<p>While working in a lab just months after graduating with a BA in chemistry, Barbara met Ray Esposito, a real scientist, who had recently experienced a personal tragedy. They began a risky affair, considering themselves "star-crossed lovers." As they worked toward their dream of being together, they were blithely unaware that they were walking over minefields that would eventually threaten Barbara's very survival.</p><p>Their relationship began with life on the lam, starting a family, and establishing a business selling paint removers and recycling dirty solvents. Ultimately the EPA designated Ray's facility as a Superfund site, and Ray became a scapegoat. The publicity was crushing. They never knew where friends and family members really stood, and they were stabbed in the back more than once.</p><p>Things started snowballing in a way that tested not only their love for each other but their sanity. What happened next propelled Barbara into a downward spiral, and al