Ivy looked forward to her sabbatical—a year without 9 to 5 stress and drama, without family responsibilities—time to decide if she was a painter who teaches or a teacher who paints, and most of all time to sit down, take a deep breath, and plan her wedding. Then her fiancé took her to afternoon reality TV and dreams of the wedding disappeared like sunshine in a thunderstorm.

Jimmy Ray follows construction. It pays well and you can work all year round as long as your truck makes it from job to job and you are prepared to follow good weather. His happy go lucky life hits a bump when he adopts Fred (that should be Fredericka) the dog and the motel management has a no pets policy.