Charlie Flint and his wife Marcie have been married for over fifteen years. Everything is fine when Charlie leaves their suburban home for Torino, Italy, on business. But, when a six week trip gets dragged out to three months and Charlie sounds drunk on their weekly calls, Marcie starts to worry. She decides to devote herself to the local community and assure everyone that she is fine while she waits with uncertainty. She serves on the Village Council of her community, Shady Hill, where she doesn't usually talk at meetings, but everyone can tell that she listens. One of the biggest issues on the agenda is whether or not Shady Hill should build a library. The opposition believes that a library will attach developers who will build cheap homes and degrade the community. After the library issue has been put to rest, Noel Mackham, a man from a neighboring community, asks to come and plead his case for the library, though he knows that it may fall on deaf ears. He explains that he grew up in a low-income household, but was able to gain a higher social status by reading at the public library. Some members of the council rudely dismiss his concerns, with one even standing and yelling at Noel. After the meeting, Marcie finds Noel and apologizes on behalf of the other council members. Empathizing with him, she invites him over to her house for a drink so that they can discuss a plan to get a library. After this meeting, one of the council members approaches Marcie, and tries to convince her to stay away from Noel, especially when her husband is away. He describes Noel as a leech. Marcie, however, had already invited him over again to discuss a letter they wanted to place in the newspaper, and decides to go through with the meeting. When Noel comes over that night, he tells her that the paper editor won't publish the letter. Feeling loneliness, sorrow, and pity, Marcie makes a move on Noel. When Charlie finally returns home from Italy, he believes that everything is normal. One day, he does a little maintenance on the house, goes for a swim, admires his children at play, and sleeps with his wife, thinking that it is the perfect day. He notices that there are some ants in the kitchen, so he leaves out a little poison, but that doesn't dampen his spirits. While he's in the bedroom, his two children come inside after playing in search of a snack. Finding the pantry and ice box unsatisfying, they notice the ant poison and believe that it is candy. Shortly after, they become violently ill. After a hectic and worrisome rest of the day, the doctor says that the kids should be alright. But that night, Marcie tells Charlie that she thinks this accident was a curse, a punishment for her infidelity. She apologizes and asks for a divorce. That night, Charlie packs a suitcase and plans to head back to Italy. He travels by ship across the Atlantic, and writes about his life back home and how everything went wrong. The process of writing makes him realize that all is not lost, and that forgiving Marcie and moving past this incident is an option. He resolves to catch a plane back to the United States, hopeful that he can save his marriage.