Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life. In 1967, she is a schoolgirl coping with her mother's sudden disappearance. In 1977, she is a college coed considering a marriage proposal. In 1997, she is a young widow trying to piece her life back together. And in 2017, she yearns to be a grandmother, yet the prospect is dimming. So when Willa receives a phone call from a stranger, telling her that her son's ex-girlfriend has been shot. Without fully understanding why, she flies across the country to Baltimore to look after a young woman she's never met, her nine-year-old daughter, and their dog, Airplane. The impulsive decision will lead Willa into uncharted territory -- surrounded by eccentric neighbors, plunged into the rituals that make a community a family, and forced to find solace in unexpected places.