From the extraordinary Patricia Gaffney,New York Times bestselling author of The Saving Graces and Circle of Three, comes a poignant and wise story of truth and loyalty, of the bonds that shape, sustain, and ultimately uplift us.

Anna has studiously avoided her aunt Rose -- the woman she once loved more than anyone else in the world -- ever since the night Rose betrayed Anna and her mother, Rose's own fatally ill sister. In the sixteen years that have passed, Anna has built another life for herself far from her hometown on Maryland's Eastern Shore, but she can't forgive or forget.

Now another betrayal, by a faithless lover, has brought Anna back to her family's restaurant, where Rose needs her estranged niece's help -- and trust -- more than ever before. Determined to leave as soon as the struggling business is back on its feet and her own hurt is healed, Anna joins Rose in the kitchen of the Bella Sorella, where values clash and generations collide -- and outside, where their personal lives become entangled in surprising ways. Yet Anna is resolved to remain unaffected by Rose's longing to undo the past -- even though her resistance could blind her to a true and unexpected love that's reaching out to grab her by the heart.