Left with her stepfather's relatives on Cape Cod following his sudden death, Melody feels utterly marooned. The wealthy, tight-lipped Logans harbour dark secrets, and no one but their good-hearted son, Cary, will breathe a word. Then her mother dies in a car accident and Melody is left feeling more alone than ever.

Forced to live in the room and wear the clothes that belonged to Carey's dead twin sister, Melody sometimes feels she has no identity at all. She manages to escape from the family by taking a summer job with Kenneth Childs, the man she believes might be her real father. And from the moment she learns that she and Carey aren't real cousins, the tender affection she feels for him matures into something much stronger. But although Carey has pledged his love for her, she knows she cannot echo his words until she discovers the buried truth about her past.