Plot Summary

Claire Hart is a Manhattan corporate lawyer specializing in property issues. Her busy schedule precludes her from going home to Waitsford, Vermont often, which she misses, especially during the annual Fall Fest that her father, Hank Hart, has organized and held on the family farm for years. Not going back for this year's Fall Fest changes when she learns from Hank that his long-time neighbor Margie Wright, the town florist, is, from recently discovered documents, disputing their property line, the area where Hank holds the Fall Fest and grows his coveted pumpkins she claims belongs to her. Claire, out of circumstance, not only goes home but also represents her father despite her busy schedule. Hank and Margie, while not friends per se, have never had a "bad neighbor" relationship either, except when Margie and her now deceased husband Joe had once wanted to purchase some of the Hart's property, which he refused. The legal action takes on new meaning for Claire when she discovers that Margie's lawyer is her nephew Patrick Harris, Claire's high school classmate; the two always had a competitive relationship growing up. Largely for lifestyle reasons, Patrick only recently moved back to town after a Silicon Valley corporate life. Patrick is solely looking out for Margie's interest. She is facing financial issues with her floral business that could largely be solved by this extra land, as she could supply many of her own flowers. Stemming from the legal action, Claire and Patrick can't help but be competitive in almost all other aspects of their many encounters while she is in town. However, despite their rivalry, they both start to fall for the other. The possibility of a romance between the two is not only threatened by Claire living in Manhattan and the legal action, where the probability is high that there will be one winner and one loser, but by a misunderstanding concerning Claire's most recent boyfriend Ben, a New York City Planning Commission engineer, who comes to Waitsford to help Claire with this matter.—Huggo