The story opens with a dramatic fire at a community church with firefighters dragging
an unconscious man out of the flames. We are then introduced to Veronica “Ronnie”
Miller, a teenager who remains as rebellious at 17 as she was the day her parents divorced
and her father moved to Georgia three years prior. Ronnie is going through a pretty rough
patch lately. She had been caught shoplifting in New York City, where she resides. Once
a classical piano child prodigy under her father, Steve Miller, Ronnie now ignores the
instrument now and has not spoken with him since he left. Juilliard School has been interested
in her since she was young, but she refuses to attend as she resents her father.
Kim Miller relays all this to her ex-husband as she brings the teen and her younger brother,
Jonah to spend the summer with their father in Georgia and reconnect. A former Juilliard
School professor and concert pianist, Steve has a quiet life in Wrightsville Beach, the
small town in Georgia where he grew up. For the course of the summer Steve is working
on a stained-glass window for the local church to replace the one the church lost in a fire.
He shares his project with Jonah who gets excited to help him work on it. Locals believe
Steve had “accidentally” set fire to the church one night.
After arrival, Ronnie is miserable, so much so that she does not even stop to greet her
dad. Dismal, defiant, and defensive toward all those around her, Ronnie makes her way
down the beach. There she meets handsome, popular Will Blakelee who crashes into her
during a volleyball match, spilling Ronnie’s milkshake all over her. She shrugs his apology
off, walking away to find some other temporary distraction and meets Blaze, an outcast who
resides with her boyfriend Marcus. Blaze and Ronnie hit it off instantly and she invites
Ronnie to join them for some late night fun. Jonah runs into Ronnie and informs her that
their dad is looking for her but if she wants to wade him off Jonah will be happy to aid
her for a couple of dollars. Reluctantly Ronnie bribes him.
With Blaze and her friends at the beach campfire, Marcus hits on Ronnie as Blaze steps away
to get him some beer. Blaze, watching the interlude from afar, mistakenly thinks it's
the other way around. Ronnie comes back home to her dad still awake
playing the piano. For a moment the melody moves her and she stops on her way up the
stairs to listen intently. Steve watches from over the rim of the piano as Ronnie enters.
She does not say much except that she was going to bed. Upon entering the room Ronnie
is surprised to see Jonah there who informs her that they are to share one bedroom here.
As Ronnie prepares for bed she overhears her father playing the piano again, he is busy
scribbling music on some sheets. As she passes him by, Steve stops Ronnie, wanting to talk
to her. He asks her where she has been till one in the morning. Ronnie shrugs with single
worded answers saying that she had been “out”. Steve sighs, he didn’t like doing this,
but if Ronnie wants to reside here, she has to follow some rules. Ronnie snaps that it’s
exactly the thing, she does not want to reside here.
A little stricken by her words, Steve quickly reels himself in, saying that they would both
have to make the best of the situation. He congratulates her then on getting into Juilliard
but Ronnie snipes back that she won’t be going. Steve points out that it would be a
mistake to which Ronnie counters that he and her mom would know a lot about mistakes, she’s
only learning from the best. Having had enough Steve tells her to stop ruining it for herself,
if she wants to be mad at him she’s welcome to do that but not at the expense of her own
future. The next morning Steve cooks up a welcoming
breakfast for his kids, bacon and eggs but Ronnie doesn’t stop to speak to him let
alone eat. Jonah points that she has turned vegetarian since the past year and half.
Later that day, Ronnie discovers a loggerhead sea turtle nest at the beach by her dad’s
under attack by a raccoon. She takes it on herself to protect it from raccoons. Steve
and Jonah watch her running around collecting weird junk. Steve, worried that his daughter
might be losing it, jogs over to see what she was up to. Ronnie sullenly explains that
when a female sea turtle lays eggs the raccoons can smell them, they’ll eat every one of
them if they can so she ought to protect them. Steve doesn’t know what to make of her daughter
as he watches her in awe. Ronnie goes on about reading it on a website which advised her
to call the local aquarium to get someone to come over to help protect them in proper
fashion, but her phone just died. Steve points that she could call from the house phone.
Ronnie calls the aquarium reporting a sea turtle nest in front of her house that needs
protection. Steve is happy to hear her claim his house as hers. Ronnie rolls her eyes at
her dad’s nice guy antics. She walks over to the local café and sits
there reading a book on how to take care of turtles when Will runs into her, not literally
this time. He had grease all over him. Will apologizes for the way they first met the
day before, playing ball always drives him to the next level of passion. He had lain
awake last night thinking about their first meeting. Ronnie rolls her eyes, she finds
it hard to believe there was any truth in Will’s words.
