Olivia's ex-husband wants her back, which makes her on-again, off-again relationship with newspaper editor Jack Griffin even rockier. Elsewhere around town, Olivia's daughter finally follows her heart and marries her high school sweetheart instead of the troublemaking older man she'd been dating; Zach and Rose Cox find their marriage falling apart when Rosie begins neglecting her family for volunteer work; and Maryellen Sherman, the manager of the local art gallery, becomes pregnant after a brief affair with an artist. Despite all these goings-on, the book's main focus is librarian Grace Sherman, whose husband of 35 years is still missing after disappearing six months earlier.