Love is in the air and it stinks. Mercy Watts thinks things are about to get back to normal. She's back to work at the Columbia Clinic and her mother is recovering from her stroke. But when a patient goes rogue and lands Mercy smack dab in the middle of a lawsuit, she's forced to make a deal to save the Columbia Clinic from financial ruin. It doesn't seem so bad. All Mercy has to do is find out who's threatening the daughter of a judge with his eye on a higher court, but the next thing Mercy knows she's sunk into a world of infidelity and painful passions. Ordinary people are doing unthinkable things and Mercy doesn't know where to turn. Her boyfriend, Chuck, is practically MIA. Her father is out to lunch and Uncle Morty is downright incomprehensible. Add in a new stalker, plenty of jealousy, and a shooting, Mercy is out of her depth and the water is rising.