Tim Kerschner’s attachment to a solitary aspen on property he inherits goes much deeper than aesthetics. Can he make landscape architect Ryann Dean understand his refusal to let her chop down this single tree in a forest of them?
Ryann loves her job in Bliss, Oregon. Junior high teacher Tim Kerschner, on the other hand, she’d be happy to have never met. The man’s handsome face loses any appeal in light of his arrogance and obvious inclination to violence—the latter of which Ryann despises for reasons close to her heart.
A visit to what lies within the branches of the controversial tree could give them both a whole new outlook on life...and on each other.
The author began this story as a submission to White Rose Publishing's "Heart's Crossing" contest. She never finished and submitted the piece, but eventually reworked it into this short story.