It is 1964, 10 years after Gary Blanchard's high school adventures in The Hayloft. He and his love, Penny, are going on the trip of their lives, and, oh yes, they're getting married along the way. What they don't know is that they're being stalked by Alfred, a high school classmate of Penny who has a bellybutton fetish.

Gary and Penny met through a Los Angeles computer matching service, and they're positive they're meant for each other. Penny is afraid that her previous flip attitude toward marriage may jinx her. Her best friend, Emily, was murdered a year ago, two days before her own wedding-and she was ideal marriage material. Why should Penny be luckier?

Alfred has never been successful with girls-he attributes his problems to his outie bellybutton-but he knows that Penny is the girl for him. He intends to get her any way he can, and he is prepared to do whatever is necessary to eliminate Gary.

The suspense crackles amid some of the most scenic spots in the western United States, including Lake Tahoe, Reno, Crater Lake, Seattle, and in Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks, as well as the redwood trees and rocky cliffs of the northern California coast.