Claire Barclay is a young girl when her widowed mother, Daphne, meets Leo Harrison, a Scottish plant expert who captures her heart. Leo and Daphne marry and the new family settles in at Leo's estate in Alloa, Scotland. Leo's two nasty children make Claire feel like an outsider, and Jonas Fairweather, the son of Leo's tenant farmer/mechanic, becomes her only friend. As the two mature their relationship becomes closer, but when Claire finally declares her love for Jonas she is summarily rejected and flees Alloa to see the world and get over her heartbreak. In New York she meets restaurant owner Art Barringer and quickly falls in love.
Years later, Claire's mother dies and Claire and Art discover that Leo has developed the beginnings of dementia. In an effort to help him, they plan to purchase the estate and convert it into a conference center that will include a home for Leo and access to his beloved greenhouses. They are dismayed to learn that Jonas, who has been helping Leo to manage his finances, also has plans for the property and they come to question his apparent devotion to Leo.
Robin Pilcher has crafted a fine novel, a combination of romance, financial intrigue, mystery, and complicated family dynamics, with a very satisfying conclusion that could easily have been written by one of today's many popular mystery novelists. This one is a winner. I miss Rosamund Pilcher's novels, but I'm glad that her son is continuing in her fine tradition!
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