Runaway Groomsman

Hollywood screenwriter Sawyer Walsh stands as best man at the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, Annalisa Morton, and his former best friend, Simon Fredrickson. Annalisa cheated on Sawyer with Simon while they were all working on a film Sawyer wrote, and the studio pressured him to play along for public appearances. During Annalisa's vows, Sawyer snaps. He steps forward, raises both middle fingers at the couple, and runs down the aisle, losing one powder-blue shoe on the church steps as paparazzi cameras flash behind him.

With no plan, Sawyer drives until he reaches Canoodle, California, a quirky mountain town of 2,510 people in the San Jacinto Mountains. He stumbles into the local bar, Beggar's Hole, still wearing his blue tuxedo and one shoe, and drinks himself unconscious. Fallon Long, who manages her grandfather Sully's lodging business, Canoodle Cove Cabins, recognizes Sawyer immediately: They once went on a disastrous blind date in Palm Springs where he ignored her the entire time, glued to his phone. He does not recognize her at all. Fallon and her best friend Jaz, the bartender, drag him to a cabin for the night.

The next morning, Sawyer's brother Roarick calls to tell him the wedding walkout is trending everywhere. Sawyer sees the stunning view from his cabin and decides to stay in Canoodle rather than face the media at his LA apartment. His agent, Andy, delivers more bad news: Movieflix, the streaming platform that holds his contract, demands a new romance screenplay pitch or his career is finished.

Fallon is under immense pressure. She gave up her nursing career to care for Sully after his Alzheimer's diagnosis, a promise she made at her grandmother Joan's grave. The cabins are in disrepair, and her two dads, Izaak and Kordell, reveal they have been paying her wages from their own account because the business cannot afford them. They warn that if she cannot turn things around, they may have to sell.

Sawyer's connection to the Cove begins accidentally. He encounters Sully by the lake, and Sully angrily accuses him of breaking a bench that has actually been deteriorating for years. Recognizing the signs of Alzheimer's, Sawyer takes responsibility and volunteers to fix it. At Village Hardware, he meets Tank, Sully's best friend and Jaz's grandfather, who helps him select supplies. Sawyer, a former contractor, repairs the bench by hand, and Sully inspects it with characteristic gruffness but approves.

This begins an unspoken arrangement. Sully, who sometimes calls Sawyer "Phil" after his deceased brother, directs him to fix more things around the property, believing him to be a hired worker. Sawyer paints the picnic tables red (Grandma Joan's favorite color), restrings lights, clears horseshoe pits, and builds benches. Tank, helping with later supply runs, refuses payment, telling Sawyer his money is no good since he is helping Sully. During the work, Sully shares stories about his courtship of Joan: how he fell in love with her while she was dating another man and waited patiently, respecting her relationship. Sawyer begins to recognize parallels to his own growing feelings for Fallon, who has a boyfriend named Peter, a doctor who visits from Palm Springs on weekends.

Fallon discovers the restored picnic area, a place where she used to cross-stitch with Grandma Joan, and is moved to tears. When she struggles with the lobby renovation, Sawyer steps in with professional skill, and they complete the new floor in a single evening. Over shared pizza, they have their first real conversation, and Fallon begins to see him differently. Sawyer also secretly finishes a handicap-accessible cabin that Sully had been building for Izaak, who uses a wheelchair, before Sully's Alzheimer's worsened. When Fallon discovers the finished cabin, she is overwhelmed. Sawyer asks to formally help with the remaining renovations, and she agrees to a deal: He works, and she provides dinner.

Peter grows strained by the distance and by Fallon's inability to say "I love you." He notices Sawyer's closeness with Fallon and becomes territorial. After a difficult conversation, Peter and Fallon break up amicably. Peter wants to pull her back to Palm Springs; Fallon wants a partner who embraces her life in Canoodle. That night, Sawyer confesses his feelings. Rather than responding with words, Fallon takes his hand and entwines their fingers.

Their relationship builds slowly. Sawyer asks Fallon on a proper date and builds a small wooden hut at the back of the property, strung with lights and filled with pillows, a private spot he designates as theirs, mirroring Sully and Joan's bench. Under the stars, they share stories and wine. He tells her he is staying in Canoodle permanently. At the end of the night, Sawyer tries to kiss only her forehead, but Fallon pulls him down and kisses him on the lips. She believes it could be her last first kiss.

Reservations pour in for the grand reopening. In a casual moment, Sawyer says "Because I love you" for the first time as he leaves the lobby. Fallon is stunned but realizes she feels the same. The reopening is a success. Fallon asks Sawyer to move into her room since his cabin is needed for a guest, and that night they make love for the first time.

The crisis comes when Annalisa arrives unannounced. She apologizes for cheating, reveals she has split from Simon, and returns Sawyer's missing blue shoe before heading to a mental health retreat. Sawyer pulls her into an empty cabin to keep the encounter private, but Jaz sees them through a window, misreads the situation, and slashes Sawyer's tires. Meanwhile, Sully falls and injures himself, and Fallon rushes him to the emergency room.

At the hospital, Peter consoles Fallon as a friend and doctor. Sawyer arrives hours later, driven by Roarick, and sees Peter holding Fallon. Consumed by insecurity rooted in Annalisa's betrayal, he accuses Fallon of running to her ex without asking about Sully. Fallon, devastated, orders him to leave.

Sully's injuries prove manageable. Fallon learns from Jaz what really happened with Annalisa and concludes Sawyer was telling the truth, but his accusations have deeply wounded her. Jaz, recognizing she projected her own past trauma, visits Sawyer at his family's vineyard and apologizes, and they become friends. Back at the Cove, Sully, in a moment of lucidity, tells Fallon that love requires patience and that "sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for."

Fallon finds Sawyer waiting at the picnic tables under the string lights, holding a single daisy, her favorite flower. He tells her this is where Sully first told him about Joan and where he fell in love with her. Fallon forgives him, telling him he is the only man she has ever said "I love you" to. They reconcile with a kiss.

The epilogue jumps forward in time. Sawyer and Fallon are married, expecting a daughter they plan to name Joannie, and have built their own cabin on the Cove property. They stand as best man and maid of honor at Jaz and Roarick's wedding. Sully lives on the property with a full-time nurse, and he and Sawyer still work daily on a kayak Sawyer has been building for years. Sawyer's Runaway Groomsman screenplay was a hit with Movieflix, earning him a new multi-movie deal. He reflects that Sully's words proved true: The best things in life are worth waiting for.