Lake Tulaby is a a quiet Minnesota retreat not generally known for scandal. It's become the summer haven of bachelor Ansel Landers, the reluctant new manager of the Lake Tulaby Inn; Joe Lesmeister, a freshly-retired security officer living next door to the Inn with his wife and demanding mother-in-law; and Twyla Stokes, an aging Minnesota beauty who has returned to Lake Tulaby determined to rekindle the affections of her now-married high school boyfriend, Sandy Sanders. As May gives way to June, a series of developments ripple the usually smooth surface of Lake Tulaby, culminating in a discovery during the annual Fourth of July Boat Parade that threatens to change the lives of the Lake's inhabitants forever.