On a regular morning, a child protective services agent shows up at Lauren's door and hands her Jonah, who is her five-year-old stepson and the product of her husband's first affair. She's never met him before. They get in Lauren's car and drive to New Orleans where they don't find Keller, but they find his new girl and his truck. Lauren steals the truck, puts Jonah in the passenger seat, and drives straight to Idaho. The unlikely pair arrive at Lauren's childhood home where her somewhat estranged mother still lives. The very next morning, Lauren goes to the Forest Service office where an old friend works in search of a job. Daniel, an ex-high school love, now married with kids, invites Lauren into his office. After some prodding, Daniel offers Lauren a fire lookout job for the summer. As a bonus, she can bring Jonah. He gives her a day to mull it all over. When she arrives back at her mother's house, Jonah is in the bathroom with fish hooks impaled on his small hand. Her mother attempts to pry the hooks out, but they quickly decide to take him to the emergency room. The doctor gets the hooks out, and Lauren takes Jonah home. Lauren's mother admits she called Keller and that he said to call when Lauren got back to Texas. She decides she won't be going back to Texas. The next morning, Lauren and Jonah drive up to Long Tom Lookout. Jonah vomits twice as they wind up the rugged road. When they finally arrive, they eat dinner as a storm rolls in. Lauren radios to Daniel with weather statistics and notifies him about the storm. That night, lightning strikes the lookout. Both Jonah and Lauren are terrified as they sit on their glass insulated stool in the middle of the cab. By morning, the storm passes. By July, Lauren and Jonah are accustomed to the lookout. One morning Daniel arrive with a letter from Lauren's mother saying Keller is coming to take the boy. On July 3rd, Lauren's sister and her family come to visit and Lauren and Jonah drive down to Salmon. Keller never shows up and Lauren and Jonah head back to the lookout. More fires start on the horizon, and one night Lauren and the boy fall asleep outside. By morning, Jonah is missing. After searching for forty minutes, Lauren radios Daniel. Within hours search and rescue are at the cab. Daniel calls Keller who says he's on his way. Lauren is mad with worry and grief. Lauren rips down the maps in the cab and tears up Jonah's atlas.