The Coming Home

I came to Holly Well Springs because I didn’t feel safe anywhere else.

An ex who won’t let go has turned my life into something small and cautious, and my parents are convinced this Christmas-all-year town is the one place he’ll never find me. I plan to lie low, keep my head down, and leave as soon as I can.

That plan unravels the moment the town’s police chief starts showing up everywhere I turn.

Evan is calm, watchful, and impossible to ignore. He doesn’t treat me like a problem to solve or a woman who needs fixing—just someone worth protecting. The more time we spend together, the more I realize how long it’s been since I felt truly seen… or steady.

As Holly Well Springs prepares for its most magical celebration of the year, the town pulls me in with its lights, laughter, and quiet belief in happy endings. But the past I ran from isn’t finished with me, and when danger closes in, I have to decide who I am when fear no longer gets the final say.

I can go back to the life I was surviving.

Or I can stay, trust my heart, and choose the man—and the place—that feels like peace.

Because sometimes, coming home isn’t about where you’re from.

It’s about where you finally belong.