It's 2 a.m. on a Saturday night in the spring of 2001, and twenty-eight-year-old Cecily Gardner sits alone in a dive bar in New York's East Village, questioning her life. Feeling lonesome and homesick for the Midwest, she wonders if she'll ever make it as a reporter in the big city -- and whether she made a terrible mistake in breaking up with Matthew, her longtime boyfriend. As Cecily reaches for the phone to call him, she hears a guy on the barstool next to her say, "Don't do it -- you'll regret it." Something tells her to listen, and over the next several hours -- and a few shots -- she and Grant forge an unlikely connection. That should be it, they both decide the next morning, as Cecily reminds herself of the perils of a rebound relationship. Moreover, their timing couldn't be worse -- Grant is preparing to take leave from his job and travel overseas. Yet despite all the obstacles, they can't seem to say goodbye, and for the first time in her carefully constructed life, Cecily follows her heart instead of her head. Then Grant goes missing in the chaos of 9/11. Fearing the worst, Cecily spots his face on a poster and realizes she is not the only one searching for him. Her investigative reporting instincts kick into action as she vows to discover the truth. But the questions pile up quickly: How well did she really know Grant? Did he ever really love her? And is it possible to love a man who wasn't what he seemed to be?