Mary Gardner, a financial administrator at Perry College, decides she must leave the painful memories of her past relationship behind her. She happily accepts a position at Chapelplace Academy for boys at her aunt's insistence. However, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the headmaster, Jake Cluttering, a dark brooding man haunted by his own past but who desperately needs Mary's financial expertise to save the failing school. Gertrude Miller, the flamboyant art teacher, is determined to win Jake's heart and thwart Mary's plans to save Chapelplace. When Mary finds herself caught up in a web of lies and emotional confusion, she finds she must rely on her instincts to save the man she loves from himself.