A New Orleans psychic and a good day in the stock market lead computer whiz Julia Mooney to the little town of Sutter Creek, where, in a fog of compulsion, she buys an old house she doesn't need, for reasons she doesn't understand. The quaint community, with its Duck Races and rodeo, its haunting Memorial Day services, its Italian parade and eccentric expatriates from metropolitan life, gradually draws Julia ever more tightly into life in Sutter Creek-past and present. Is it chance-or destiny-that leads to the discovery of what lies mysteriously hidden within the old house? Is coincidence and intuition but a juxtaposition of things not seen, nor understood, but inevitable-like love that, despite time and circumstance, will not be denied?