Nikke, an elementary school teacher living in the country in Maryland, shares her life and home with Carey, her lover of eight years, their two dogs, Sam and Lady, and Capricorn, the cat. The story opens soon after Carey has gone to California to care for her dying father. While Carey is away, Nikke meets Lillian. Their attraction to each other is powerful and immediate, and in spite of the confusion Nikke initially feels, she finally admits to being in love with Lillian. Nikke struggles for the next several months with her desire to have a sexual relationship with Lillian. When Carey returns home after her father's death, the conflicts between the three characters, and within Nikke herself, become overt and inescapable.