On a hill above Bradleyburg, a fading northern gold camp where the forest seems ready to reclaim the last fragile lights, woodsman Bill Bronson looks out over the darkening town and the life he has made at the edge of the wild. Hardy, practical, and quietly dream-haunted, he is the kind of man who knows every trail and river in the Clearwater country—and the kind who has spent years chasing a family tragedy into the snow. As a boy, Bill saw his world shattered when his father vanished after the betrayal of Rutheford, a trusted partner who stole a fortune in gold and left behind a lost mine, a grieving mother, and a vow of revenge. Now thirty-two, with winter closing in and one last expedition at stake, Bill receives a new commission from Virginia Tremont: guide the search for her missing fiancé, Harold Lounsbury. But Virginia's grace awakens a deeper longing in Bill, and helping her means confronting jealousy, loyalty, and the possibility of losing the one woman he loves to another man. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.