Art professor Lydia Drexel has lost her muse. For the first time, she is hopelessly staring at a blank canvas; she's blocked. When she relates her anxiety to colleague and confidant, Dr. Charles Harris, his answer is "the perfect getaway." A stack of books, a case of wine, and a few weeks at his cousin's cabin in the mountains should free her mind.
Settling into the picturesque retreat, Lydia intends to focus on her art, along with any issues that might be inhibiting her ability to create. Before she starts to sketch, she meets two young artists who live nearby. Early in their friendship, she senses an abnormal tension between the brother and sister. Lydia soon learns Jan and Bryce Johnson's adoptive parents died in a car crash, but ample support from an insurance policy and moral support from the community allow them to remain independent.
At the Farmers Market, Lydia is drawn to the intricate puzzle boxes Bryce carves. Inside one, she finds a slip of paper with strange symbols on it. As the siblings' behavior becomes more and more mysterious, the marks turn up in other places. Vowing to decipher them, Lydia surrenders to a lifelong tendency to focus on anything but her own problems. While hiking one day, she meets another resident of the mountain town, architect and contractor John Crawford, who is recently widowed. Lydia has never been married and is unsure about sharing her life with someone, but their connection is undeniable.
As Lydia comes closer to discovering the truth behind the cryptic emblems, dark secrets are revealed and lives are in jeopardy. Her respite is far from the quiet withdrawal she had envisioned, but what she learns about herself and her art is life-changing
