Bryn Collins moved to the Eastern Tennessee mountains and never looked back when, fourteen years ago, her fiancé, Sawyer, jilted her for her despised sister, Del. Sawyer was later killed in a plane crash, but Bryn has never been able to forgive her sister for what she did, and instead chooses to spend her days in the idyllic beauty of the rugged landscape. Although a life-threatening accident ended her days navigating the perils of whitewater, she still finds refuge kayaking in the local lakes.

But Bryn's placid life hits the skids when an unwelcome cast of characters reenters her life. Del goes mysteriously missing, leading her fourteen-year-old son, Josh, to Bryn's doorstep for help. Then Carl, a trouble-making outcast the sisters knew years before, is desperate to find Del because she owes him money, pulling Bryn into the orbit of his schemes.

On the hunt for Del, Bryn and Josh follow an ever-elusive trail to Colorado, and at the annual Mountain Games competition in Vail, they finally confront the truth. For Bryn, all roads lead to the river, and on vicious Colorado whitewater, she is forced to muster every ounce of courage and strength she has to piece her family back together again.