Emma Rose's story begins four months after Pearl Harbor is bombed. She and two friends from work go to the USO. She intends to enjoy a soda, a few dances, and then go back to the orphanage where she grew up and still works at night in exchange for room and board. Then fate intervenes to bring Lt. Thomas Stratton there to escape his overbearing father's house for a few hours—a father determined to convince his injured son that he should give up flying for the Navy and stay home to help run the family tire plant.

Their worlds are so different. Can their relationship survive? When someone mentions his possible political career, Emma knows her background will hinder him. Does she have the right to encourage their blossoming love? With interference from friends and family, not to mention the war separating them, the young couple are left wondering how to fight the war raging at home and abroad.