Marcos Tremmer is a successful advertising executive living in Madrid, deeply in love with his wife, Luci?a. One day, Marcos discovers that a deadly illness will end his life within a few months.
While out riding in the country, wealthy New Yorker Alec Walker meets young widow Julie Eden, and a relationship quickly develops. However, Alec has not told her that he is already locked into a loveless marriage to the avaricious Maida, who has contrived to convince his parents she is the ideal wife. A completely coincidental car crash alerts the two women to each other's existence, a situation to which they react very differently.