Maddy and Martin Brennan have a good marriage and two healthy children, Jess and Patrick. When Martin's lost at sea, though, Maddy's in for a shock: it transpires that her home is mortgaged and the family's finances are in a perilous state. Beaten down by a bitter feud with her brother and by her son Patrick's troublesome behaviour, Maddy carelessly steps in the path of a runaway horse and loses her life. It's left to young Jess to make something of the future. From near destitution she launches a business of her own, earning back the prosperity and respect her mother had in the end lost. But heartbreak lies ahead, and when love is on offer, is the man who wants Jess's heart worthy of it?