A Home by the River

David Troyer has spent years drifting from one town to another, building barns and fences but never anything he could call a life. Rootless and burdened by a tragedy he never speaks of, he accepts a friend’s request to help build a riverside pavilion—intending to leave as soon as the job is done.
Miriam King, a widowed mother of two, runs the local bakehouse near the same river. Her days are full of flour-dusted mornings and garden chores, her heart guarded by quiet resilience. When David volunteers to help with her storm-damaged garden, she doesn’t expect anything more than borrowed strength. But with each shared task and unspoken moment, something gentle and unexpected begins to grow.
As David slowly steps into the rhythms of small-town life, he sees in Miriam not just grace and steadiness, but the kind of love he never believed he deserved. Yet when a call from his past threatens to pull him away, he’s forced to confront the choice he’s always avoided: keep running, or stand still for love.
Can a man who’s only known motion learn the courage to stay?
Or will the river carry him away once more—this time from the one place that feels like home?