Denny and his wife, Susan, live on a dairy farm near the Chesapeake Bay. On the day of their son Charles's birth, the boy is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Because he knows his life will be short, Denny keeps himself from growing too close to his son. His wife Susan, however, has the opposite response and puts all of her time and energy into loving Charles. After Charles's passing, Denny struggles to comfort his wife. One day, Susan instinctively reaches for Charles, expecting to find him in his car seat. Still, when she realizes her mistake, she begins to panic. Denny rushes out to help his wife after hearing her screams from inside, but he is met with kicking and punching. Susan doesn't stop until one of the farm workers calls a doctor, and she is sedated. Susan then grows increasingly distant from Denny, resentful of him for not loving their son and understanding her pain. She eventually reveals to her husband that she is seeing someone else.

After Susan moves out, Denny buys and repairs an old boat and spends time on the bay. He considers pursuing a relationship with his old friend, Mandy. Still, when he sees her, she only offers a friendly hug. Though he hates the water, as most farmers supposedly do, Denny's dad watches from the shore while his son is on the boat. One day, however, Denny comes to shore and finds not his father but Susan waiting for him there. After a heated conversation, Susan admits that she wants to return home. The two go inside and sleep together, and Susan moves in soon after.

A little while later, Susan meets her father-in-law, Charles, on the shore while Denny is on the boat. Though the two have never gotten along, they connect as Charles tells Susan about Denny as a child on the farm. Charles eventually leaves to return home, but Susan waits on the shore. Denny soon joins her there, and the two sit in the grass holding hands.