She leaves the café to return back home where Jonah is sitting assembling puzzle pieces.
She asks him if the aquarium had called yet. Something on the beach catches her eye and
she runs over to find a couple of raccoons circling her makeshift protective fence. She
shoos them off and decides to sit guard there until help arrives.
Which didn’t arrive until the next morning. She is woken from her sleep by a towering
figure standing in line of the blazing morning sun. It is Will, again.
What was he doing here? Will explains that he is there to mark a turtle
nest. Ronnie is surprised, she thought he was a mechanic. Will elaborates that he volunteers
at the aquarium. Having had her two seconds of waking time,
Ronnie charges at him for showing up so late, she had to lay on the beach all night splayed
on the lounger to protect the nest. Watching the amused look on Will’s face only serves
to infuriate her further and she welcomes him to spend the night in the same fashion
in freezing cold with a baseball bat in his hand while the raccoons terrorize him.
Will, though bemused, finds her makeshift fence quite impressive. Ronnie doesn’t stop
to listen any further and stomps back into her house.
Later that day at the local shop, Ronnie runs into Blaze, who gives her the cold shoulder,
as she thinks Ronnie was coming onto her boyfriend the other night. As revenge, Blaze even gets
Ronnie arrested for shoplifting which was a slight of hand from her own self.
Steve and Jonah come to her rescue. Steve isn’t thrilled that Ronnie got arrested
a second time in a year. As they reach back home, Ronnie and Jonah get into an argument,
and Ronnie starts packing her stuff, while Jonah yells at his dad to let her go. She
has been miserable ever since and has been putting a damper on their time together. Jonah
cries that he and Steve have been having such a great day.
Steve looks over at Ronnie, not sure how she wanted him to react. Ronnie wanted him to
believe that she hadn’t stolen, but given her record it was hard to do. She comes clean
about stealing in New York, but this time, she wanted her dad to believe that she was
innocent here. Steve sighs, he wants to believe his daughter.
The store owner is a friend of his, he might be able to talk to him about not pressing
any charges. That night as Ronnie sits by the beach Will
joins her there for the night. Staying up to defend the turtle eggs from predators,
she discovers he is deeper than she expected, and they connect. Will tells her that he got
accepted to Columbia so they might be neighbors next year.
Steve and Jonah spy these two from the porch and Steve goes over to give Will a, not so
subtle, hint on behaving himself when hanging out with his daughter.
The next morning, Will is awoken from his sleep by Jonah discreetly crawling to him
through the sandy bushes to bring breakfast. He still didn’t want to face Ronnie after
the outburst from the day before. Will finally asks Ronnie out on a date and
this time Ronnie agrees to go with him to the aquarium. They spend a delightful morning
witnessing all the different exhibits and swimming around with the fish.
Later when they are back on the beach, Will introduces Ronnie to his best friend Scott
as they prepare for the tournament. Spotting her walking alone, Ashley —Will’s
ex— tells Ronnie about Will’s past relationships and how going to the aquarium is part of his
routine. Back at home Jonah helps Steve with the stained-glass
window for the church. While at it, he casually asks his dad if he and his mom ever think
about getting back together. Steve is surprised to hear this coming from him, especially given
the fact that Kim is about to be married shortly. Doubting Will, Ronnie comes back home wet
and upset. When Will comes over to ask after her she yells at him to go away, slamming
the front door in his face. Will is shocked and so is Steve, both of them clueless about
how the female brain works. Will decides to sit by the beach until he
finds a chance to talk to Ronnie. Jonah and Steve spy him sitting there even
after dinner time, and they strike a bet over how long he’ll last, this being a testament
of his love. Ronnie overhears them and finally steps out.
She finds Will by the turtle’s nest and they argue about his past. Will had a feeling
it was something that Ashley had said to Ronnie for he saw the two of them talking briefly.When
Ronnie says she doesn't want to be just another girl and they should end it, Will embraces
her and they kiss passionately. And so their romance begins.
One afternoon Will takes Ronnie to his home under the impression that his parents are
not home. Ronnie finds out that Will is old money after seeing he resides in a large,
gated mansion. However, Ronnie ends up meeting Will’s parents due to them returning home
earlier than expected. The couple then have an awkward dinner with Will’s parents where
his dad asks Ronnie if she will be coming to the wedding. Ronnie learns that Will’s
sister is getting married in a couple weeks. Will’s mom interrupts the question saying
that she had already sent Ashley an invitation for the wedding as Will’s plus one. The
notion brings with itself a poignant pause. Ronnie walks away from the house, unsure of
why she was feeling upset. If Will wanted to go to his sister’s wedding with his ex-girlfriend,
then it’s not a big deal. Will follows her explaining that, it isn’t so, Ashley is
also his sister’s friend. Ronnie calls him out on his lie, not just
about the wedding, but also the fact that he told her he will be going to Columbia when
in truth, it’s Vanderbilt, according to his dad.
