Jake Saunders, a middle-aged artist and enthusiastic horticulturist from Georgia, while teaching drawing and painting classes on board a luxury cruise ship becomes captivated by Rose, a nineteen-year-old beauty. The relationship that develops shows all the pitfalls of their age difference and the generation gap that it reveals, but is lovingly supported by Rose's affable mother, Marianne Paulsen, who is herself attracted to Jake. Set in exotic locations in Iceland, Europe, Georgia, Minnesota and New York the story shows the development of Jake's relationship with both these women and the different kind of love each fosters. When Marianne is diagnosed with cancer, the garden of her home on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota becomes the bonding ground between her and Jake-a garden that at first Jake had started to restore for his upcoming wedding to Rose, but which ultimately becomes the means for his personal growth and Marianne's spiritual transition.