THE UNEXPECTED FATHER

Brady Webb is a firefighter who saves lives for a living. But when attorney Jennifer Park walks into Station 12 with a seven-year-old boy clutching a stuffed dog named Biscuit, Marcus’s carefully controlled world shatters. Tyler is his son—a child he didn’t know existed until his ex-girlfriend’s death revealed the secret she’d kept for eight years. Tyler hasn’t spoken since his mother died. Brady doesn’t know the first thing about parenting. And Child Protective Services just gave him sixty days to prove he can provide a stable home—or lose Tyler to foster care forever.

Enter Grace Monroe, Tyler’s second-grade teacher and an expert in childhood trauma who recognizes Tyler’s selective mutism because she lived it. Orphaned at five and bounced through seven foster homes, Grace learned early that everyone leaves. So when Brady shows up desperate and terrified, asking for help he has no right to expect, Grace makes him a deal she shouldn’t: she’ll teach him how to parent if he’ll renovate her garage. It’s practical. Professional. Temporary. Except Tyler whispers his first word in weeks—to Grace. Brady realizes he’s falling for the woman teaching him to be a father. And Grace discovers that the family she spent a lifetime protecting her heart from might be exactly what she needs. Until her dream job offer arrives in Denver. Two hours away from Ridgemont. From Brady. From Tyler.

Now Grace has to choose between the career plan that kept her safe for twenty-eight years and the found family that makes her whole. When she runs to Denver for the interview without telling them, Tyler’s trauma resurfaces and Brady draws a line: either you’re in or you’re out, but we can’t do uncertainty. Grace sits on Brady’s apartment steps for hours in yesterday’s clothes waiting for them to come home, finally understanding—some people are worth staying for. Some families are worth the risk. And some second chances are worth everything. 

TROPES:

• Secret Baby
• Single Dad Romance
• Found Family 
• Firefighter Hero
• Teacher Heroine
• Forced Proximity
• Slow Burn Romance
• Grumpy/Sunshine Vibes
• Fish Out of Water
• Protector Hero
• Wounded Heroine
• Healing Journey
• Second Chances
• Small Town Colorado
• He Falls First

HEAT LEVEL: Sweet/Wholesome (Fade to Black)