If Not For October: Ivy Lentini

DAWN LEWIS came to college with a plan. Graduate nursing school. Build the future she'd always dreamed of. Don't let love become a distraction.

Reconnecting with Kaleb Dawson-the boy she'd known since childhood but never truly known-was never part of it.

What begins as late-night conversations quickly becomes football games, grocery runs, and quiet moments that make it impossible to ignore the way her heart feels around him. But the scars of a past relationship have convinced Dawn that love always comes with conditions...and that eventually, everyone asks you to become someone else.

So no matter how much she wants him...she can't let herself believe he'll stay.

KALEB DAWSON has spent years falling in love with the same girl. From elementary school Christmas plays and 4-H meetings to unanswered feelings and years of almosts, loving Dawn has never been something he had to choose.

It simply happened.

Now, with an hour of highway separating them and Dawn insisting she isn't ready for a relationship, Kaleb is willing to do the only thing he's ever wanted to do-Wait.

Because if there's one thing he's certain of, it's that some people are worth every season it takes to find their way home. He's just hoping this is finally the season she lets him.