When life seems to conspire against you, how do you find the courage to dive into healing waters?

When Lucia Coffey looks at her reflection, she sees fat and failure. When she looks at her sister Sonia, she sees svelte and success. When she looks at God, she sees that divine love can't possibly be doled out equally. All her life, Lucia has coped by throwing herself into taking care of those who seem more worthy of God's goodness, and feeding the dreams she has buried alive.

But when tragedy strikes Lucia's family, she meets Sullivan Crisp—a decidedly offbeat psychologist who is trying to cope with his own shattered past. They form an alliance to try to hold her family together and, in the process, both tentatively dip their toes into the waters of healing. Step by faltering step they wade in, forging an unlikely community and digging deep for the courage to face a lurking danger that could pull them under . . . or remind them what it's like to dance on the waves.