Jenny Thompson, adopted as a toddler, is the first woman President of the United States. She's beautiful and intelligent. Her ideals have captured the imagination of people everywhere, but in one corner of the world there are some who would rather see her dead. She's just getting to know one of her twin brothers who were given up at birth, but he has a dark secret that could lead to her assassination. She's never met the other twin, and he doesn't know she exists. Meanwhile, a tall stranger follows the events of her life and the lives of both brothers. He remembers the woman he loved, then left behind years ago to serve his country, and he longs for a life that might have been. Love, like a rose, dies slowly. Romance and intrigue collide as Roger Anderson works to save the life of the woman who could just as well have been his daughter. Stories left untold over the course of decades come to light, and for three people born in a small northeastern Pennsylvania town, nothing will ever be the same again.