The memory of an act committed when she was nineteen weaves a dark thread through Clen McClendon's life. It is a darkness Clen ignores until the discovery of her husband's infidelity propels her on a quest for redemption and forgiveness of her own. Her journeying is providing few answers and peace remains elusive, even during the time she spends in an abbey. But then Clen makes a decision that is both desperate and random to go to Wrangell, Alaska. There she will meet Gerrum Kirsey and learn that choices are never truly random, and they always have consequences.

Former Seattle attorney, Gerrum Kirsey, is of the opinion that most people who end up in Alaska are running from something,. Including him. And this appears to be true for the aloof woman who has come to Wrangell as the Bear Lodge's summer cook. When Gerrum learns that Clen applied for the job from an abbey, and that the owner of the Lodge remembers her visiting years ago with a husband, he's intrigued and determined to discover the woman behind the walls.