Vivian Hastings arrives at her great-aunt's villa in the Hollywood Hills with a plan: assess, repair minimally, sell quickly, move on. She has learned, through the particular curriculum of failed relationships and guarded friendships, that needing people is a liability. The house, at least, is a problem with a market value, a deadline, a clear exit.

But Los Angeles summers are punishing, overgrown gardens don't care about budgets, and Beau Mercer – the landscaper hired to make the grounds saleable – speaks in the language of honest repair rather than polite compromise.