Introduction:

While picking up his son and daughter for a weekend visit, Jack (Christopher Meloni) tells his estranged wife Adrienne (Diane Lane) that he wants to move back home. Adrienne says she needs time and space to think. It is made clear that Jack left his family for another woman.

Adrienne drives to Rodanthe, North Carolina to a friend’s bed and breakfast for the weekend. The house is rustic, romantic and right on the beach.

There is only one guest for the weekend, Paul (Richard Gere), a surgeon who arrives at the inn with his own emotional baggage. He has flashbacks of a surgery which ended tragically. The family of the patient, who live in Rodanthe, is suing him.

A storm moves in and the two team up to protect the inn. They dine together, share stories and eventually turn to each other for emotional comfort. A tender romance starts. With Adrienne’s help, Paul faces the patient’s family and in doing so faces his own pain.