Does hope rise in the face of cancer? With her mother's diagnosis, Tara Kingston will soon find out. She returns as the prodigal child to her home state of Colorado, a place she hoped to never see again. With a tattered past and a wounded heart, Tara verbally combats her suburbanite aunts and attempts to reconcile who she was with who she has become. Her mother's condition is dire, but they still have time together, perhaps to heal what was broken so long ago.When family battles become too much, Tara and her mother find a solution by way of a handsome organic farmer, Tom Sanders. Tara agrees to stay and work with him on his farm in Boulder, remaining close to her family but far enough to avoid conflict. Working with the earth and a cast of quirky characters, Tara rediscovers joy in her home state as long summer days pass and her mother's time runs short.As Tara is bombarded by her childhood memories and at war with herself after repressing years of pent-up anger, she must learn to release her ties to her sordid past in order to forgive and move on. Tara, on some level or another, is all of us, just trying to find her way on the difficult road that is life.