Jane Porter is traveling back to her hometown of Twin Rivers, Rhode Island, with a heavy heart. She has stayed away as much as possible for the last 15 years, while her sister, Sylvie, has remained in town and taken care of their ill mother. The girls' mother was once a proud school principal who raised her brilliant daughters alone after her husband deserted them and then, because of her pride and fear of abandonment, convinced young Jane to give her newborn child up for adoption when the father wanted nothing to do with them. Jane has always regretted that decision and now wants to see her daughter. The opportunity arises when she meets her daughter's uncle, Dylan, who has lost his wife and daughter. Dylan and Jane both have an aura of tragedy about them. He and Jane become involved, and through him she develops a relationship with her daughter, Chloe, without revealing the fact that she is Chloe's birth mother.