When a middle-aged man's wife moves away to go back to school, he worries that he will not be able to care for their three children on his own. As the year goes on, the wife becomes increasingly distant, and the husband, resentful of her for leaving, wonders if he can trust her or if their marriage will soon fall apart.

A 20-something-year-old woman returns home to Dublin when she hears that her abusive father is ill. Her return causes her to reevaluate the sexually ambiguous relationship she has with the older man who gave her a home when she had no one else.

Ruthie, an experienced writer, reflects on the scholarship opportunity that set her career in motion.