Jordan Burroughs is the artist-in-residence at a college in the Deep South where she paints endangered aquatic lilies growing in the rocky shoals of the nearby river. While waiting for the rare flowers to bloom, she meets Maddie Grendel, the attractive and single English professor, and Tammy Palmer-Maxfield, heir to a fortune and wife of a greedy entrepreneur, who invite Jordan to paint on her vast estate.

The town is quaint, the professor charming, but strange occurrences at the college's historic guesthouse challenge Jordan's rational perspective. A mischievous gin-drinking ghost more than complicates her budding romance with Maddie. When a storm tears through town, the river and the special ecosystem it supports are threatened by toxic waste. Swept unexpectedly into conflict to protect the river at any cost, Jordan must make some dangerous decisions.