stayed

Christopher has never belonged anywhere for long. Free-spirited and restless, the heir to a Chicago fortune drifts from place to place, collecting experiences instead of responsibilities—until a stopover in the small town of Ashville turns into something he never planned.

Nina has built her world around routine and restraint. An immigrant living with her father on the grounds of a grand but long-abandoned estate, she has learned to keep her dreams small and her heart guarded. The mansion's owners are little more than distant names—until one of them arrives for the summer.

As warm days stretch into restless nights, two lives from opposite worlds begin to collide. What starts as a fleeting season becomes something deeper, more dangerous, and impossible to ignore. With class differences, unspoken fears, and the certainty that summer will end, Nina must decide whether a love born in borrowed time is worth the risk.