After the ten year old daughter of her best friend, Gracie, witnesses the brutal beating of her mother, she turns to Ashley for help. Ashley knows going to the police is not an option. The girl's step-father is the culprit and with his connections there is no place to hide in Nashville. A key on Karlyn's necklace leads them to a post office box where Gracie has stockpiled money for just such an emergency. They also find a letter that instructs them where they should go -- Paradise, Pennsylvania. Perhaps the only place they will be safe, if not because of the distance, because of the person they will find there. Karl Miller, Karlyn's father. They make the long trip north only to find Karl doesn't even know he's a father -- not that it matters. He takes to his new role as father just as instantly as he takes to his role of protector.