In an Oregon logging community, mill owner Ray Weiss faces raw timber shortages due to government interference. He worries about having to layoff his sixty workers, and comes up with an idea to partner with their Japanese competitors. Ray eases his stress by going fly-fishing with his wife, Jean. She surprises him by suggesting they make love in the woods. Later, Ray returns to work, and Jean keeps in touch with her step-daughter, Tracy, who is away at college. Afterward, Jean visits with her friend, Beth and they share their mutual worries over money troubles. Beth reveals that her husband, John, has become physically abusive. However, she will not allow Jean to report him to the authorities. Ray goes fishing with a young man named Scott, and shares his knowledge of the sport. Later, Scott admits that he knows Ray’s daughter, Tracy. Ray is approached on the street by an evangelist, and is surprised when the young man calls him by his name. Ray warns the man not to bother other townsfolk with his aggressive approach. Jean tells Ray that she received a disturbing letter from Tracy, which accuses her father of sexually abusing her. Jean reads the letter aloud describing how Tracy has been exploring vague memories from her childhood, and refuses to come home for a visit. Ray is dumbfounded. Jean asks him point-blank if the accusations are true and he vehemently denies any abuse. Ray destroys the letter, and Jean is unsure what to believe. She considers Tracy to be like her own daughter, and implies that Ray is capable of lying by mentioning that their relationship began when Ray cheated on his former wife. Ray accuses his daughter of acting crazy, and is stunned that her allegations make him seem like a “monster” to Jean. In time, Jean asks her friend, Beth, what to do. She wants to visit Tracy at college, but knows that doing so will put a wedge between her and Ray. When Beth asks if she believes Ray is guilty, Jean is unsure and breaks down in tears. Sometime later, Ray receives a telephone call at the mill from Tracy’s boyfriend, Scott, and learns that Tracy committed suicide. Ray races home to tell Jean, but he arrives to find that she, too, has killed herself. Ray crouches over her body and sobs. After a while, he drives to the river and shoots himself in the head.