Mountain Man's Winter Wonder

She’s spent her life living for everyone else. He makes her wonder if she could finally choose herself.

I’d spent my whole life living for everyone else.
Since the age of twelve, I’d worked in my parents’ restaurant—trading proms for late-night shifts, friendships for endless obligations, and love for a future I never chose. At twenty-three, I was still stuck in their dream, not mine, pouring my heart into crafting snow globes that captured the kind of family and freedom I’d never have.
Then came the Wildwood Valley Christmas Festival.
One careless moment—a pack of kids knocking over my display—sent my carefully built world crashing in pieces across the frozen ground. And that’s when he appeared.
Buck.

A mountain man with steady hands, eyes warm as melted chocolate, and a quiet strength that made me feel seen for the very first time. He didn’t just help gather broken glass—he saw beauty in what was shattered. He saw me.