On the surface, Charlie Burden and Natty Oakscould not be more different: she, the daughter of rural farmers; he, anexecutive at a multinational engineering firm. But in each other they find thenew lease on life they both so desperately need. Natty dreams of a life beyondher small town. Unhappily married, she passes the time nursing retired miners,coaching her son’s soccer team, and running the mountain trails. Charlie haseverything he ever thought he wanted, but after twenty-five years of climbingthe corporate ladder, he no longer recognizes his own life. When he is sent toWest Virginia to oversee a mining project, it is a chance to escape his stuffylife—but he must soon choose between his old life and his new love.