Clyde Griffiths was born poor, but his prospects improve when he is hired by an uncle who owns a shirt factory. Despite a warning to stay away from the women he manages, Clyde begins a love affair with a young factory worker named Roberta, but neglects her when he catches the eye of Sondra, a glamorous socialite. When Roberta turns up pregnant, Clyde's hopes of marrying Sondra are threatened and he responds with desperation.

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything fro Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty. Parents and children alike are best friends-so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born. When the midnight calls come in from the hospital, no one is prepared for the appalling truth; Emily is dead at seventeen...

Young lawyer Molly Gifford, disappointed once again by her mother, refuses her boyfriend Daniel Hunter's pleas and leaves Hawkens Grove, New York, on the trail of her elusive father, but when her newfound parent is accused of murder, Molly turns to Daniel for help, convinced he is the only one who can properly defend her dad, and Daniel accepts, looking for a chance to even the score on broken hearts.