Julia Wallace, a recently divorced woman with a precocious young daughter named Gracie, helps her mother, Shirley, run a family-owned coffee shop in a small town. Logan is the cafe's baker and Kay Ohara runs a nearby pawn shop.
Julia steps in to renegotiate the shop's lease with a flirtatious landlord to prove to her mom that "you don't have to raise your petticoats to lower your rent."
Although Julia is in no hurry to start dating again, Shirley is determined to play matchmaker.
To escape her mother's rules, Gracie seeks freedom at Grandma's "rule-free fun zone."
Julia and Logan invest ad dollars in a talk-radio show, whose shock-jock host Julia soon finds too steamy.
Julia doggedly encourages Gracie to tell the truth at school, even though it means ratting on a classmate whose misbehavior had lead to the cancellation of an outing -- but she's ready to fudge a bit herself to retrieve their adorable puppy from the pound. Meanwhile, Shirley is convinced the puppy is the vengeful reincarnation of her grandfather.
Logan's Scottish grandmother visits, and Julia is convinced to impersonate his non-existent fiancé.
Sensible Julia has the time of her life throwing caution to the wind and, at Shirley's urging, taking a day off; meanwhile, Gracie ditches school and has a lousy time.
The new delivery boy - a college football star on a scholarship - gets low marks from Julia, as does her ex's generous gift to Gracie.
Julia, who feels like a wet blanket compared to her ex's new girlfriend, aims to change her image to impress Gracie.
Julia finds that boldly asking out handsome guy Richard is the least complicated part of the dating scene, while Kyle resorts to using Gracie to snag a date with attractive customer Lauren.
Shirley remonstrates church leaders who have deemed Julia unfit to teach Sunday school.
Julie rushes to judgment about Gracie's new street-wise boyfriend Nicky, and encounters the wrath of Gracie and Shirley as well as that of the boy's single father Nick.
Shirley's track record makes her the kiss of death for Jack; Gracie anticipates her first kiss; and Kyle would rather kiss victory goodbye than break his coach's record.
Julia's appearance at a hockey game brings a losing player a stroke of good luck and, in turn, wins Julia an overbearing new admirer.
Peer pressure changes Nicky's mind about acting in the school play after he's razzed by his pals for wearing tights. But Gracie hopes to lead him on the right path with a lesson from TV.
Nick can't quite get up the nerve to ask Julia out; and looks on suspiciously when a man she stood up at their high school prom reappears, now a wealthy banker, claims not to remember the snub which has haunted Julia's guilty conscience, and begins to court her. And he's right -- the man tricks her into appearing on a tabloid television show so he can humiliate her in public.
Gracie has a change of heart after turning down Nicky for a Valentine's Day party; and Kyle encounters double trouble with two dates.
A visit from Julia's jet-setting friend Suzi reveals that the two old chums made very different choices in life regarding families and children.
