Where the Rain Falls

By: Hughes, Nicole

Alina Vance is the soul of Oakdale. As a foster care advocate and community organizer, she is the person everyone calls when things fall apart. A brilliant, warm smile is locked in place and always within reach. But behind closed doors, Alina is drowning. Years of absorbing other people's trauma, coupled with losing her parents young, have left her emotionally depleted. She feels like a ghost walking through her own life; constantly enduring one storm after another.
Enter Jeffrey Holt, an architect who moved to Oakdale to build a quiet life after leaving a high-stakes firm in Chicago. Jeff carries his own quiet grief, having lost his wife to a long illness two years prior. He knows what bone-deep exhaustion looks like because he's lived it. When Jeff takes on a pro bono project to redesign the local youth center Alina manages, the two are forced to work closely together. While the city sees Alina as an invincible force of nature, Jeff notices the subtle details: the way her hands tremble after a tough phone call, the tired slump of her shoulders when she thinks no one is looking, and the fake brightness in her tone when she says, "I'm totally fine "
Instead of asking her to fix things, Jeff starts doing the fixing. He leaves tea on her desk, steps in to handle stressful logistics, and slowly creates a boundry around herthat allows her to finally breathe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN13: 9798190445091
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"