When Mackenna fell in love, it was for the first and last time, but she'd be damned before she ever let the lucky fellow in on it. What began as a beloved summer job in the bewitching Montana mountains grew into an aching heart that spanned her college years as she watched the one man she desired more than anything in the world want every woman but her.

Brent was the first to admit that he was roughshod and rigid because he went through a lot of effort to make himself that way. It was the only way to shield himself from everything he could never have. Then, she walked into his life with the optimism and zest of youth and he couldn't help but cling to everything good in her. An unfailing friend through the bends of life, she was the one person he never felt good enough for, and the only one he could never let go.