Deeply religious April Epner (Helen Hunt), a 39-year-old Brooklyn elementary school teacher, finds her life derailed by a series of events over which she has no control. Her husband Ben abruptly leaves her, her abrasive adoptive mother Trudy passes away the following day, and shortly after she is contacted by Alan, a representative of Bernice Graves, the flamboyant host of a local talk show, who introduces herself as her biological mother. Although intrigued by Bernice's claim she was fathered by Steve McQueen, April initially resists her efforts to forge a relationship. At the same time, she finds herself attracted to Frank, the divorced father of one of her students, as the two get to know each other via lengthy telephone conversations. For their first date he escorts her to a party at Bernice's apartment. Complications arise when April discovers she is pregnant, the result of a quick and clumsy coupling with Ben on the kitchen floor just before he left her. April has longed to have a child all her life and is delighted with the news, but is confused and upset by Ben's sudden return, Frank's hasty departure, and Bernice's insistent attempts to create a bond btw them. Not helping the situation is the discovery Bernice voluntarily put her up for adoption a full year after her birth and not three days later at the urging of her parents, according to the scenario she initially presented. When April miscarries, her brother Freddy tries to counsel her, but ultimately she must rely on her deep-rooted faith to deal with the betrayals she has suffered not only at the hands of those she trusted but by the God she worships as well.