It is 1999 and Kosovo refugee Niana Bolsa is abandoned by the Serbs to fend for herself in the mountains. In freezing temperatures, the distraught woman staggers along an empty road through virgin snow. At the point of near collapse she comes across a tractor and trailer by the roadside with two terrified children hiding there. Their grandparents have been shot and mother taken away. Determined to save the children, Niana takes them and heads for Albania. With all records destroyed, nobody queries her right to the children and they emigrate to New Zealand

Matt Coleman is attracted to the new tenant of his New Zealand shop, Niana Bolsa, when she opens a food bar adjacent to his antique and furniture factory. Niana is reluctant to commit herself beyond friendship and says little about her life.

Eventually, friendship between Niana and Matt blossoms into passionate love as they and Niana's foster children become a family.

But the terror so prevalent in Niana's past surfaces again…with a vengeance.