Butternut summer

Caroline runs a coffee shop in Butternut Lake, and her money troubles have left the rest of her life on hold. Then her ex-husband, Jack, walks in. He left town eighteen years ago, and he now seems stronger and steadier, and he wants to make amends with her and with their daughter, Daisy.

Caroline cannot tell whether the change is real or whether Jack is still the charming, irresponsible man she remembers. She is tempted to let him back in, but she doubts it would be wise.

Daisy is home from college for the summer. She gets to know the father she adores but hardly knows, and she falls for Will, her first true love. Caroline sees only a sexy bad boy her daughter should avoid, so mother and daughter end up at odds.

This is a contemporary women's fiction story told through two points of view, mother and daughter, set over one long, lazy summer at a lake. The mood is warm and unhurried, with family tension and romance at its center. Daisy and Caroline each have to accept that the lake stays the same while their lives do not.