Dannilynn Kelly may have been date-raped, but she sets aside how badly her first year at college ended, eager to work at Joel Taylor's veterinary clinic on Cedar Island. There she meets Ben Edwards, a veterinary extern. His friendship becomes her key support when she discovers she's pregnant. Determined to keep her pregnancy a secret, she returns to college, but her worst fears are realized when her father pays her a surprise visit at private Buckley College. He demands that Danni give up the baby. Unwilling to do so, she moves back to New Harbor. Ben is present when she gives birth and the two of them revel in parenting Danni's baby. Then the unthinkable happens. Although each is in love with the other, neither Ben nor Dannilynn acknowledge their feelings for each other until a final crisis, precipitated by Danni's former boyfriend, that threatens Ben's externship and his future career as a veterinarian.