Thirty years ago, Laura Flannigan walked out on Daniel and Michael Flannigan. Daniel has coped, done what he could to be a good father to his son, to do what he loves, and get lost working with wood. He hasn't thought twice about starting over again, his heart gone cold, his world gone gray. He never thought love might come softly in the form of an old friend. Mare O'Malley loved her husband, Jimmy, with all her heart. When a heart attack stole him away from her several years ago, she nearly went with him. For her son, Sam, and her grandchildren, she's managed to go on. Her friendship with...

Conservation officer Graham Scott knows what it is to want. The wilderness has given him a lifetime of pleasure, the prospect of a family in a young teacher, Sarah Waters, and her five-year-old daughter, Lila...until it turns on him. One day, Sarah surprises Graham with a picnic lunch during a routine patrol of the Rockwood State Forest. She remains behind to take a few pictures of the sunset...and vanishes. Graham will spend the next seven months combing the largest park in the continental United States to find her. Consumed by want, no-need, he will stop at nothing to bring her back-for her...