Note: This is an updated version with a few minor formatting issues fixed (effective July 27, 2025).

For most of his adolescent years Liam James kept his mother on her toes, especially during his father's deployments with the military. But once he met Mitch, his soon to be best friend, at the church his family attended, things changed.

By their senior year in high school, Liam and Mitch were two of the school's top football players and hoped to go pro after graduating college. When the events of September 11, 2001 happened, their career paths took a very different turn.

Sophie Reynolds spent most of her school years in Clearwater, Florida. She didn't have many friends since her main focus was on her grades and baking, which is why most of her classmates called her a nerd.

When imagining her future, Sophie saw herself opening a bakery with her only real friend, Bailey, marrying a good man, and raising their children together. She felt beyond blessed as her dreams started falling into place... that was until her world came crashing down.