Nick and Andy have been best friends since Andy started working at his father's paper, where Nick is a reporter. When Andy's engagement ends, he moves in with Nick so as not to be alone. Immediately, the two are forced to consider that their connection is more than that of friendship.

While Nick is as openly gay as a man could be in the 50's, Andy (who is bisexual) has always ignored that part of himself, knowing what he ultimately wanted was a family. Over the course of the novel, Andy comes to realize all the things a family can mean, and Nick, who has only been able to experience his sexuality furtively and read novels where gay men met tragic ends, realizes he can have a happily ever after. Against the backdrop of the Village in the 1950's and the newsroom of a progressive paper, Nick and Andy realize their connection is worth taking risks and planting roots.