Michael and Julia witness the murder of their mother at the hands of their stepfather, John, before he disappears into the night. Twenty-three years later, Michael and Julia have dealt with her death in their own way. Julia is a successful publisher with a high profile author, Jackson Ignacio, to rope in. Michael can't find his place in the world until he moves back into his mother's old house, and meets Melissa. Everything seems fine until weird things start happening. Meanwhile, John is still alive and dealing with problems of his own. An unexpected twist, a love story, a ghost, and revenge fill the pages of this novella that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.

Jessie is twenty and feels stuck living with her parents in the Nebraska countryside after a failed year of college. Her mom is always brooding and angry, and they just can't seem to get along. Things begin to change when she runs into Matt, who graduated high school the year before Jessie, and they begin a romance. After their first date, she wakes up with a melody stuck in her head. Lovely at first, it becomes a constant source of frustration and a true menace at times as she struggles to deal with its persistence and the constant tension within her family. One day, a stranger comes into the cafe where she works and recognizes the song as she hums it. Could it have something to do with Christie Anderson, who's been missing for twenty years, and who just happened to be her mom's best friend? Can she unravel the bitter threads of her life and solve a mystery before it's too late?