Joe Barry lives in a valley where many people grow crops. Glenda, his friend Tom’s sister, comes to visit Tom and Tom's wife Nancy one summer to train as a runner. Tom asks Joe to ride his bicycle behind Glenda while she runs and to carry a pistol in order to protect Glenda from bears; there have been attacks in the area recently. Sometimes after Glenda's run, Glenda and Joe swim in a cold lake. Glenda always asks Joe to feel her rapid heartbeat as it slows down, and they lay together in the sun. They sometimes go to Joe's cabin for lunch. At night, Glenda calls Joe on his radio to ask about his dogs and the hedgehog that lives in his yard. Tom, Nancy, and Glenda gather on Fridays for dinner. After they eat, they sit on the roof to drink and watch the controlled burns in the area. In August, the day before she leaves, Glenda sets fire to the field across the road from where Joe lives. She then rushes to grab him and takes him to a pond that is on the fire side of the field. They stay in the pond as the fire blazes around them and eventually subsides. They hold one another during the cold night, and Glenda leaves at daylight. In mid-February of the next year, Joe wonders where Glenda is and what she’s doing. He regrets the things that he did not say to her.