Vivian is a polished, ambitious New Yorker who recently lost her father, Hank, to a heart attack. She prefers the busy environment of the city over the rundown, rustic town of Fox Hill. Planning to sell the family cabin to fund a new business venture with her boss, her plans are interrupted when she discovers her father had a second family. She is exacting, quick to anger, and carries resentment regarding her father's secretiveness.

Lucy is a high school English teacher who grew up in Fox Hill, Maine. She has always known about Vivian's existence but was relegated to spending only the month of July with her father. Recently asked for a divorce by her husband, she views the family cabin as a vital emotional refuge and desperately wants to prevent its sale. She often feels inadequate due to the limited attention she received during her childhood.

Celeste is a famous and prolific romance novelist who lives in New York. She is Vivian's mother and was Hank's wife. Preferring to maintain a polished public persona, she often seems emotionally distant to her daughter. She prioritizes her writing career and outward appearances over vulnerable personal connections.

Dawn works as a server at a local restaurant called Miss Pancakes in Fox Hill. She raised Lucy as a single mother while maintaining an unconventional, limited dynamic with Hank. She is emotionally stable, unpretentious, and maintains an open, affectionate relationship with her daughter.

Hank is the recently deceased father of both Vivian and Lucy. He divided his life between his primary family in New York and his secret summer family in Maine. His sudden death from a heart attack forces his two separate worlds to collide, leaving his daughters to process his choices and the unequal ways he distributed his time and resources.

Oscar works with Vivian in New York City and serves as her boss. He is married to another woman but maintains a secret relationship with Vivian, promising her a future together. Vivian plans to use the proceeds from the cabin's sale to start a new business with him.

Patrick is a local carpenter in Fox Hill and Lucy's estranged husband. He recently asked Lucy for a divorce, forcing her to move out and sleep on her mother's couch. Despite initiating the separation, he occasionally checks in on Lucy during her period of mourning.

Caleb is a local Fox Hill resident who works part-time at the pub and at a nearby tourist adventure park. He has known Lucy since kindergarten and provides her with a strong support system. He also shares a brief, previously undisclosed romantic history with Vivian from four summers ago.

Paige is Lucy's fiercely loyal best friend in Fox Hill. She offers Lucy a place to stay and provides immediate emotional support and companionship when Lucy is dealing with the loss of her father and her failing marriage.

Harrison is a man Lucy encounters by chance at the library in Fox Hill. He asks for her phone number, introducing a potential new social connection for Lucy just as she faces the collapse of her marriage and the loss of her job.

Carla is Oscar's wife back in New York. According to Oscar, she and he function basically as roommates, though her presence remains a significant complication in his ongoing relationship with Vivian.