Jerry and Jeanette, are a married couple in their 30's who've moved to Montana with their 14-year-old son, Joe. When Jerry is laid off from his job as a golf instructor, he decides to join a volunteer crew fighting wildfires raging in the area. Jeanette, now the breadwinner of the family, insists he not take such a dangerous job. He goes anyway, and, disgusted by his abandonment of the family for a risky job and dissatisfied with her life in general, Jeanette soon enters into an affair with an older, richer man in town. Neither Jerry nor Jeanette's actions help keep the family together.
In the 1960's, Joe isn't the only family with little understanding of the situation. As Jerry and Jeanette turn away from their marriage, they're each faced with uncertain futures.