Sweet Home Carolina

Forty year old divorced Diane Lawrence nee Montgomery, an account manager at the Los Angeles based Broadhill Agency where she's worked since she graduated from college, has hit a rough patch in her life. That rough patch has negatively affected her work, which in turn has led to the bills mounting. She has a strained relationship with her two daughters, nineteen-year-old rebellious Andrea who blames her for the divorce and who sees her father as being the "better" parent in his limited role, and eleven-year-old Aubrey who just wants a present mother. When her longtime boss Henry Broadhill effectively fires her - with the firing to be evaluated in a few months time if she is able to get her act back together - Diane receives what she sees as a partial answer to her problems when she learns that her recently deceased aunt has deeded her her house in small town Marion, South Carolina, the time with her aunt in that house of which Diane has fond memories, but where she has not been since college. The terms, if Diane accepts them, is that she has to live in the house for one year and care for the dog, Mister, that comes with it before she can sell. Despite Andrea's objection to the move and Aubrey's objection to Mister (because she is scared of dogs), Diane makes the decision to move with the girls if only for the year to regroup. Beyond the house in and of itself needing more than just a little TLC to return it to the former glory that Diane remembers, Diane and Andrea will have to eke out some sort of life in Marion, which they are able to do with the help of Penny, the owner of the local diner. Diane also reconnects with an old beau, Luke, the two who split on bad terms when Diane left after college for life in the big city. While Diane and Luke fall for each other again, Diane will have some difficult choices as she and girls feel more and more settled in Marion with Luke a big part of that feeling when Henry comes back offering her a partner-track position at Broadhill.