At age sixty-five, Emily Alexander fell and broke her hip. Since she had been living alone and had no friends to help out, she was forced to recuperate in Willowbrook Care Center. Carefully maintaining her hidden identity, she registers with her alias Maggie Winters. Fortunately, she quickly makes friends with roommates Florence and Hazel, a pair of eighty-somethings that likely will live out their days at Willowbrook. Having spent much of her life playing piano professionally, the residents were the thankful beneficiaries of her impromptu concerts.

Feeling trapped and impatient with being confined, Emily's thoughts drift back over her life. She had always been seeking the purpose of her life, but never seemed to find it. Why did it happen that most were chosen, but a few, like her, were not? She had struggled to fill the hollow darkness in her heart. Her occasional dreams, vivid and lifelike, often sustained her as she grappled with one heartbreak after another.

Emily looked forward to regaining her independence and resuming the simple lifestyle, hidden from professional snoops, that she shared with her dog Minnie. At some point, she had accidentally learned too much of the truth. Would they still be looking for her? Was she just being paranoid? And the question always in her heart, what could this bit of knowledge possibly have to do with her mission in life?