Abby spots an ad, which seems to promise the way of life she dreams of, but there's a problem: it specifies a married couple and Abby is a single parent. Abby persuades Kenny, her childhood friend and neighbour and a perpetually aspiring musician, to pose as her husband, at least for the interview on Ronansay. Kenny agrees reluctantly: the role of Abby's husband and father to her children is too close to his most cherished fantasy for comfort.

Abby finds a chest belonging to the previous owner of the house, the late Annie Macdonald. In it are keepsakes of her fifty-plus years of marriage. Going to ask Helen Kennedy for an address for Annie's son, Paul, who has moved away from the island, Abby notices that she has been crying. Later, when Abby meets Helen again and sees that she has a split lip, she guesses that her husband, Big Jerry, has beaten her. He has been taking unemployment hard. He is full of anger and is drinking heavily. When Big Jerry hits Little Jerry, it is a blow too far for Helen. She takes her son to stay at Abby's. Abby tells Helen that she was the victim of an abusive relationship in the past. The islanders are divided in their attitude to Helen and Jerry's situation. Some of them believe that they should sort out their problems in private and go on as usual, and that Abby is doing no good by interfering. But she has an ally in Douglas.