One year after Joanna Sullivan's husband, Kyle, died while fighting a house fire, Joanna makes a desperate attempt to start over. She moves to a new town, embarks on a new career at a local aquarium on the Oregon coast and attempts to refurbish a run-down duplex. Then Austin, her husband's brother, visits unexpectedly. He offers to stay and help her with the much needed repairs. Joanna soon discovers, however, that Austin's presence is proving more disturbing than helpful. His resemblance to Kyle is uncanny, thwarting her resolve to put her husband's memory to rest. Worse, she is strongly attracted to Austin, a veterinarian. He shares her love of nature, and the two find common ground as they work together to help clean up the beaches and save the native birds and wildlife from the encroachment of civilization.

Can Joanna let go of her grief and love Austin in his own right? Or will he always remain the ghost of her ex-husband?