"Kelly Palmer?" I knew the voice immediately, even though I hadn't heard it since I was twelve years old. My mouth went dry, and I almost dropped the phone. A wave of goosebumps rolled across my flesh. "Yes." I sounded scared, reduced to the child I'd been the last time I'd spoken with the man on the other end of the line. "Hi, darlin'. It's your dad." Kelly's world is far from perfect. She keeps several states between herself and her overbearing mother, and she's sick of her friends playing matchmaker. Her naive teaching ambitions haven't panned out, and after years of spinning her wheels in a troubled school district, she's tired of fighting an uphill battle. Then her missing father calls, and she reluctantly heads to Texas to hear him out. Their reunion isn't exactly a Hallmark moment, but Kelly falls hard for the vibrant city of Austin, and Mac Hildebrandt, the blue-eyed smart-ass who works with her dad. Her choice to move isn't about her father; it's in spite of him. Since his disastrous divorce, Mac's been satisfied as a bachelor. He's interested in two things: knocking boots and looking out for his kid. Kelly crashes into his life and leaves him reeling from the impact. Try as he might, he can't shake her sweet smile, and that body of hers ain't half bad either. Still, she's Francis's daughter, and Mac's volatile ex is a constant chore, so the complications are impossible to ignore. He ought to know better, but the sparks between them are just too tempting to resist. ****Wood U is a companion novel to The Carved Hearts Series. It is intended to be read as book 4, but it can be read as a stand alone.