Agitated, Will runs his fingers through his hair. He tells her that it’s more complicated
than that with his parents. They are barely holding on by a thread, things haven’t been
anywhere close to normal for a long time. Will then reveals that he had a brother, Mikey,
who passed away the previous year in a car accident with his mom driving. He and Mikey
had been in the back seat playing Mercy and goofing around. She had turned around to tell
them to stop and had lost control of the car. He was killed instantly. It’s been so hard
to feel happy in that house ever since. This was the only reason he hadn’t invited her
to the wedding. He confesses that he had gone out with other
girls for the past year, trying to feel something but none of them made him feel like Ronnie
does. And he does not want to lose her. With a rueful smile, Ronnie hugs Will and
the two profess their love for each other. Ronnie then leads him back to the parlor back
inside the house, where the great pianoforte was placed, revealing that she is a talented
piano player. Ronnie comes back home with a humongous smile
on her face. She finds her dad working on the window and tells him about her playing
the piano that afternoon. Steve is overjoyed. Ronnie confesses that it felt like she never
stopped playing. Taking her confession even further, Ronnie reaches out to her dad for
the first time in a very long time, saying that she would probably talk about it with
a girlfriend if she had one here, but since she doesn't, it will have to be her dad. Steve
is surprised to say the least. He asks her if she likes Will. Ronnie professes that she
likes Will a lot more than she can attest for, it’s almost crazy. Steve second her
on that, love is crazy. She then hugs her dad goodnight.
During Will’s volleyball game, Ronnie soon hears the rumor that her father burned down
the church from some locals, but ignores it. Ronnie is finally invited to Will’s sister’s
wedding. She then meets her father in the burnt church to show him the invitation. Steve
gives her some funds to buy a new dress for the fancy Blaklee wedding.
Watching him sitting in the burnt building, Ronnie asks her dad why he comes there so
much. Steve has spent a major part of his childhood there, he loved it there. Still
does. Ronnie then questions him about what she had heard, about Steve being responsible
for burning the place down. She asks if that was true and Steve replies in affirmation,,
saying that he was the last person there that night. He had come up here to play the piano.
The next thing he remembers is the firemen carrying him across the street. He does not
exactly remember how it started, he had been stupid to fall asleep with candles burning.
He might have been confused due to some medicine that his doctor had given him. When Ronnie
starts to get worked up about what medicine it was, Steve pacifies her saying that it
was last year and that he was okay now. Distraught about what information her father
disclosed, she laments about it to Will. Will voices his confidence that Steve mustn’t
have done it, it was just people talking. While working, Will speaks with Scott about
telling the truth about what happened to the church. He couldn’t stand it anymore that
the whole town including Steve himself thinks that he did it.
Scott blatantly refuses chalking it off to Will’s personal feelings towards Ronnie
whom he had known for merely a week. He coerces him that his life will be over if someone
finds out, they’ll say he committed arson. Ronnie is preparing to go dress shopping when
she sees Marcus breaking up with Blaze, asking her for some money she owes him and leaving
her essentially homeless. Ronnie then leaves all the money given to her by Steve.
Back at home, Ronnie is rummaging through her clothes to find something to wear to the
wedding, when Jonah comes in saying that the lunch is ready. Watching Ronnie’s predicament,
Jonah asks what she did with the money their dad had given her. Ronnie vaguely explains
that she had given it away, which causes Jonah to help her pay for her dress from his own
savings. More like extortion money. The brother-sister duo go dress shopping together
and Jonah helps her pick out a beautiful lilac dress. The wedding day arrives, with Ronnie
and Will enjoying themselves amongst other guests. Ronnie sees Blaze working as the catering
staff, and she thanks her, saying that she did not deserve what Ronnie had done for her.
