Life held little joy for Celia Murray. Forced by poverty to leave her aunt, who had been her only source of love and warmth, Celia goes to the city to find a job. There she tries to make the best of her new home: a dreary boarding house.

Then everything changes. Celia receives an unexpected inheritance and sets about to make her dreams come true. She sends for her Aunt Hannah, and together they work a miraculous transformation on the old boarding house, making it into a place of warmth and laughter. Yet Celia struggles with a sense that there is something—or someone—missing.

Enter handsome Horace Stafford, minister of the mission chapel. At first Celia believes this is a man whose faith and compassion matches her own. But when a terrible misunderstanding comes between them, will Celia ever be able to confess, even to Horace, the deepest desire of her heart?