Among the towering firs and windswept beaches of a Pacific Northwest island, a woman's long-ago first love unexpectedly returns, teaching her the damaging power of secrets and the liberating lessons of love. Widow Phoebe Allen has single-handedly raised a wonderful daughter and established a successful business supplying nets to fisherman and now enjoys the amorous attentions of a longtime friend. When she learns that her old boyfriend, Whitney Traynor, has purchased a house nearby, she must confront long-suppressed feelings for her charismatic first love, now a high-profile film director. For years, Phoebe has concealed truths from her daughter and may now be forced to divulge them. As the past rushes forth like an inevitable tide, Phoebe discovers the life-transforming benefits of opening one's heart.