Four young people are playing tennis beneath a hot Portuguese sun. A wedding has been arranged between two of them - Lucy and Andrew - and the small English community at San Domingos is looking forward to the celebrations. But among the people who live and work around the thriving copper mine, life is not as serene as it seems. The heat of mid-summer raises tensions, suspicions flourish and tempers fray. Infidelity threatens to break up friendships and a shock brings about the early death of a well-loved doctor. When it seems that nothing else can go wrong, an explosion at the mine leads to an arrest. Only Eduardo, the young Portuguese doctor, seems untroubled by the gathering storm. A visit from Andrew's parents draws closer but does nothing to heal the rifts. If anything, it makes matters worse. Can anything be done to avert the approaching disaster?