Jori Kendall has spent much of the last twenty years working in a prison, and has the cynical uncompromising attitudes of the typical prison guard. She has raised Nicky, her teen-aged daughter, alone, and she doesn't need anyone. As Nicky's high school graduation nears, Jori hires Rudy White, a talented craftsman, to remodel her home. Gradually they are drawn together, even as she and Nicky drift apart: not only because Nicky is growing up, but also because Jori is convinced her daughter's new boyfriend, Scott, is a criminal. But Rudy too has a secret: he is an ex-convict. And that is the one thing Jori cannot forgive; nor, when she finds out, can she forgive herself for her part in their relationship. Through a series of dramatic events including a prison riot, Scott's arrest, Jori's betrayal by her closest frind, and Nicky's final split from her mother, Jori is forced to reexamine the validity of her own deep-seated personal and professional prejudices. Only then can she attempt to put the pieces of her life back together, try to reconcile with her daughter and, just maybe, salvage the love she has squandered.