 Sandra Bullock plays Lucy

Ellenore Moderatz, a lonely

fare collector on the
Chicago elevated railway.
The highlight of her days is
selling a token to a
handsome commuter,
Peter Callaghan (played by
Peter Gallagher), on whom
she has a secret crush.
Working on Christmas,
Lucy witnesses Peter being
mugged and pushed onto
the tracks, and she rescues
him from an oncoming
train. Peter falls into a
coma and she accompanies
him to the hospital, where
she fantasizes aloud, "I
was going to marry him". A
nurse overhears her and,
misinterpreting the
situation, tells the head
physician, a policeman and
Callaghan's family that
Lucy is his fiancée. At first
Lucy is too caught up in
the madness of everyone's
panic to tell the truth, and
after that she is too
embarrassed to.

An orphan with few friends,

she becomes so captivated
with the quirky Callaghans
and their unconditional
love for her, that she
cannot bring herself to hurt
them by revealing that
Peter doesn't even know
her. She spends a delayed
Christmas with the family
so "they can get to know
each other". Lucy then
meets Peter's younger
brother Jack (Bill Pullman),
who has taken over his
father's business and is
always working. Jack is
very suspicious at first,
saying Peter never
mentioned Lucy or a
marriage, which is not like
him. Later on, after
spending some time
together to get acquainted,
Jack starts to realize that
he himself has feelings for
Lucy.

Then complications arise.

Peter wakes up, not
remembering Lucy at all,
but by this time the rest of
the Callaghan family has
become so enamored with
Lucy that they all naturally
assume that Peter must
have amnesia. Forced by
his family, Peter and Lucy
spend time together, while
Lucy doesn't know how to
tell them the truth,
especially now that she has
fallen in love with Jack.
Peter is convinced by Saul
(Peter and Jack's
godfather, who knows
about Lucy's secret) that
Lucy must be his true love
if he really proposed to
her, so he does it "again".
Lucy freaks out by the
unexpected questions and
agrees. Lucy confides in
the kindly Saul, who
believes that Lucy belongs
in the family. Yet the
elderly widower can't bring
himself to tell the family
about Lucy either. Lucy
forces herself to be happy;
she's with the man she
wanted to be with her
whole life.

The day before the

wedding, Jack visits her to
give her a present - a
snowglobe of Florence,
Italy, the place that she
has always wanted to go
to. As he leaves, Lucy asks
him if he could give her
any reason why she
shouldn't marry Peter. Jack
hesitates before saying
that he cannot give a
reason, and angrily leaves.

On the day of the wedding,

Lucy starts to feel more
and more guilty over her
lie and her feelings for
Jack, when it's actually
Peter she's marrying. She
walks down the aisle,
where Peter is waiting with
Jack, who is his best man.
The priest begins, but
during the words "Dearly
beloveds, we're gather
here today...", Lucy
suddenly objects. Jack is
surprised and objects too.
She tells the family who
she is and what went
wrong in the hospital. She
tells the parents she's
fallen in love with their
son, but points out that it's
not Peter, but Jack. Also
showing up to object to the
union is Ashley, Peter's real
fiancee, whom the family
learns also happens to be
married. As the family
argues, Lucy leaves,
unsure of her future.

The final scene opens with

Lucy on her last day of
work at the station. As she
accepts tokens from
passengers, an
engagement ring falls
through the toll window.
When Lucy looks up, she
sees Jack and his family
standing. Jack passes the
token collection line and
proposes to Lucy.
The film ends with the two
happily married in wedding
attire, on the back of a
train departing from the
station, complete with a
sign reading "Just Married".