When shy Cole Saunders sets out for Nowheresville, Colorado, to interview a reclusive artist, it’s mostly to prove he’s capable of doing the job. He doesn’t expect a house and garden so elaborate and secluded that he’s forced to rely on his subject, Lucian Thomas, for anything he needs.

While Cole is trying to get a read on his host, Lucian turns the tables on him, knowing more about Cole than should be possible, wielding an uncanny ability to draw Cole out of his shell. And something even stranger is happening in the garden, which seems to rearrange itself at its master’s whim. Lucian claims he wants to set Cole’s world on fire, but all Cole can see smoldering is the tension between them.