When an estranged black friend refuses the Congressional Medal of Honor for service during World War II, retired judge Albert Finch, still mourning the death of his wife, tries to find out why and in the process solves a mystery, heals his friendship, saves a marriage, and falls in love.
A four-character drama set in 1910 Kansas, which revolves around a withdrawn, widowed father, his children Anna and Caleb, ages 9 and 6, and Sarah Wheaton, a compassionate yet feisty single woman from Maine who responds to Jacob's advertisement for ""a kind woman to share a life—to make a difference; no picture necessary."" Giving herself a month's trial to make that difference, Sarah finds herself battling against Jacob's stubborn ways, Anna's uneasy resentment, and the memories of wife and mother that haunt father and daughter.
A small-town naif suspects that her visiting uncle is a notorious murderer.