Macy Sorensen leads a quiet, if emotionally flat, life that provides her with a sense of security and safety: she thrives professionally as an ambitious resident in the pediatric ward of a local hospital, and she can't complain about her partner, a slightly older, financially secure acquaintance the artist they are planning to marry, so she doesn't seem to miss anything at all in her carefully constructed and guarded bubble. But only until, years later, she meets Elliot Petropoulos again — her first and only true love from her youth, a lanky boy and an avid reader, who accepted her into his world and helped her overcome a difficult period after the loss of her beloved mother... and with whom she spends the evening , after he confessed his love for her, she broke up without explanation. In the brisk alternating rhythm of chapters from youth and the present, we learn how Macy and Elliot met - how they became best friends and later lovers with a shared love of words during weekends and summers together at Macy's father's weekend house - and how complicated it is to they are looking for a way after long years of estrangement. Memories of happy teenage years are marred by the shadow of an unresolved breakup, as well as a painful secret that Macy would most like to forget. The two former lovers are gradually getting closer, but neither of them has any idea if they can overcome the gap of ten years of silence and revive the extinguished flame of their former love.