Cotton Barrington is a twenty-something woman recently married to Lonnie
Gordon, a widower with a young son. She would like to have a baby but but fears passing down undesirable traits since she doesn't know the identity of her birth father. Her mother, Vivian Brice a famous stage actress, has told her she couldn't be sure of the paternity. In the meantime, Charlotte Brigham, Cotton's best friend, needed her to do a favor at the rectory of Father Henry Quinlan, a close family friend of the two women, and former boyfriend of Cotton's mother. While dusting a bookshelf in the priest's inner office, Cotton found what she believed was evidence that the priest was her father. This jolting revelation sent her on a frenzied journey to shed past demons ad present obsessions in a place of refuge where her life became endangered, leaving her frail and in a muddled state of mind. She all but dropped out of life and ended all commerce with Father Henry, and by association, his religion.
From that point on, the lives of Father Henry and Cotton diverged. Her adjustment as a new stepmother and wife proved daunting enough, but her greatest challenge was healing which meant restructuring her thoughts and her outlook on life. And Father Henry, disturbed by this sudden alienation with Cotton, left town for Africa where his professional and personal lives took on unanticipated changes. Throughout it all, Charlotte, Cotton's loyal friend who seems to have it all, plays a pivotal role in their lives. She may have had the best of intentions in her attempt to reunite Cotton and the priest, but in the end, could she really be trusted?