Shawna Charity has an abusive partner, little money, no skills, and three children under six, one with an intellectual disability. To save them all, she escapes with the children to her widowed mother's home. Shawna's goal: to become a hair-dresser so she can provide a good future for her family, and be rid of Randall. Retired English bachelor Max Candle lives next door. Facing end stage cancer, he is ready to throw in the towel. But when Shawna asks him to baby-sit while she goes to college, he is persuaded to delay the inevitable, pushes through his pain, and rediscovers joy playing checkers with a little boy. When Randall stalks Shawna and challenges a restraining order, she must gather her own strength and accept Max's help. Together, they fight back against the mayor's son, a potentially corrupt judge, a drug kingpin, and a backstabbing childhood friend who has her own dark agenda. Shawna's challenges are those that many young mothers face today. So too, Max. It is through their courage, strength, and the support of family and true friends that they find renewal and fulfillment, on a life's edge.