He rehabilitates delinquent boys. She runs a safe house for battered women. Neither has time for love. But sometimes love only needs a moment.

One poor choice made the summer before Dakota Trask's senior year in high school, set in motion events that have haunted her ever since. But she's only now learning how far the consequences spread, and how many people have been impacted.

Justus Teague has given the past eight years of his life to serving delinquent boys. For most of that time he would have unequivocally stated that his work made a difference and changed lives. But now one of his boys has altered all that. Justus is no longer sure his ministry matters.

What he is sure of is the woman with soft blue eyes and a haunted soul who makes him feel alive and whole. The woman who makes him want to protect her with every fiber of his being. And for that very reason, the woman he can never have.