The night before her move to Story Lake, Zoey attends the Italics gala in Manhattan, an annual publishing industry event, this year honoring Navya, the president of Hazel’s new publisher. Reflecting on her precarious finances, Zoey considers selling her designer wardrobe. At the gala, she meets her old publishing friend Valentino, who shares gossip that Jim Whitehead—Hazel’s ex-husband and Zoey’s former coworker at Beau Monde (BM), her old agency—faces professional consequences for sleeping with a young client he signed to a predatory contract and dropped after her first novel appeared to fizzle out.

Zoey expresses interest in poaching Earl Wiggens, a lucrative but difficult author, from BM, despite Valentino’s warnings about his sexist behavior. Like Jim, Wiggens is present at the gala. Soon, Jim and his colleague Colin confront Zoey about trying to lure Wiggens away; Colin reveals he knows she has contacted the author. When Navya arrives, Zoey introduces Jim as the ex-husband who tried to steal Hazel’s books during their divorce. Jim insults Hazel and Zoey to Navya, and Zoey reveals he previously called Navya’s company trash. Jim denies it and calls Zoey a talentless child who is holding Hazel back. Enraged, Zoey throws vodka in Jim’s face, splashing herself and Navya. Earl Wiggens makes a sexist comment about women being too emotional before Zoey flees in shame.

In the restroom, Navya finds a mortified Zoey and reassures her that she believes in both her and Hazel, but advises Zoey to work on impulse control. Navya insists Zoey return to the ballroom with her head held high.

Hungover from the gala, Zoey drives her broken convertible Miata to Story Lake on moving day. She worries Jim’s insults about her holding Hazel back might be true. Zoey’s despair lifts momentarily when Hazel and the three Bishop brothers surprise her with a welcome banner at her new apartment. Gage helps Zoey assemble her bed frame. Exhausted, Zoey collapses on the mattress and asks Gage if he thinks she is bad for Hazel. He lies down beside her and reassures her that Hazel is lucky to have an agent with her loyalty and hard work.

Hazel enters, teases them about lying in bed together, and says she is getting new ideas for her next romance novel. When Zoey asks if Hazel would be better off with a more experienced agent, Hazel vehemently refuses the notion and tells Zoey not to let Jim affect her.

Cam reports a problem downstairs: Levi fixed the car roof but left the top down, allowing Goose the eagle to perch in the vehicle with Zoey’s expensive crystal-embellished bra in his beak. Gage’s parents, Frank and Pep, arrive with housewarming gifts. Using Goose’s favorite organic dog treats, Gage coaxes the bird to drop the bra—but as Zoey moves to retrieve it, Goose winks, snatches it again, and flies away. Pep reassures Zoey that disastrous beginnings can lead to the best new chapters.

Three hours after the eagle incident, the Bishop family has helped unpack most of Zoey’s belongings. When Gage and Levi hang her television, Pep and Frank announce their plan to convert the family farm into an animal sanctuary and ask Zoey to handle the publicity. She agrees and offers initial ideas, while Gage privately bristles at the prospect of Zoey spending more time near his home.

Cam announces that Gage is looking for a wife, prompting family teasing. Gage lists the qualities he seeks in a partner—organized, thoughtful, smart, financially independent, responsible—which the others mock as boring. He admits he uses dating apps. Cam and Levi wrestle him to the floor, steal his phone, and pass it to Zoey, who offers to improve his profile before he snatches it back.

Hazel and Cam reveal their housewarming gift: they have transformed the dining room into a fully furnished home office for Zoey. Overjoyed, she hugs them both, then cups Gage’s face and gives him a platonic kiss on the lips when he mentions he helped paint the space, affecting him more than he expected.

After everyone leaves, Gage secures a bookcase to Zoey’s wall. Lying on her bed talking, she tells him about Sam, a serious college boyfriend who broke her heart, before changing the subject to tease him about his wife hunt, saying his sperm are not getting younger. The word flusters Gage while they are on the bed together, and he makes a hasty exit to put some distance between them.

On Sunday, Laura’s children—twins Wes and Harry and 16-year-old Isla—give Zoey a farm tour. They pressure her into feeding Fart Blaster 2000, a large Holstein cow, and after her initial terror passes, Zoey enjoys petting the gentle animal. She also meets Pepe, a miniature donkey who thinks he is a dog and greets her by headbutting her chest.

Gage arrives to continue the tour. He apologizes for seeming like he dislikes Zoey, admitting he finds her unsettlingly attractive but was keeping his distance because she does not fit his plan for a life partner. Zoey teases him and admits she also thinks about him naked.

At the pond, Nana jumps into the water. Gage removes his shirt and wades in to retrieve her, stumbles, and falls under before grabbing her collar. Back on shore, Nana slips her collar, rolls in a mud puddle, and shakes vigorously, splattering both of them. Zoey bursts out laughing and gives Gage the playful nickname “sexy swamp beast.” Nana jumps on her, knocking her into the mud as well. Gage helps her to her feet and says they need to get cleaned up.

Gage takes Zoey to his converted barn house to clean up. He directs her to his shower while he washes Nana. Exploring downstairs, Zoey finds Gage’s home handsome but sterile and impersonal. She showers in his luxurious bathroom while he leaves clean clothes for her.

