Dottie Blaine owns and manages a bed-and-breakfast in Jennisberg, Illinois. She’s met many different types of people in her business and is struck by the Small family. She finds Dr. Small snobby because he makes sure to introduce himself as a physician instead of an academic. Dottie finds Mrs. Small interesting as an example of what happens when a woman doesn’t go through a painful but ultimately necessary divorce. When Dr. Small goes to his conference, Mrs. Small (Shelly) stays and chats with Dottie.

The narrative then shifts to Shelly’s story. Dr. Small served peacefully as a physician in the Vietnam War with another doctor named David Sewall. After the war, she met Dr. Small on a train. They married, and shortly afterward, David married a woman named Isa. The two families lived in the same town and shared an idyllic friendship. After 30 years, David and Isa divorced. David dated various women, but one that stuck out to Shelly was the actress Annie Appleby. They grew close, but after Annie and David broke up, Annie wouldn’t return Shelly’s calls. Shelly was confused because she had shared many private things with Annie when Annie and David visited the Small’s new lake house in New Hampshire, but David revealed that Annie had always thought Shelly was an “idiot.