Logline

When an orphaned teen is forced to live with the bitter grandfather she never knew, each learns to look at life through the other’s perspective. 

17-year-old Emma takes things for granted. She sneaks out of the house to attend parties and see her boyfriend, no matter how much this upsets her parents. After being grounded, she goes to her boyfriend Billy’s house when her parents are out celebrating an anniversary. David and Linda figure out Emma has snuck out and head straight to Billy’s house. En route, they are in a fatal car accident a couple of blocks away. Hearing the crash, Emma witnesses the aftermath and is left distraught.

Having just turned 17 and no family to look after her, she will be forced into foster care. The only hope she has is that her estranged grandfather, Charles Ruthers, will agree to look after her. Emma’s mom, Linda, had a falling out with him as she neared adulthood and kept him out of her life. Charles is somewhat eccentric and a loner, living alone in a cabin by a lake. He initially appears to refuse the chance to stay with Emma, but decides to do the right thing and move in.

The two clash immediately. Emma feels she’s old enough to take care of herself, while Charles treats her like a child. When Emma leaves against his wishes, he changes the door lock so she can’t get back in. After sneaking her boyfriend over, Charles puts skunk scent in the pool so when Billy and Emma swim, they may think twice before doing it again.

Emma secretly raids the wine rack in the cellar to drown her sorrow over losing her parents, which she feels is her fault. When she passes out on her mom’s grave and is picked up by the police, Charles comes to her rescue. He is growing more attached to his granddaughter and works to help her through her grief.

Charles is ill, taking pain meds just to cope. He does his best to hide his predicament from Emma, but she starts seeing signs that something isn’t right. As time passes, the two form a strong bond. She gets Charles to admit that he had an affair when he was in the army and his wife, Emma’s grandmother Rose, committed suicide over it. That’s why Linda stopped having anything to do with him. Wanting to know what is wrong with her grandfather, Emma visits his good friend Sam. He reluctantly admits that he had an affair with Rose while Charles was in Vietnam. They were able to patch things up in time. It wasn’t until Rose found letters from Charles’s mistress many years later that she killed herself. He also tells Emma that Charles is dying from colon cancer and won’t likely live to see her 18th birthday.

Devastated by the news, Emma decides to do something for Charles after she graduates. She takes him back to his cabin for the summer, where they make special memories. Emma comes across an old letter from Sam, talking about Linda being his daughter. Charles knew, but was more than willing to raise Linda as his own daughter. The day after Emma’s 18th birthday, when she is now able to live on her own, Charles passes. He leaves the cabin to Emma, who brings her own family there for summers years later.