Oren Little (Douglas), a realtor by trade, develops self-absorption, turning his back on his neighbors and shunning the notion of kindness to others, after his wife dies; part of his self-absorption is having no patience for children, not even his own now-adult son, from whom he has been estranged. He has a next-door neighbor, Leah (Keaton), whose own husband has likewise died, never having had any children of her own, which leads her to throw her soul and her tears into reviving a singing career that had stagnated.
Then, one day, Oren's estranged son suddenly leaves his father in charge of his own nine-year-old daughter Sarah (Sterling Jerins), a granddaughter whom Oren never knew existed. When Oren's estranged son drops Sarah off at his home, needing his father to take care of her, neither Oren nor Leah, each of whom are lonely souls, have any reason to suspect that Sarah's involvement with their lives would enable them to heal their emotional wounds.