To hide a devastating secret, a young mother lies. The lies protect the secret, but they also become the foundation of the life she builds. Years later, they are almost forgotten, yet those lies, revealed, still have the power to destroy everyone she loves. Hannah Cooper will do everything in her power to protect her family, but how far will she go? How far is too far?



Hannah Cooper’s daughter is leaving for college soon. The change is bittersweet. A single mother since the age of eighteen, Hannah isn’t eager to confront the pain of being alone, but she’s determined not to let her own regrets keep Ellen from the future she deserves. As Ellen’s high school graduation approaches, Hannah is making plans to return to her roots in Cooper’s Hollow along Virginia’s beautiful and rustic Cub Creek.



With the help of her friend Roger, Hannah devotes her energies to building a new house on the site of the old family home destroyed in a fire more than a decade ago. But Hannah’s entire adult life has revolved around one very big secret, and her new beginning comes with unanticipated risks that will cost her far more than she could have imagined―perhaps more than she―and others―can survive.