1. Twelve year old Brady, on the death of his parents, comes to live with Aunt Mattie, a great-aunt he never knew about.

2. Self-educated and brilliant, Aunt Mattie enrolls him in the local high school and Mr. Cavender, the math teacher, becomes a father figure and mentor to him.

3. Through Mr. Cavender he meets Mimi Cavender who will ultimately be his love interest as they both go through their teen years. They become very close friends and then lovers, but Brady is not ready to settle down and wants to experience more in life.

4. Brady graduates high school at sixteen and goes off to a major university on a full scholarship due to his brilliance in mathematics. Mimi stays in Wellmore and attends a local college because there is no money for her to go anywhere else. She graduates and teaches at the local high school. Brady goes on to get a PhD and acclaimed writer.

5. On Brady’s visits home during these years he and Mimi get back together again. Mimi loves Brady and never wants anyone else, but Brady refuses to commit to her and has a series of casual relationships. There is a climactic scene when Mimi finally confronts Brady about how she feels used by him.

6. Confused and angry at Mimi, Brady goes off leaving Mimi and Wellmore behind and then Aunt Mattie dies. He comes home for her funeral and when Mimi tries to comfort him, he turns on her in anger and vows never to come back.

7. Several years pass and Brady, now wealthy and renowned in is field, realizes his life is shallow and none of his money or fame is giving him what he wants most. Love. He goes back to Wellmore to Aunt Mattie’s cottage. He is now the owner and has kept it maintained since Mattie died, and he decides to stay a while and see if he can get is life back on track.

8. In the intervening years, Mr. Cavender has also died, and Brady now regrets that he never told him how much he had meant to him. Mimi, who was left with caring for him during his waning years, is still in Wellmore, still teaching, and has never married.

9. With both of them now in their forties, and neither of them married, Mimi learns from the cottage caretaker that Brady is coming back for a while and decides to see if there is still anything between them despite the hurt and anger they have inflicted on each other over the years.

10. There is a critical scene when they first meet at the cottage. Will they truly get together? Hmmm….