Five-year-old Cherry has always believed her father, Carlisle, will come home whenever he leaves for the hospital. Before one of his final departures, Carlisle gives her a small wooden bird he carved himself, promising that it will remind her of him whenever he's away. Cherry turns it into a necklace so she can keep him close. But Carlisle never returns. After becoming a vampire, he stays away, believing his absence is the only way to protect his daughter. Cherry is raised by kind neighbors, including Miss O'Malley, while carrying the wooden bird and the memories of the father she thinks abandoned her. As she grows older, she forms an inseparable bond with Edward, and their friendship slowly becomes a love that lasts a lifetime. When the Spanish influenza strikes, Cherry and Edward become gravely ill and confess their love while believing they are dying. Carlisle finds them and refuses to let them die, turning them both into vampires. Now Cherry must face the father she lost centuries ago, discover why he left, and decide whether the man who disappeared from her childhood can finally become the father she always needed.