"After fourteen years in prison, Trace Bancroft heads back to Bitter Bark with his mutt, Meatball, and runs into Daniel Kilcannon, who offers to provide some medical care for the dog. Trace knows that would mean seeing Molly Kilcannon, a girl who shared one crazy night with him before his life took a turn for the worst. But when Meatball's illness intensifies, Trace has to face Molly again, and pray she'll save his dog, no matter what their history. When Trace Bancroft arrives at Waterford Farm with a critically ill dog, Molly Kilcannon;s world is shaken to the core. Firmly believing Trace died in a bar fight years ago, Molly never told anyone that the bad boy of Bitter Bark was the father of Prudence Kilcannon, her very good thirteen year old daughter. But Molly has promised to tell Pru the truth about her conception, and now that truth is a living breathing ex-con whose very existence could change everything, including a precious mother-daughter relationship."