Forgotten Paths

Book excerpt: Life is full of possibilities for recent college graduate Autumn Hummel. But the path she expected to take after school turns in a different direction when she receives a mysterious letter. Jon McFarland, a man Autumn has never met, has left her his South Carolina plantation near Georgetown, her childhood vacationing spot. Autumn chooses to accept the inheritance and moves into the sprawling Southern mansion where she meets the house's loveable staff. There's Fanny, the middle-aged gardener whose family has worked at the McFarland plantation for generations and Ian, the maintenance man who moved from the North to embrace a slower pace of life. But it's Autumn's handsome next-door neighbor, Boyd Masters, who captures her attention. Yet the beauty and charisma of Autumn's new life soon fade as one mystery after another emerges, the most important being why McFarland left her the plantation in the first place. As Autumn researches the connection, she begins to revisit her summer vacation memories and soon realizes that before she can pursue a happy future, she must deal with her painful past.