Beindor is the intelligent, affable bully of the small town of Red Duck, Kentucky. When Nathan, an anthropologist and college professor, moves into an old farmstead along the Boone River, Beindor befriends him-a relationship that means dealing with Beindor's unexpected acts of giving that occur strictly on his own terms. Penchel, a young, would-be artist who flunked out of the university at the end of her freshman year, moves into a disintegrating cabin nearby. Nathan needs to come to terms with his grief and guilt at his wife's death four months prior. Penchel needs to find firm ground amidst the angst that made college and living itself seem pointless. The vulnerabilities and needs of these three characters, plus four others close to them, play out against the backdrop of one summer of hot drought in the small towns and woods of Eastern Kentucky.