They meet in the kitchen for wine and discuss the town gossip that would follow if she were seen leaving in his clothes. After devising an overly complicated escape plan, they realize the simplest solution is to wait for her clothes to dry, since her keys are at his parents’ house anyway.

On the front porch, Gage shows her the names of the Bishop siblings etched in concrete, a family tradition started by his grandfather. Touched, Zoey feels a pang of yearning for the close family which she has never had. The moment turns charged as she and Gage stand close together, his hands on her waist and hers fisted in his shirt. Gage asks Zoey if she is certain she is not the partner he is looking for. Flustered, Zoey says she is pretty sure and breaks the tension by loudly declaring her clothes must be dry. They agree to avoid each other. Later, a text exchange shows Zoey reaching out to her sister Carla for a chat, and Cara responding dismissively.

With Zoey staying above his office, Gage finds avoiding her difficult. Arriving at his workspace, he finds sparkly stilettos on Declan’s desk and learns Zoey has asked for Declan’s help in selling the shoes. Annoyed that his law office is being used as a thrift shop, Gage gets even more flustered when he hears a thump and screech from upstairs. He goes over to investigate.

To Gage’s shock, he finds Zoey with her arms stuck above her head, trapped in a sports bra rolled up to expose her bare breasts. A red-faced Zoey asks for his help to get out of the garment. Gage tries to remove the sports bra from behind, but the garment is too twisted. When Zoey gets ticklish, her backside bumps his erection, freezing them both. Frustrated with Gage’s awkwardness, Zoey spins around and places his hands on her breasts so he can get over her nudity. She suggests bouncing to loosen the bra, which only intensifies Gage’s arousal, until Gage rips the bra in two and collapses on her couch.

Gage asks Zoey to get dressed, as her nakedness is distracting. Zoey drapes a shawl around her shoulders. In response to Gage’s question about her stilettoes, Zoey admits she is selling her wardrobe to make rent and refuses Gage’s subsequent offer of a discount. Late for a meeting, Gage asks Zoey if he can use her shower. In the shower, Gage masturbates, feeling ashamed about misusing Zoey’s space this way. After he joins Zoey outside, they agree to keep the sports-bra incident a secret, lest it inspires endless teasing from the Bishop siblings. When Zoey teases Gage about being a good guy, Gage pins her against the wall and tells her his good-guy persona does not extend to the bedroom. She propositions him for sex. He touches her breast and tells her he wants more than sex—which he knows she cannot give him—then releases her, reflecting that she drives him to desperation but is not someone he can marry.

At Perked Up café, Zoey and Hazel meet for coffee. Zoey tells Hazel about the sports bra incident and confesses her confusing feelings for Gage, acknowledging their mutual attraction despite their incompatibility. Hazel thinks Zoey is sabotaging a potential relationship because of her parents’ divorce and her heartbreak with Sam. At Hazel’s urging, Zoey directs her and café owner Jennifer Jang in a re-enactment of the sports bra incident for book research.

Zoey then visits the Haven to pitch herself as an agent to Opal again. In the building’s lobby, Zoe rummages through her bag for her phone, calling herself “stupid” for being disorganized. Opal overhears Zoey berating herself and brings her upstairs. Opal asks Zoe if she has trouble following a conversation in a noisy place. When Zoey responds yes, Opal asks her more questions about Zoey’s daily struggles. Revealing she used to be a psychologist, Opal diagnoses Zoey with ADHD, explaining that women and girls often present differently and are diagnosed late. She gives Zoey two books on the subject. Zoey realizes there is a reason for her lifelong so-called “stupid” and “irresponsible” behavior.

To Zoey’s delight, Opal then reveals a drawer full of unpublished manuscripts—five and a half romantasy novels—and agrees to let Zoey represent her, admitting she hid the manuscripts as she is afraid of failing near the end of her life. Zoey tells Opal she is hardly near the end, seventy-three being the new fifty-three. When Zoey asks for more ADHD advice, Opal tells her to focus on her strengths and make her weaknesses more interesting rather than trying to fix them. They seal the partnership with a drink at eleven-thirty in the morning.

Gage meets with his divorce client Audrey, a high school acquaintance whose alcoholic husband got a DUI with their sons in the car. Gage firmly reassures Audrey that she is doing the right thing in leaving her husband and that worthwhile changes are often frightening, then finds his thoughts consumed by Zoey as he prepares for an upcoming dating app date.

Gage’s sister Laura arrives at his office with a woman and a toddler. Gage recognizes the woman as Valerie Hillport, the driver from the crash that killed Laura’s husband, Miller, and left Laura in a wheelchair. Consumed with rage, he is shocked when Laura asks him to legally defend Valerie against the charges.

In the conference room, Laura explains she has forgiven Valerie and they have been in contact. She recounts the accident: Valerie was a sleep-deprived nurse and young mother who glanced away for one second to get her toddler a pacifier. Laura also reveals her own guilt—she had insisted she and Miller run on the road that morning to avoid muddy sneakers from the track. She begs Gage to take the case to prevent Valerie’s children from losing their mother. Torn, Gage agrees to speak with Valerie, who tearfully recounts the morning of the accident, takes full responsibility, and says she had planned to plead guilty. Overwhelmed, Gage tells her he cannot give an answer today and abruptly ends the meeting.