In 1924, Elisabeth Wallace returns to Napa by train after a five-year sojourn to St. Louis, where she became one of the first women in America to receive a degree in veterinary science. A lost letter is delivered on the second day of her return. The letter is from Albert, a man she once loved and planned to marry before she saw another girl in his arms. That incident caused Elisabeth to flee to St. Louis to try to forget Albert. Elisabeth relies on her faith, and, quoting her favorite scripture, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," she reads the letter. The letter causes even more confusion about what she saw in the orchard all those years ago. She finds herself drawn into the past, involved in a mystery she is afraid to solve because she isn't sure she wants to know the answers.
