In 1972, 16-year-old Roger's uncle Bill Jordan returns to the U.S. after serving in Vietnam and works in railroad construction. Bill's foreman on the railroad, Harold Timms, has an affair with the Roger's mother Annie. The affair began after Timms's wife died from illness and Annie supported him through it. Bill resents having to take orders from Timms while everyone in town knows that Timms is having an affair with Bill's brother's wife. One summer, Roger goes stargazing with Connie Trimm, with whom Roger is secretly dating. Roger tells her that he overheard his mother and father bickering about Annie's affair. Harold Trimms's car drives by to Roger and Connie's spot, presumably with Roger's mother in the passenger seat, before driving away. The incident spooks both of them. Roger's girlfriend, Connie Timms, breaks up with him after not wanting to keep their relationship a secret due to their parents' illicit affair.
The next day, Bill and the Roger's father take Roger squirrel hunting while Annie goes to visit Timms. The three decide to go hunt on the property that used to be owned by Harold's dead wife's family. At the property, Roger spots his mother with Harold. Frustrated with Roger's father's passiveness, Bill confronts the lovers with his shotgun. After Harold threatens to have Bill let go from the railroad company, Bill threatens to kill Harold. Harold goes on about how Annie loves him and doesn't love Roger's father, riling Bill up further. Harold even drags Roger into the conflict, warning him to stay away from his daughter Connie. Bill shoots Harold dead. Bill confesses to the police that he shot Harold Timms. In letters from prison, Bill writes that if he hadn't shot Harold Timms, he would have killed someone else; the war had changed him. Before Connie moves away with her grandparents, Roger and Connie say their goodbyes.