Hank Doyle returns to Denver after four years in New York City with a secret plan: elope with his high school sweetheart, Beverly, spend a few precious days with his younger brother, Bill, before he ships out to Vietnam, and then leave North Carolina behind forever.
But the moment he arrives, Hank is caught again in the complicated web of family obligations, community expectations, old grievances, and long-buried secrets that drove him away.
Most troubling is the question that has haunted the Doyles for nearly a decade: Did Hank’s beloved Aunt Lily really take her own life? Or was her death connected to the political and financial interests of her husband, J. R. Kent—a driving force behind the Cowans Ford Dam and the creation of Lake Norman?
The lake brought a new future. It also covered the old one.
As Hank and Beverly struggle to escape toward Los Angeles, one delay follows another. Family crises emerge. Then Bill reveals a secret that threatens not only his own future, but the entire Doyle legacy.
Before Camp Meeting is over, another secret will be buried, old betrayals will come to light, and a surprise wedding at the campground will become a public celebration for Denver—and a private tragedy for the Doyle family.