Alone and struggling with the loss of her father, an iron worker on the Golden Gate Bridge who was pulled to his death while trying to save someone from jumping, Katie Connelly immerses herself in her job at San Francisco State University. While researching the history of the bridge, she finds a journal from an Irish worker named Patrick O'Riley hidden behind one of the panels on the bridge and tries to track down a member of the O'Riley family so she can return the family heirloom. Coincidentally, Dave Riley, a widower from New York and grandson of Patrick O'Riley, is on a motorcycle trip to ride to the Golden Gate Bridge. Overwhelmed with grief for his lost family he, too, contemplates jumping from the bridge. Katie helps him and is able to return the journal to him.