Henry Oliver has achieved international success as a dancer and choreographer, not through blind ambition but through an almost equally disturbing focus that, combined with his gifts, allows him to ignore both his own and others' emotional needs. But just as his career is blossoming, a close friend dies and his cold focus deserts him, leaving him vulnerable to emotional demands that sap his self-confidence. He turns tail on all he has fought for and runs home to his mother, Bella, who still lives in the small mountain town where Henry grew up. She was his first teacher and inspiration, but her seeming foolishness has always embarrassed Henry and driven him away. Bella, on the other hand, has secrets that she has always hidden from her son. Now she is dying. Will they be able to reconcile before it is too late, so that Bella can die at peace and Henry can bring his true gifts to fruition?