In this story about awakening and the healing power of love, a woman who refuses to let go of her troubled past is united with an easygoing man who can show her the path to her own salvation. Lucretia "Cree" Cabot spends her time saving everybody else to avoid facing her own haunted life. Between raising her younger brother and trying to open a women's shelter, Cree has built an impenetrable wall around her heart. But when a tenant for Cliff Cottage appears at her door, he cracks her vigilantly controlled world, forcing her to look within to confront the emptiness inside. Mike Sullivan, famous superhero artist, is searching for a peaceful summer break and a new perspective on life. A farm in sunny Santa Cruz seems like just the place. Looking to escape from his usual routine, he doesn't count on falling for a woman who is as stubborn as the mule that lives in her barn. Yet beneath Cree's prickly exterior, he finds a woman in pain-a woman with an immense capacity for love. Mike knows she is the only one for him, but will Cree find the courage to truly live and love before the best thing to walk into her life leaves her behind?