I'm not good; I know this. I'm the reason my sister-in-law is a widow, and my nephew has no father. This is why Abigail and I can't be together.

This is why I must stay away.

Abigail

It's time to move on. Bash is in New York to reclaim his life as the son to a multi-billionaire, and I'm in Harmony, trying to forget him. That's why I agree to make things work with Anders. Sure, he hasn't been the best boyfriend, but he's here, and he says he'll change…so I give him another chance.

After all, if Bash wanted me, he wouldn't have left, right?

I'm doing my best at drowning my sorrows in the town's gossip, until Anders asks me if I'll go to New York with him to be there for Bash. His father just died, and he's all alone. I start to say no until Dad realizes that Bash is the man that saved Sabrina. Now, he's forcing me to go so I can thank him in person.

I thought I could handle seeing Bash again, until I come face to face with his familiar blue eyes and dark hair. That's when all the walls around my heart come crumbling down and I'm certain that no matter how this ends, I will never ever be the same.

Claire

I'm back in my hometown for one reason, and one reason only: to help out at the Apple Blossom B&B after my mom's injury. Thankfully, she's recovering at Harmony Medical Center which leaves Rose and I in charge.

Rose is my second mother who treats me like her daughter unlike my actual mother who treats me like a stranger. Rose makes this place palatable and with the overstuffed baggage I carry, I need her familiar hugs and delicious chicken and dumpling soup.

I'm walking around with confidence as thin as ice, but I'm making it work until I run into Jax. The boy I loved as a teen but whom my mother never approved of. I broke his heart the last night of senior year, before I ran away for good.

I figured he'd moved on, but apparently not. He now runs the Harmony Pub and even though I'm trying to avoid him, he shows up everywhere I am.

The feelings for him that I thought were buried for good…apparently have nine lives.

The problem is, I know how this story ends. With broken hearts and broken families.

And I'm not ready to do that again.

This is the third book in the Sweat Tea & Southern Gentleman Series.

*Closed Door Romance