| Director | Andy Fickman |
|---|---|
| Genre | film based on a novel, melodrama, romance film |
| Runtime | 100 min |
| Country | United States |
| Box office | $37,820 |
Emma recalls meeting her eventual husband Jesse 15 years previously at a high school keg party with her best friend Sam. Now, at her parents,' celebrating her recent engagement to Sam, she gets a shocking call from Jesse, saying he is still alive, four years after he was declared dead.
Emma remembers her first kiss with Jesse in the police station, taken in for attending an underage party. Both are anxious to leave their small life and experience the world so they head out to do it, Jesse as a photographer and Emma as a writer. Exploring the world, he proposes after six years. They marry in Maine by a lighthouse near his cabin.
Jesse disappears in a helicopter crash a year after the wedding, on his way to an Alaska assignment. So, Emma moves back to Acton, Massachusetts, in an effort to mend her life back together. Working at her family bookstore in town, her older sister Marie constantly tries to guide her.
Four years later, Emma runs into her old best friend, Sam, and they become inseparable. Newly engaged, she receives an unexpected phone call revealing Jesse is alive. Completely torn, Emma must now choose between her husband and fiancé.
Jesse's return is heavily televised. Just before he arrives to his parents', they warn Emma that Jesse knows nothing about her new engagement. They have an empassioned kiss on camera, but in the house she tells him about her engagement.
Later, at home with Sam, after he expresses insecurity after seeing Emma kissing Jesse on TV, Emma and Sam make love. Waking, he sees she is not wearing his engagement ring. As Emma has mixed feelings about whom she loves, she temporarily moves out until she can figure out her feelings.
Marie, Emma's older sister who has been pushing her for years to move on from Jesse, takes her in. Emma picks him up by car and sees her family briefly, before they drive to the Maine cabin for the weekend. When Emma does not respond to text messages Sam sends her, he has a meltdown in his high school band class, eventually keeping them and much of the school listening until the end of the day talking about Emma.
At the cabin, Jesse and Emma discover new things about each other. She has tattoos and, since moving back east, her life focus is different. Emma is more sedentary and is content to run the family bookstore, no longer interested in their nomadic lifestyle. Moving back to New England, she eventually was able to heal from the pain of Jesse's believed death. Emma now wants kids, which they had never discussed.
Although his driving license was revoked upon his declared death, Jesse and Emma get pulled over for speeding. Showing the officer the articles about his disappearance-reappearance he gets let off the hook. However, in the process not only does Jesse see that Emma reverted to her maiden name, but he also finds an old letter addressed to him.
Climbing the nearby lighthouse, Jesse reads the letter. In it, Emma explains how her grieving process over him evolved over the first three years. At first in denial, Emma submerged herself in books not about death or love. Then she crossed paths again with Sam, and the former best friends eventually begin a relationship. By the time Jesse finishes the letter, both he and Emma realise they no longer work.
Back in Acton, Emma seeks out Sam. Accidentally rear-ending him at a stop light, they both get out of their cars and profess their love for each other.
Two years later, a pregnant Emma gets a letter from Jesse. He thanks her for helping him survive his ordeal. Jesse has also moved on, is living in California and in a new relationship.