Daria Fontina was ready to take back control of her life, a life that had spun out of control as her husband's verbal assaults became more and more vitriolic and threatening. With two children to consider, she had done her best to neutralize the growing problems between her and her husband Bruce. The fact that Bruce could seamlessly vacillate between the man who was an ex-state representative and a gentleman, to the man threatening physical harm was putting its toll on her. Words do hurt, and Bruce's unrelenting tirades (calling her stupid and worse) were leading to health problems. She wanted to leave, but she struggled with breaking up her family. It was difficult to explain to her daughters that the marriage wasn't fixable. Even after months of separation, Bruce was no closer to recognizing the inevitability of their impending divorce. The chilling truth was that the only thing preventing him from beating the crap out of her was the effect it would have on their children.

Daria turned to her grandfather Cal for a safe haven in Sentinel Pass. Cal arranged a secret flight on a private jet piloted by William Hughes, a talent agent by trade. William graciously agreed to help Cal but little did he realize the life-altering ramifications of his good deed. As William and Daria became closer, with him trying to protect this frightened mother and her daughters, Bruce was becoming ever more diligent in his attempts to rein in his errant wife and regain his family. William was particularly reluctant to establish a lasting relationship given his almost palatable disdain for marriage. He lived a well order life and had no intentions of adding any chaos to it. Welcome to real life William.

Salonen does a really good job illustrating how different families can be within the confines of a rather short story. This cast of characters comes from varied walks of life and with unusual family dynamics. Without glossing over abusive relationships, Salonen still manages to convey a message of hope.