1895 was the year life as a grownup began for Lilly Baker Elliot when she took notice of Tom Elliot, a handsome bachelor farmer. He began to spend time in her parents general store, not knowing what he wanted to buy. It became very clear to Lilly that he just wanted to spend time with her. Lilly was a bright fifteen year old, and Tom was twenty three. For Lilly's mother, Bernice, this was a match she had been working toward for years by showering Lilly with fashionable clothes to catch the eye of all the Ford Crossing, Iowa's single men. Tom Elliot was not just single, he owned a farm and a good home. He knew how to make his farm pay and give Bernice's daughter a good home. For a few years after the town's most lavish wedding, life for the Elliots was ideal. Tom and Lilly were deeply in love. They had three children and one on the way. But then tragedy struck. Circumstances changed for Lilly to make her life unbearable.