The Harbor Clause—a laminated, no-nonsense pact to fix what's broken, keep tempers from lighting matches, and never mistake spectacle for safety. Then a string of "neat" heat devices appears under the floats, range-light graffiti muddies the optics, and a slick developer circles with a plan to price the pier down to rubble.

As storms roll in, Mara and Eli turn their clause into a living playbook—pause words, weekly check-ins, no solo heroics—while they hunt the pattern behind camera outages and tidy timers. The trail leads from a dented white van to a contractor's binder and a risk consultant who calls arson by prettier names. On the gale night that counts, they catch the match before it's struck.

With the town watching, insurance breathing down their necks, and politics trying to steal the microphone, Mara and Eli choose boring over blaze, and each other over pride.

The Harbor Clause is a blue-collar romance about calm competence, laminated love, and two little range lights that always line up when you stand in the right place.