Dominic Valliant, at eighteen, had spent half his life helping his widowed mother support him and his older sister, Peggy. His knowledge of the world, and especially the fairer sex, was nil when he happened into a position with the wealthy, powerful Farnsworth family. With a solid work ethic and natural intelligence, he soon becomes known as Farnsworth's Golden Boy, and he comes to love and respect Daniel Farnsworth as both a mentor and father figure.
When Daniel's daughter, Faye, seduces Dom into believing that she is in love with him, he marries her, uncertain as to the meaning of true love. His sense of duty and obligation leads him to believe it is the right thing to do, despite his sister Peggy's warning that Faye is from a different world than his.
After several miserable years of believing he is failing as a husband, Faye informs him that she has never loved him and that the son she bore him was actually fathered by her lover. Despondent and uncertain as to how to deal with this revelation, he decides to distance himself from Faye and her family, sacrificing the child he loves to assure the boy a normal life. His love for flying leads him to join the army air corps at a time when the war in Europe is in need of qualified pilots.
Salli Cahallan lost her family through a tragic incident that would have scarred most children. But Salli is not your ordinary child. Raised by her loving uncle and aunt, she attains a maturity beyond her years, and at the tender age of sixteen, she captures Dom's heart and shows him the true meaning of love, a love that burns bright through two wars and shared hardships and will bind them together forever.