Summary:

Scarlet is a young girl running from her past. Back in Iowa her mother has an abusive husband. Scarlet runs to NYC where she plans on starting over and getting over the horror that was her past. When she arrives in NYC she gets a job at a local coffee shop and that is where she meets Nathan. Nathan is a young good looking guy. He and Scarlet take a long journey to becoming friends and ultimately lovers. Everything would be fine between them except that Scarlet has issues letting him in. The story comes to a climax when Nathan asks her to move in with him and she has a melt down. Scarlet is faced with a choice tell Nathan what happened to her back home or loose him. As the story unfolds it becomes more and more clear that Scarlet not only won't let nathan in but can't, she struggles with a psychological fear of letting him in afraid that like her stepfather he will hurt her too. In the end Scarlet has to choose between letting him in or loosing him and dealing with the pain that comes with it. When she chooses to keep Nathan in the dark he decides that he can't date her anymore and leaves.