Arriving at Gillyvean to brew the harvest beer, Bronnen Jewell is horrified to find a stranger – a powerfully built, dark haired stranger – changing the water pump on which the brew and her livelihood depend.

Appalled by the number of deaths caused by exploding steam boilers, Santo Julyan is developing an entirely new and safe engine. His backer is Richard Vaughan, heir to Frederick Tregarron, owner of Gillyvean estate. Desperate to prove the viability of his new engine, Santo persuades Richard to let him fit one to the water pump supplying Gillyvean's brewhouse.

Following the tragic loss of his wife and baby son, Richard immersed himself in work. But his world is turned upside down by the unexpected arrival at Gillyvean of Melanie Tregarron, a talented artist and Frederick's illegitimate youngest daughter.

A shocking revelation shatters Bronnen's world; desperate for money Santo makes a choice that costs him everything; Melanie fears she will never be free of her past; and Richard has to face his deepest fear. To love demands courage: do they have enough?