At fifty-four, Carrie McCarthy, A United States Senator from Minnesota, is caught off guard when her former fiancé unexpectantly appears in her Washington D.C. office. It’s been over three decades since they went their separate ways, yet the pain—and attraction—are still evident.
Smart, savvy, and successful, hollow accolades of a professional life in politics haven’t been a suitable substitute for the love and affection she ran away from. Still single after years of guarding her heart against falling into the same type of turbulent relationship her parents had, a succession of “safe” affairs with married men—the latest a colleague—have left a void she yearns to fill.
It’s 2001, and Carrie must travel to Minnesota for her father’s funeral. While there, one person unveils a secret from her past, threatening the relationship with her only son, while another divulges a secret about her mother that could destroy the McCarthy reputation Carrie has fought so hard to preserve. 
Now, Carrie must decide; confront the truth and face a wave of painful realities to change the course of her life, daring her to trust, or continue to drift along the surface, struggling to suppress a surge of historic actualities overwhelming her conscience, tossing her about, a top the ripples of life.