Corrie is a young adult woman living in 1950s America. She sits with her father, the owner of a shoe factory, speaking to a man not much older than herself, Howard. Howard is not rich–he works as an architect–but he is already married and has kids. When Corrie is on a family vacation in Egypt, she sends him a postcard. Not long after, her father has a stroke and dies. Howard comes to comfort her, and they begin an affair. The affair goes swimmingly at first, but then, one of their mutual friends, Sadie, catches wind of it. To get her to keep quiet, the couple agrees to send her money twice a year. The affair continues for a while, and life changes rapidly: Corrie takes up a job as a librarian, Howard moves to Toronto and his children grow, but they still take the time to see each other. One day, Corrie learns that Sadie has died. She goes to her funeral but comes too late and misses most of the proceedings. At home, later that night, she considers telling Howard about the death of their old blackmailer, but then she decides against it. She figures: why do something to ruin their unbreakable bond?