A father's work is never really done; then again, neither is a lover's.

After a few ups and downs, Alec "Smoke" Avery and Anne Phillips have found a rhythm they can both groove to, and they've made a love connection, which is just fine with their sixteen-year-old son, Isaiah. Four years later, when the grooving really starts to get good, the past comes back to haunt them in ways they never imagined.

With Isaiah off at Kentucky State on a basketball scholarship, out of harm's way and destined for the NBA, Smoke and Anne think they can rest easy. But Isaiah's old nemesis, Hood, isn't done wreaking havoc in Isaiah's life. When he reaches out and touches Isaiah on campus and almost destroys Isaiah's life, Smoke is forced to make his presence known to the thug once again.

On the home front, Smoke and Anne seem to be growing further and further apart each day, partly because of Smoke's wandering ways and partly because of Anne's emotional baggage. Things get tense when Anne decides to do a little wandering of her own and Smoke can't take the competition. And things go from bad to worse when, in the midst of a heated lover's quarrel, Smoke and Anne commit the perfect murder to save their son and themselves. When the smoke clears, truths will have to be told, and Anne will have to accept that she and Smoke are more alike than she cares to admit.