An adaptation of Julie Kibler's book inspired by events in her family, revolves around the relationship between an 89-year-old woman named Isabelle McAllister and her hairdresser, a black single mother named Dorrie Curtis.

McAllister enlists Curtis' help to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. Along the way, McAllister reveals the secrets of her past, in which she fell in love with the black son of her family's housekeeper to tragic consequences.