Autumn comes to visit the small mountain town of Whisper Creek, Colorado, and finds the Murphy sisters hard at work. Theodora is nearly ready to open the doors of her new law firm, and Cleopatra has added to her already full schedule by returning to school to get her business degree.

 

As the women continue to build their respective businesses, they are forced to make an array of decisions. Theodora has taken on a somewhat unlikely woman to run her front desk, while Cleopatra has decided to promote her receptionist, Hailey St. James, to be her new business manager.

 

One evening, as Cleopatra drives home from class, an early blizzard blows in, covering SH 96, a twisty two-lane highway, in snow and ice. When Sheriff Ames knocks on Theodora’s door later that night, it’s to inform her that her sister has been involved in a horrible car accident and has been taken to a hospital sixty miles away.

 

While Cleopatra fights for her life, another tragedy occurs. Hailey St. James suffers a fatal accident. Mamie, the Murphy matriarch, steps in to run the Madeleine while Theodora commutes between home and the hospital to be with her sister, and continues to care for her niece, Indigo. As the days pass, Cleopatra shows no signs of improvement, and Theodora starts hearing things from the hotel staff that make her think Hailey’s death might not have been an accident after all.