Avery is no stranger to the weight of loss, the way it shapes and defines the expanse of a life. The death of her sister, when Avery was just a child herself, engulfed her and her family-a mother driven mad, a father who disappeared, and all the while, neighbors and friends ignoring and surviving. The loss shades Avery's full being, becoming a deep part of her past and her future. As a young woman, Avery's life in Eastern Oregon ranch country is filled with an acquired family: her partner Davis