LuAnn Tyler is an unwed mother striving to escape a life of endless poverty. Then a mysterious Mr Jackson makes her an offer he thinks no one can refuse: a guarantee to be the winner of the $100 million lottery.
But LuAnn won't do it. Less than twenty-four hours later, she is fighting for her life and running from a false murder charge. Jackson's offer - and its condition that she leave the country forever - seems her only hope. However, ten years later, LuAnn secretly returns to the Unites States to begin a new life with Matthew Riggs, a man whose origins are as murky as her own. But a canny reporter has picked up her trail, as have the FBI - and Jackson.

Tragedy strikes the New York based Cardinal family when their car is involved in a terrible accident. Twelve year old Lou and seven year old Oz survive, but the crash leaves their father dead and their mother in a coma. It would seem their world has been shattered forever until their great-grandmother, Louisa Mae, agrees to raise the children on her Virginia mountain farm.