Returning to Harmony

by M.P. Hudson

Eryn (pronounced Er'n) Byrnum was born of a runaway teenage mother. For years, she, her mother and stepfather were homeless living out of the back of an old truck, sometimes breaking into mountain cabins or even condemned houses for temporary places to stay. She never attended school. At fourteen, she escaped from rape by her stepfather, saved by her mother wielding a large knife. Eryn witnessed her mother's murder by that stepfather with that same knife. After her stepfather died in a shootout with the police, her great uncle and aunt adopt Eryn. They take her to their farm located just outside the small town of Harmony, North Carolina. When Eryn is seventeen, her uncle develops throat cancer. Her aunt posts a note looking to hire a farmhand at a local restaurant called KATS in Harmony. Along comes Tom Hansen, a recent graduate of North Carolina State University in Chemical Engineering, who is just wandering the mountains to get away after college life. After a year of working the farm together, Eryn and Tom fall deeply into love and plan for their future. However, on the first days of her senior year in high school Tom suddenly leaves. Eryn is heartbroken and vows never to become close to another man.

282 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2010