For  the lovely Billy Harper, Butternut Lake is the place she feels most at home, even though lately she believes the only one listening to her is Murphy . . . her faithful Labrador Retriever. Her teenage son, Luke, has gone from precious to precocious practically overnight. Her friends are wrapped up in their own lives, and Luke’s father, Wesley, disappeared before his son was even born. No wonder she prefers to spend time with a good book, especially ones in which everything ends in perfection.

But Billy is about to learn that anything is possible during the heady days of summer. Coming to terms with her past—the death of her father; the arrival of Cal Cooper, a complicated man with a definite interest in Billy; even the return of Wesley—will force her to have a little bit of faith in herself and others . . . and realize that happiness doesn’t always mean perfection.