Challenged By the Rugged Lumberjack

My plan was to hide from my abusive ex, not fall for a grumpy lumberjack with trust issues.

The goal was simple: escape to a remote cabin in Cedar Falls and start fresh where Jordan can’t find us. What I didn’t count on was the electricity being out or my rugged lumberjack neighbor with his dark eyes and reluctant kindness.

Josh Carter doesn’t like people—that much is clear from the town gossip—but when he finds me struggling with a broken generator and a cold cabin, something changes in his guarded expression.

His hands are calloused from hard work, his words few but meaningful, and the way he looks at my son Mason melts something frozen inside me. I tell myself not to get attached—I’ve trusted the wrong man before. But as Josh chops firewood for us in the dawn light, I realize I’m already falling for this solitary mountain man with secrets of his own.

Can I risk opening my heart again when I have two children to protect—especially to a man who’s spent years building walls to keep everyone out?