Katrina Lawrence is back in Rochester, Illinois, pregnant and alone. Her family is falling apart and her brother, Walter "Bear", isn't coping well. Hoping to be in and out of Illinois before anyone discovers her secret, Katrina is devastated when her mother suffers a stroke, extending Katrina's stay indefinitely. It is home where she will encounter people from her past and will attract unwanted attention from those like the quiet librarian that lost his teaching job for unknown reasons and the troubled teen that works for her brother who carries an unnatural obsession for Katrina. Chief of Police, Vaughn Dexter, can't help but be drawn to the red-headed stranger, but won't let her get in the way of completing his job so he can resign from duty. Now another murder in the town has them both digging back twenty years for an absolution that may never come.