Dr. Susannah Brody, Magnolia Village’s only dermatologist,
has treated every third person in the quaint little community. Still dealing
with the loss of her second husband, with whom she converses on a daily basis, she
dreads the upcoming separation she will face when her only child, eighteen-year-old
Myers, will follow his dreams by attending a prestigious music school in
Nashville, Tennessee in the fall.
Her loneliness is not helped by her sister dating her
ex-husband and Myers’s father, Kent. After their marriage ended because Kent
cheated on her, Susannah was lucky to find the love of her life in Stan Brody,
only to lose him to a heart attack. Terrified at the prospect of dating and averse
to being “fixed up” with undesirable men her age, introverted Susannah reminds
her friends that she is not broken and does not need fixing.
Susannah’s attention quickly shifts away from herself when
her best friend’s daughter, Casey French, goes missing. Casey is also Myers’s
best friend, so Susannah wonders what he knows about the disappearance. Myers
is a master at covering up his feelings after his parents’ traumatic divorce
and his beloved stepfather’s death, so what is he not telling Susannah?
When Susannah’s neighbor, Detective Andrew Chase, becomes
involved in the case, Susannah finds herself awkwardly thrown together with
him. Chase is mired in the loss of his own spouse—Susannah’s former patient.
While Susannah and Chase find some comfort in sharing their mutual grief with
each other, will they be able to put their feelings aside in time to find Casey
French? And could this potential tragedy be just what Susannah needs to break
out of the ties that bind her?
