Includes bibliographical references.

Newspaper columnist Peyton MacGruder is proud of three things: her immaculate VW Jetta, her status as a strong single woman, and her ability to whip out her Tampa Times column, "The Heart Healer," in record time. But when her editor learns that "The Hear Healer" ranked last in a recent reader poll, Peyton is given only three weeks to change either her column or her job. Then the unthinkable happens. PanWorld Flight 848, en route from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Tampa International, bursts into flame and crashes into Tampa Bay. All 261 passengers and crew are killed. For one week, Peyton and her fellow reporters cover the nation's worst air disaster with numbed emotions and then try to move on. As Peyton puzzles over how to attract more "Heart Healer" readers, a woman she's never met gives her a plastic bag that has washed up behind her house. The bag contains a note, almost certainly from the doomed flight, with a simple message: "T., I love you. All is forgiven. Dad." It's the perfect story to attract readers for Peyton's column. As the unfolding story gains statewide and then national attention, she combs through the passenger list to find victims whose children's names begin with T. She's determined to deliver the note to its proper owner.