Like many returning vets, Jesse Filmore's deepest scars on the inside. The only way he could hold back his pain is to build an insurmountable barrier, so no one can enter to see the hurt. Thinking he can attempt a fresh start in San Diego, he only wants to make a quick stop in his boyhood hometown to sell off his mother's house and move on. But, as news of his return and the gossip re-surfaces about the horrible accident in which his best friend, Mitch Adams, and two other soldiers were killed, supposedly by his actions, he realizes that he has more than just a roofing job to attend to before he can be free.

Left with nothing but debts and, Ben, her beautiful toddler, Julia Adams also makes the tough decision to come to the small desert town of her husband's boyhood, in the hopes of finding love and roots with Mitch's parents. She also wants to see Jesse for some answers. Not about the accident, but to find out if that brief magical moment they had together in Germany was real. Would Jesse's self- imposed barrier let her close enough to find out what she needed to know?

Molly O'Keefe has written a powerful and engrossing story of people finding their true strength and support by facing up to the adversities life had dealt them. Her depictions of Julia dealing with the struggles of being a single parent and Jesse's wrestling with his own childhood and military ghosts are realistic and skillfully interwoven with the developing relationship between the two of them. The antics of little Ben and Jesse's niece, Amanda, add to the humour and banter and will leave you not wanting to put this book down. A wonderful read! Enjoy.