The prequel for the Lockets & Lace series. Sent to America in 1849 to avoid inscription into the Bavarian army preparing for war against Prussia, Wilhelm Mueller, a master jeweler and watchmaker, goes with his father’s promise that he will always have a little touch of Bavaria with him. His British cabin mate on the ship who knows German helps him learn English. He meets some of his fellow passengers, including a group of Irish refugees escaping the potato famine. The lace made by a certain young woman captures Wilhelm’s attention as much as her pretty face and curly hair. Upon landing in New Orleans, he finds everything is new in his adopted country, including his name. After sailing by steamboat up the Mississippi River, he stops at what was in 1850 the crossroads of America. It is there he holds to a touch of his homeland by opening his Bavarian Jewelry and Watch Repair shop. Over the decades, as he becomes known for a particular kind of jewelry, he realizes he has gained more by coming to America than what he left behind.