Dr. Rebecca Dugas has chosen the privacy of country life on a lake near what she and her neighbors believe is a nature preserve. Deer browsed in her fields; wild turkeys visited her bird feeder - until one day bulldozers arrived and began to clear for what Rebecca was told will become a large housing development. Both the mayor and the president of the town council claimed ignorance about the project.

Rebecca is informed that her mother, who has Alzheimer's, is being sued for attacking a fellow resident in her retirement home. The town's annual Fourth of July celebration puts Rebecca's godchild in the hospital. Rebecca and others fight City Hall over the housing development. Her new love interest, a furniture builder named Baily Alcus, learns that his long-estranged and vindictive wife is coming after him for everything he's got - including his dog.

Her friends have their own crises: best friend Fannie Scobie fears her fourteen year old son has become a sex addict. Holly Renaud's "smart home" has developed a dangerous mind of its own. Her car is reported stolen and she is arrested for stealing it.

It's just everyday life in tranquil Rive Perdue, Louisiana.