On March 18, 1925, a tornado roars through the southern portions of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, wiping town after town off the map as it ripped through forests and farmlands, over peaks and hollows, and across the mighty Mississippi River at speeds sometimes exceeding 70 mph. When the greatest tornado disaster in recorded history finally came to an end some 219 miles later, 695 people laid dead and more than a dozen towns and hundreds of farmsteads were left in splinters.

Emma Larson is a teacher in a small community outside of Annapolis, Missouri, and lives with her grandmother to help with expenses. She's never wanted to be anything else but a teacher, despite the occasional unruly child. This year, the child who challenges her is the son of the town's handsome doctor. While Emma's heart goes out to the motherless boy, she insists the father take a firmer hand in disciplining his child.

After the death of his wife two years before, Dr. Jesse Baxter wants only what is best for his son, whose behavior changed for the worst after his mother's long illness. He had high hopes that school would give his son something to focus on other than death. It seems not to be the case. His son is fascinated with anything to do with death, often stopping to examine dead animals on the side of the road. Jesse is at his wit's end and asks the lovely schoolteacher for help.

Can these two help rebuild a town while letting down the walls around their hearts and find love?