Fed up with boarding school and frustrated with the way others have planned his life, John Baker Jr. wants a change — anything to shake up his staid routine. The moment arrives when he stumbles upon a woman, Patty Vare, unconscious in a field. Deciding to risk it, John takes her to his dorm to look after her, much to the disapproval of his friends. John’s decision proves fateful as he and Patty grow close to one another. However, she may be keeping secrets from him.

Ruth Duffy is getting by on an assistant’s salary at a pricey school for girls in Manhattan, managing to move beyond the trouble and loss of her teenage years. Jonny Collins is working local jobs near the Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx. When they cross paths after years apart, Jonny is as consumed with Ruth as he was in their high school days, and he infiltrates her life for love and profit.