Our story begins with our character, G. C. Baxter, on an 18-wheeler long-haul run where he is pulled over and told his wife (Jo) and daughter (Adrien) were in an auto accident while he was more than two thousand miles from his home in Olympia, Washington. His employer set up emergency flights to get him there ASAP.
During the flight, he flashes back in his thoughts to when he first got a crush on Jo and when she made him a touching promise before high school graduation. Upon landing in Seattle, he learns from his dad that Adrien succumbed to the accident, and Jo was unconscious in ICU at Harborview Trauma Center. She would remain there for several months.
GC describes the agony of the funeral and the heartache he had to endure from the loss of his sweet five-year-old little girl and Jo's slow healing progress. He describes the mangled and twisted steel that was once his beautiful car and describes what happened. He shares flashbacks of their dating years. Jo's condition becomes so painful, she gives up. It is because of the many intercessory prayers, cards and letters, and visits of family and friends that she pulls through, although she remains hospitalized for therapy for several months.
Meanwhile, GC takes up flying, hoping to eventually become a pilot for UPS. During this time, he nearly crashes the plane trying to land. And then another time, he gets lost above the clouds and runs low on fuel. With the guidance of radio operators, he is able to make a safe landing with the engine running on fumes. GC's hopes of ever becoming a pilot for UPS dies when he does some foolish maneuvers in flight.
During another flashback, we learn of GC's courting and the day when Jo's dad gave his beautiful daughter away to him. Prior to the wedding, Jo and GC make elaborate and hilarious plans to foil an expected shivaree.
During this sequence, we learn of the happy time of their marriage and the birth of Adrien. And we learn how CG wound up driving long-haul trucks until Jo's terrible accident.
Jo's and GC's parents were approaching retirement age, and eventually, GC resigned from his job at UPS and began taking on the duties of farm life.