Slick businessman David Locking arrives by yacht in New York state fishery town Cherry Cove to build a marina there. Having found investors, he gets greedy mayoress Melissa Teerpack and her husband's support for even larger development, which would ruin the town's charming character and require expropriations. Local B&B Sunflower owner Polly Cameron, although charmed by Locking, mounts the opposition. She finds a delightful ally in young Patrick Field, who turns out to be David's father, tragically estranged after a fatal accident.