Moving to Pennsylvania wasn't in Madeleine's original plans. She should still be in California and should have married her pilot fianč a year ago-but death has a way of changing everything. Now the former Air Force flight nurse is living alone in Paradise, Pennsylvania, and working as a maid at the Lancaster Grand Hotel. She isn't exactly a widow but she sure feels like one. Saul Beiler isn't exactly a widower but his wife is long gone. His eleven-year-old daughter, Emma, doesn't know that her mother fled the Amish community-and married another man-but she does know that her dat is lonely, and that a pretty young maedel just moved in next door. Madeleine's numb heart begins to thaw as she spends more time with the innocent and ever optimistic Emma. The stronger her friendship grows with the young girl, the more intrigued Madeleine grows about the humble, strong man raising her on his own.