SURPRISE #1: Her client, dead in his salad plate. SURPRISE #2: Detective Raphael Montiel. Caterer Kate Mulhern's life was suddenly full of surprises. And her knee-buckling attraction to the rogue cop assigned to protect her was the biggest shock of all. For steel-bodied Raphael wasn't the sort to get cold-cocked by Cupid. So Kate had to remember that his strong embrace was merely a tactic to make her safe. His heated, watchful eyes were only keeping surveillance. And his kisses were nothing but…pure love?

FAITH, HOPE, LOVE... Stephen discovers how profoundly his six-week experience with Arianne changed him with school's resumption. He feels her presence daily and finds he must carry forward the lessons she taught. He meets Gina Cameron in his first class of the new term; she helps Stephen teach his first important lesson through song. Stephen's friends also make discoveries in their lives. Richard Fuller returns to his classes in Philadelphia more confident and assertive than in the past. Andrew Thompson finds changes in his high school orchestra ... some of which enormously displease him. His actions have repercussions far beyond Arianne's final lessons for him. As school progresses, Stephen, Doug, and Jason prepare the orchestra for their fall performances, the first of which takes them to an elementary school. Stephen meets second-grader Elinor Rogers through an unexpected musical duet. The little girl simply astonishes him. Andrew Thompson's outburst forces both his principal and orchestra teacher to reassess their positions on the school's music program. Andrew has thrown them a challenge which they simply cannot ignore. Consequently, Stephen and Doug make a return trip to the Philadelphia area, where they lead an orchestra clinic for Andrew's orchestra--the orchestra where Arianne once played. The trip inspires the young men from Clarkstowne to make new friends and deepen their friendship with Andrew. And, during this trip, Stephen has another encounter with seven-year-old Elinor, who will put everything he learned from Arianne to the test. She and her mother are on the bus with Stephen and Doug for the return trip to Clarkstowne; when the bus crashes, Stephen discovers that, suddenly, he is all she has left in this world ... where the only gifts he can give her are faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love...