In 1919, a closet door slammed shut. Before it opened, Cornelis de Boer had tumbled past the unguarded edge of untamed desires into lost dreams and broken relationships.
In 1929, a schoolhouse door opens and Cornelis meets the one person in Dutchville, Iowa, who knows much and suspects more about his past: Lena Stryker, the teacher to whom he must entrust his children.
Harboring a decade's bitterness, Lena faces haunting questions: When a wayward son returns home, can all be forgotten? Must all be forgiven?
In working her way toward mercy, Lena risks hurting Brigetta and Bram...two who have suffered enough. For it was Brigetta, Lena's niece, who was trapped in that closet with Cornelis, Bram's brother. Despite Lena's best intentions, forgiving and forgetting could shatter two families again. For the slope is slippery along the unguarded edge of loving a renegade.