At twenty, nearly everyone thought Pat ought to be having beaus -- except, of course, Pat herself. For Patricia Gardiner, Silver Bush was both home and heaven. All she could ever ask of life was bound in the magic of the lovely old house on Prince Edward Island and the people who shared it with her, especially her dear mother and father, her sister Cuddles, and the indefatigable Judy Plum.

No, Pat could never bear the thought of abandoning Silver Bush... nor her dream of one day running the house "where good things never change." And now there was more to do than ever, for the Christmas family reunion, entertaining a countess, playing matchmaker to her poor Uncle Tom and preparing for the arrival of the newly hired man, Mr. Tillytuck.

Yet as those she had come to love so dearly began to move away -- including Hilary Gordon -- Pat began to question the wisdom of her choice of Silver Bush over romance. And soon she would have to face the most troubling question of all:

Was it possible to be loney at Silver Bush?