In Your Dreams

The fourth and final installment of the Rome, Kentucky series follows Madison Walker, a 30-year-old self-described family failure, as she returns to her small hometown to run a restaurant she does not feel qualified to lead, while falling in love with the man who secretly built it for her.

Madison barely graduates from the Culinary Institute of New York, passing only because extra credit from scrubbing lab countertops pushed her above the failing threshold. She hides the ceremony from her siblings: Emily, Noah, and Annie. Her time in New York has been defined by loneliness and sustained psychological abuse from Chef Davis, her internship chef, who publicly berated her for months and ultimately fired her. Madison wants desperately to go home but refuses to return without a plan, unwilling to confirm her reputation as the sibling who always fails.

While trying to call Emily, Madison accidentally dials James Huxley, the 34-year-old owner of Huxley Farm and Noah's lifelong best friend. They have always had a teasing, antagonistic dynamic, but James listens as she breaks down and confesses she has lost her passion for cooking. After a long pause, he tells her he is opening a restaurant in his late grandmother's old greenhouse and offers her the position of executive chef. Madison accepts, not knowing the restaurant did not exist before this call.

James's perspective reveals he has been secretly in love with Madison for nearly a decade. The farm is in steep financial decline, and his younger brother Tommy, a successful hospitality developer in Los Angeles, had previously urged James to open a restaurant to generate revenue. James refused until Madison's call gave him a reason to say yes. He phones Tommy and asks him to develop the project and find investors within roughly three and a half months. Tommy reluctantly agrees.

Four weeks later, Madison arrives in Rome. Tommy picks her up and flirts openly. Madison states a firm rule against dating colleagues and reveals she has been practicing celibacy, a personal decision from her final year in New York. At Hank's bar, she and James reconnect and make a pinky promise to become genuine friends rather than people who merely tolerate each other through Noah.

James carries his own burdens. His father Martin had a heart attack two years earlier, leading to a congestive heart failure diagnosis and retirement to Florida. James took over the farm, but declining revenue has left him overworked, and a doctor confirms elevated blood pressure. He hides all of this, unwilling to reveal how much the farm depends on the restaurant succeeding.

James shows Madison her new living quarters, a cottage he renovated from an old potting shed, complete with her old bed from Emily's house and a bedding set gifted by his mother Ruth. The Greenhouse's glass-walled dining room takes Madison's breath away, but stepping into the professional kitchen triggers a severe panic attack: The fluorescent lights and steel surfaces catapult her back to Davis's kitchen. James carries her out without pressing for details.

Days later, Madison confronts James on his back porch, where she catches him secretly smoking. She asks whether the restaurant was created as a safety net for her. He insists it was not and that she is the best person for the job. Madison reveals her panic attacks stem from Davis's sustained abuse. James tells her she can run the kitchen however she wants, that no rules require her to replicate the culture that traumatized her. She teaches him to make cinnamon sugar toast as a stress alternative, and he hugs her for the first time.

James takes Madison on his weekly produce delivery route to reignite her inspiration. At the home of Della and Victor, an elderly couple who have received free Huxley produce for generations, Della makes a simple tomato sandwich that sparks Madison's breakthrough: The restaurant should honor Southern food and her roots, not imitate New York trends. On the drive home, James buckles Madison's seatbelt, tells her she is "extraordinary," and kisses her temple, crossing the line from friendly to something more.

When Tommy sends extravagant flowers, James confronts Madison. She demands one reason he does not want her to date Tommy, and James advances until their breath mingles before a delivery man interrupts. Later, in her cottage, Madison confesses she cannot stop thinking about James. He offers to kiss her to see if it gets the attraction out of her system. The kiss is deliberate and tender, confirming for both that their feelings run far deeper than friendship.

They travel to New York, where James challenges Madison to experience the city without the isolation that defined her years there. Madison meets Chef Zora Brookes, her culinary idol, who validates her trauma, shares her own early failures, and normalizes the feeling of inadequacy as something that becomes easier to manage rather than disappearing.

Back in Rome, James helps Madison reenter the kitchen by replacing the fluorescent lights with warm lamps. He throws flour onto the pristine countertops, provoking her until she shouts she will get in trouble. The outburst forces her to realize no one in this kitchen has power over her. She tosses flour into the air, reclaiming imperfection as joy. They cook through her entire menu, and the night ends with a passionate encounter. James asks Madison to date him exclusively; she agrees but requests secrecy until after the launch.

Three days before the soft opening, Madison confesses to her sisters that she is in love with James and rushes to tell him. She arrives to find Tommy has flown in their parents. James's mother Ruth privately reveals he has been talking about Madison during their weekly calls "for years and years." Tommy then forces a confrontation in front of Martin, revealing everything James has hidden: The farm is failing, the restaurant was created to bring Madison home, and James has refused a stabilizing contract with Anderson Food Distributions. Tommy also discloses that he contacted Davis and learned about Madison's difficult record, and repeatedly urged James to hire a more experienced chef. Madison overhears from the hallway and flees.

James chases her. Madison confesses she barely graduated and feels undeserving. James dismisses her academic record and reaffirms his belief in her talent. He reveals the full scope of his feelings: He has loved her for a decade, ended a previous relationship because he was in love with someone else, and created the restaurant because her happiness was worth any risk. Madison tells him she loves him, and they spend their first night together.

James reconciles with Martin, who insists his son stop shielding him and supports the decision to take the distribution contract. Tommy and James make peace; Tommy admits his flirting with Madison was a deliberate strategy to provoke James into acting on his feelings and reveals he is secretly the restaurant's sole financial investor, having funded it himself because no outside investor would accept the risk.

The soft opening is chaotic: a broken stove, staff absences, software failures, a walnut allergy scare, and a parking-lot fistfight between James and Tommy captured by paparazzi present to photograph Amelia, Noah's wife and pop star Rae Rose. Madison retreats in tears, but Mrs. Mabel, the town's beloved matriarch, delivers tough love. Madison returns, addresses her guests with humor and grace, and finishes to a standing ovation.

In the aftermath, the family gathers at Hank's. Amelia reveals she, not Annie, is pregnant; Annie had been faking her avoidance of alcohol to protect Amelia's secret. James reports his blood pressure has returned to normal. Madison spots Mrs. Mabel and her rival Harriet watching television together, confirming her matchmaking worked. A food journal review praises the Greenhouse, calling Chef Walker's food "a love letter to the town that raised her."