Elmbank was lucky to have a surgeon as brilliant as "Smokey" Howdershell join the staff of its hospital. The townspeople were appreciative but curious. Why did the big, good looking doctor always parry questions--about his past and his marriage? Even his two teenage children never mentioned their mother. Soon the gossips started rumors that Smokey and Jannie Osbourne, the pretty first grade teacher, are more than friends. Jannie wished that it were true. From the day Smokey had moved into the big house across the road from the cottage, she had dreamed about being his wife.

Then Smokey was involved in a tragedy at the hospital. The grand jury would have to decide if he would have to be held for trial. During the hearing Jannie listened as the jigsaw of the doctor's past was fitted together--the defeats, the triumphs and the final startling disclosure--the secret Smokey had guarded so long and so well.