As a powerful, educated businesswoman (and occasional drag race winner), Dot Berkeley has never minded standing out at Buckeye Lake. After all, by 1947, she's been helping her father run the amusement park since she was a girl. Yet, when she is accidentally involved in the tragic death of a beloved local icon, she finds herself unable to handle both the wrath of the community and her own trauma.
She ends up in full runaway-and-retreat mode out at Festival Farms. After all, the same accident left war hero Levi "Smokey" Black needing a hand with pumpkins and Christmas trees. His idealism in a hurting post-war world turns out to be what Dottie needs, too, as she buries her pain in labor and marketing ploys.
The problem is, Smokey's holiday wonderland is far from where she knows her own path ultimately lies, and Dottie is just as far from the sweet, domestic wife Smokey had planned to seek when he returned from battle. Having grown up competing, they butt heads over everything from flirtation to religion.
When their personal projects both bend to accommodate others who also need healing, though, they find themselves accidentally bending toward one another, as well.
Obedience based on faith comes at a cost - but also comes with joy - as Dottie and Smokey find their way from shame and guilt to purpose and love throughout the growing season, the harvest, and the holidays.