The Ironwood Wharf
Architectural restorer Evie Vance spent years revitalizing the historic Pacific Northwest waterfront of Ironwood Bay. When her corporate husband toasts another woman as the savior of the harbor and hands Evie a divorce notice, he learns too late who actually holds the title to the shore.
Fictional story. Contains themes of marital betrayal, financial deception, and corporate conflict.Chapter 1: The Cold Harbor Gala
The evening rain over Ironwood Bay smelled of damp cedar, ocean brine, and expensive cologne. Inside the pavilion atop Sentinel Cliff, gold chandeliers cast soft ripples across polished mahogany dining tables, illuminating the regional elite of the Pacific Northwest maritime industry.
Evie Vance sat near the far end of the long table, her hands resting quietly in her lap. Her charcoal linen blazer was tailored neatly, but unlike the evening gowns around her, her knuckles still bore faint traces of cedar oil and wood-carving wax. For seven years, she had spent her dawns down on the icy pilings of Ironwood Wharf, laboriously measuring Douglas fir beams, replacing rotted timber, and restoring the 1890s historic shipwright workshop with her own hands.