Malcolm MacGregor is a friend and former professor of Jenny McNair's. Having loved her throughout her twenty-year marriage which recently ended, he is now ready to divulge his true feelings to her. It is challenging, however, because, not only is he rather slow at making advances, but now he is also distracted by a case with which he is assisting Jenny's father, PI Charlie McNair. Or perhaps it is his blossoming relationship with Jenny that is distracting him from saving the wealthy and charming Edward Sharkey.
Malcolm and Charlie make a friend in Irishman Edward Sharkey when they discover that they have soccer, rugby, Scotland, and their appreciation of good literature and excellent Scotch whiskey in common. Upon their first visit to the unique home that Sharkey designed and engineered, overlooking Puget Sound, they meet his tough but vulnerable daughter Maureen, his timid and beautiful housekeeper Sarai, his lusty, outspoken and very young Irish girlfirend Aileen, and his angry ex-wife Moira. It takes only moments for them to realize that their new friend is going to need saving from the women in his life, if nothing else. But when the adventurous and wealthy Sharkey disappears, they realize that their friend really does need saving, in the true sense of the word.