Sweethearts from a young age, Claire and Joe seem destined for that “happily ever after” life. Shortly after they marry, however, the country enters World War II, and Joe, an experienced pilot, joins the Air Force. The day every military wife dreads, comes to pass. Joe is shot down on a bombing mission over Germany, and is declared missing in action. Unbeknownst to anyone, he is captured and given the I.D. tags of a fallen soldier. The crash leaves Joe with no memory of his past, so he assumes the identity of Tommy Warner.

Meanwhile, Claire and Joe’s beloved grandfather are struggling to make ends meet. She is distraught over Joe’s disappearance then after two years of hoping for his return, she gets word that Joe is presumed dead. Grandpa encourages her to move on, to go somewhere she’ll have a better chance at making a living, but she refuses. One day, while having lunch with one of Joe’s colleagues and his wife, they bump into Joe’s co-pilot, Peter. In that chance encounter, Claire is given the gift she’d been waiting for all these years. Peter tells her Joe is alive. He’d seen him a year after the crash, but when he called his name, he didn’t respond, that he must not have heard.

With renewed spirit, and against Grandpa’s advice, Claire takes her life savings and embarks on a journey to find her husband, her lifelong friend, her soul mate. Her search brings her to the town of Harris where her car breaks down. As fate would have it, Joe lives there, working as an airplane mechanic, but when she approaches him in the café, it becomes clear he has no idea who she is. As far as he knows, he’s Tommy and always has been.

To be close to Joe, Claire takes a job as a waitress in town. Now she must find the patience and faith to restore Joe’s memory of their life together and rekindle the love they’d shared. Doctors advised Claire to go slowly, as a sudden onset of recollections could be fatal, but time may not be on Claire’s side. Another woman in town has eyes for Joe.