Joyce Brookes, an aspiring dancer, met CDR Vernal Moody at New York Medical Center in 1988 while volunteering. Vernal was recuperating from an accident after being run off the road. After his discharge, they became friends and soon began dating. Then the Gulf War began, and Vernal was deployed to Iraq in November 1990. Initial reports claimed he had been killed while attempting to detonate a land mine. Devastated and pregnant, Joyce decides to keep the baby despite the backlash. In August 1991, she gives birth to her daughter, Madison Joy Brookes.

It is now 2009, and Joyce is losing her battle with cancer. A month before her passing, she learns that her beloved Vernal is alive. She manages to contact him, but it's too late for her to introduce their daughter to her father. On the very day they were to meet, Joyce dies. Her final wish is for father and daughter to get to know each other. Joyce's dying request is for Madison to live with Vernal for a year to build a connection. But will it work-and how will Madison cope with this "Lazarus" returned from the past?

When they finally meet, they become instant adversaries. Will time and forgiveness bridge the divide between them?