Sheila could not believe her string of bad luck. Starting with her fake boyfriend backing out of her long awaited kayaking trip in Prince William Sound and ending with the kayaking company trying to cancel her trip! Why is everything so suddenly stacked against her hopes for a relaxing, peaceful trip? Grasping her last chance to go paddling as planned, she agrees to join a noisy, disagreeable group of novice kayakers, hoping nothing else goes wrong, but Mother Nature hadn't weighed in yet.
Exhausted, numb with fear, and dumb from shock, Sheila gives no thought to bears, moose, or men as she struggles through the woods, blocking all memories of the other kayakers and whatever dumped her into the frigid ocean waters. Her world has shrunk to the ten steps ahead of her as she bushwhacks through mountains in search of civilization. Her greatest fears are breaking a leg and succumbing to hypothermia.
Returning at last to Anchorage, Sheila realizes that the life she's so recently created for herself is as empty as the old one she left behind. Setting off on a mission to find the homestead life that warms her soul, she discovers love and friendships—the kind that last a lifetime.