Quiet, unassuming, and overweight Lillian Manville did anything and everything to please her husband, the illustrious self-made billionaire James Manville. Since the tender age of seventeen, she had obeyed this powerful older man's every command and in return she received a life beyond her wildest dreams.

But when Jimmie dies suddenly in a plane crash, Lillian's pampered life comes to an abrupt halt. She learns that Jimmie has bequeathed all of his riches to his devious siblings. All, that is, except an old farmhouse in small-town Calburn, Virginia.

Although Lillian is devastated by Jimmie's death and apparent betrayal, her unexpected circumstances quickly transform her for the better. She loses weight and, with the help of Matthew Longacre, a kind, handsome local man, begins to renovate the farmhouse and establish friendships with Calburn's quirky townspeople. In time she develops her own thriving business and an inner strength she never knew existed. But, though Lillian's new life seems as strong as the mulberry tree firmly planted outside her farmhouse, there remain secrets and lies that threaten to uproot the past she cherished and the future she will fight to protect.