Meet Dr. Amelia Payne: a veterinarian and educational writer. She is a single woman living in Washington State. She no longer defines herself as the daughter of a clown and a deceased mime. At the age of fifty, Amelia has built a life for herself where the past would never find her . . . or so she hoped. The tragic tale of Amelia's life is brought to the forefront, when Claude Croft, Amelia's childhood friend, calls her in hopes of locating a bracelet he had promised his father to find. Gripped by a similar promise, Amelia joins Claude in a venture to find the jewelled bracelet, only to learn that she finds more than she bargained for. Spiralled back into her old life, Amelia is right back in the thick of the eccentric characters that once coloured her youth.A story about holding on and letting go, Dearest uncovers the past Amelia thought she knew, reveals secrets she never could have known, and the truth she finally comes to know.