It begins for Oliver and Carla, fourteen-year-old twins, when their father splits for New York, grows a beard, and tries to write a novel in his "bachelor pad". In the tenseness and confusion that follow, Oliver decides to put his flair for gourmet cooking to good use by opening a small restaurant with Carla as maitre d'. Soon after, older brother Ralph's girlfriend becomes pregnant and has an abortion. Then, Mom makes a shocking confession. Suddenly, summer becomes a time of self-discovery, as Oliver and Carla achieve a new maturity and depth of understanding about life, love, and parents.