It's 1901. It's been a year since Charlotte arrived on the Chesapeake Bay and discovered the poison that killed her parents was in the water... and killing people downriver. Together, Charlotte and Weylan use the power of his newspaper to launch an assault against Nels Pritchard and the coal town responsible, printing the truth behind the lies. But they haven't launched their relationship. When he asked her to marry him, she said "Yes, but not yet." Her heart can't settle until justice is won. And though poisoning the water isn't illegal (yet), a lawyer is willing to help them, if they find proof of their claims. Then they're presented with an offer they can't refuse: an attractive proposal to work undercover in Pritchard's inner sanctum. There, they'll have access to all the proof they can carry. But as they close in on evidence of Prichard's schemes, an ally goes rogue and embroils Weylan in his plot. Before the ash settles on his fiery plans, innocent people lose their lives, Charlotte loses the evidence she needs, and Weylan could lose himself. Picking up the pieces means choosing between the past she can't leave behind and the future she may never grasp.