Simmering beneath the skin and hiding around every corner are a family's painful memories of a child who disappeared in the middle of the night 25 years ago. Nursing her mother back to health wasn't all that drew Georgie Haydock back to the mountain tourist town of Chimney Rock. The summer roils as her mother insists that the strange woman stalking her store is Georgie's missing sister. Georgie aches to reunite with the hometown boy she never forgot; yet, she fears all the summer's turmoil will force her to unveil the secret she's been hiding since she was six. Naturalist Ron Elliott doesn't care why Georgie ran off right after high school, for she's the one creature he's always yearned to possess.