The Widower Lumberjack's New Beginning
(2026)(Book 19 in the Lumberjacks of Evergreen Valley series)
A novel by Emily Crescent
He walked into the pines and left me on his porch. I had just told him I choose him.
Patrick Mills: sawdust on his knuckles, storm-gray eyes that read me like timber, a crescent scar over one eyebrow, and a daughter he protects like a fortress. He builds roofs. He keeps promises. He also believes opening up will wreck everything he’s sworn to hold together.
We met in a shed over a banner and a stack of lumber. We wrestled tarps in a storm. Our hands met on a ladder and didn’t let go. We kissed in a pickup and crashed into each other in his workshop. I bled on his palm. He fed me tomato sauce and guarded me from a town that loves to gossip. Then someone put a question in public and he stepped away into the night instead of saying the thing that would change us.
I can stay and take on Ellie and his grief and the history packed into that house. I can walk away and keep my heart unbroken. Either way, the homestead, the fundraiser, and the fragile family he promised to protect are on the line.
I chose him. He asked me to stay. Can love hold when fear wants to run?
Genre: Romance
Patrick Mills: sawdust on his knuckles, storm-gray eyes that read me like timber, a crescent scar over one eyebrow, and a daughter he protects like a fortress. He builds roofs. He keeps promises. He also believes opening up will wreck everything he’s sworn to hold together.
We met in a shed over a banner and a stack of lumber. We wrestled tarps in a storm. Our hands met on a ladder and didn’t let go. We kissed in a pickup and crashed into each other in his workshop. I bled on his palm. He fed me tomato sauce and guarded me from a town that loves to gossip. Then someone put a question in public and he stepped away into the night instead of saying the thing that would change us.
I can stay and take on Ellie and his grief and the history packed into that house. I can walk away and keep my heart unbroken. Either way, the homestead, the fundraiser, and the fragile family he promised to protect are on the line.
I chose him. He asked me to stay. Can love hold when fear wants to run?
Genre: Romance