The first time he left without telling her

The second time she asked him to go…

Meg McKenzie, a marine biology student with a passion for killer whales, is shocked to discover that Spencer Valiella is her thesis supervisor. Spencer is an old flame—the love of her life, actually, and, although he doesn't know it, the father of her son. They met and fell in love one summer while Meg was an undergraduate student…but then Spencer left.

To the surprise of neither Meg nor Spencer, the intense feelings they had for each ofhter still exist, and when Spencer learns Meg had his child, they grow even stronger.

But old demons plague him—that restlessness, that yearning, that need to be unattached. In spite of Spencer's great love for her and their son, Meg knows he has to leave.

It takes a terrifying experience for Spencer to see that living with Meg and his son, loving and caring for them with abandon, is what will truly make him free.