Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, discovers that she and her younger sister, Kit, stand to inherit the home and land of the town's beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson. Kit, an aspiring (and broke) filmmaker, thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out that Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer before her death. But Nora isn't quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer's rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on --- finding Peggy's missing dog, Freckles.

When Olivia Rawlings --- pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club --- sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of: the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job, which she accepts. Livvy soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired --- to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest. But when a new arrival takes the community by surprise, Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee --- or stay and finally discover what it means to belong.