She also tells her that she has left Marcus and moved back in with her mother. Marcus
suddenly arrives and causes issues at the wedding when he starts getting handsy with
Blaze. Will and Ronnie catch sight of him, and Will comes over, asking him to leave but
ends up attacking him after he insults Ronnie. When Will and Ronnie arrive back at Ronnie’s
home, Jonah excitedly tells them that Steve believes the turtle eggs will hatch. As they
are watching the eggs hatch, Steve collapses and has to be brought to the hospital, revealing
that he has terminal cancer that has spread to his lungs and that was the reason for Ronnie
and Jonah’s presence for the summer. Later that night, Ronnie finds Jonah working
frantically over the stained-glass window that he had been helping their dad with. When
Ronnie tries to get him to stop, Jonah cries that he needs to finish this so their dad
can get better. Will volunteers, asking Jonah to teach him how to work so that he may lend
a hand as well. Ronnie spends time with Steve in the hospital
while Jonah and Will continue to work on the stained-glass window. Steve’s cancer progressively
gets worse and he eventually requests to be returned home, as he does not want to die
at the hospital. Will and Jonah finish the window and the two of them, alongside Ronnie,
swing Steve by to view it being placed in the church on their way back home.
Beginning to feel more pressure and discomfort from knowing the truth about the church burning,
Will asks Scott one more time to tell the truth. This time however, Scott agrees.
Scott and Will come to Steve’s home and finally tell the truth: Scott, Will, and some
other friends were behind the church horse playing when Marcus and his friends showed
up. Will then left, while Scott stayed with Marcus and his friends, who then began to
play with fire, causing the church to catch fire. Scott allowed Steve to take the blame,
but Will had wanted to report the crime to the police right away. He did not do it due
to his friendship with Scott. Steve carefully listens to the young man’s
confession. He did not want this to be reported to the police and was fine with taking the
blame. Ronnie overhears this and though Will tries to defend his stance, telling her that
he had always wanted to report to the police, Ronnie does not give him the benefit of the
doubt this time. She could not forget how agonized her father was at the thought of
burning his favorite place down, and Will had let him fester through it. For that, she
couldn’t forgive him, and so, Ronnie breaks up with Will.
Kim arrives after learning the kids know of Steve’s condition. Jonah and Steve have
a tearful moment before Jonah goes home to New York for the school year. He comforts
an inconsolable Jonah, saying that this isn’t a goodbye, he isn’t going anywhere. Every
time a light shines through that window they built, or any window for that matter, that
would be him. Ronnie stays back to take care of their father,
she felt immeasurable guilt— all she had done all summer was fight with him. She wanted
to have some final peaceful days. Leading a slow life, she tries to make up
for the time lost with her father. Cleaning through the house one day, Ronnie happens
upon all the letters that were returned unopened to Steve by Ronnie. She finally reads them
at last. Steve had written how he misses spending hours
with Ronnie at the piano. He had missed being her teacher. He knew that she thought he had
abandoned her and Jonah but it wasn’t the truth. When he and their mom split it had
been too painful for Steve to stay. He regretted moving away from her and Jonah. He wanted
her to know that nothing that had happened between him and their mom had anything to
do with her or Jonah. Love is fragile, he wrote, and people are not always its best
caretakers. One evening, as they sit on their porch, Steve
brings up Will, casually mentioning that he must have started college by now. Ronnie tries
to steer from the subject, saying that what he did was wrong. Although Steve agrees with
her on that, he also thinks that Will misses her. Why wouldn’t he? She was the kindest,
sweetest person that anyone could ever know. Sighing, Steve asks Ronnie to listen intently
for he didn’t have many lectures left on his timecard. Someday she will play again
and it won’t be to make her mother or father happy. It will be for herself. Because music
and love bring joy. Ronnie continues working on his composition
for him which he had lovingly titled “For Ronnie”, as Steve’s hands get too painful
to play due to his illness. As he is sitting on the chair listening to her play, he quietly
passes away just as Ronnie finishes the song. For all the courage that she had mustered
all these weeks for her dad, Ronnie finds it seeping away from her bones as she sits
on the driveway before the funeral. Kim comes over to her to acknowledge her right to shut
down but urges her to not push her mother away at such a time. But that’s what Ronnie
does best. She pushes people away. She had even pushed Will away despite her dad’s
efforts. Kim comforts her saying that each one of them makes their fair share of mistakes,
but we also forgive and move forward in the name of life. She is proud to have a daughter
who is brave enough to feel. In this regard she was her father’s daughter, feeling everything
to the fullest. At the funeral, Ronnie declares that no words
could ever be able to show how wonderful her father really was. Instead, she decides to
share with them the song she helped finish. As she is sitting down to play, Will enters
the church and Ronnie catches sight of him followed by a warm ray of sunlight shining
through the stained-glass window. She smiles, saying “Hi, Daddy,” remembering her father’s
words telling Jonah that whenever light shines through the window, it is him.
Blaze and other townsfolk offer their condolences after the funeral outside, Will included.
He says that he liked the song she played and that he knows her dad did, too, before
disappearing in the crowd. Having decided to attend Juilliard, Ronnie
is packing up to return to New York when she sees Will standing outside in their spot on
the beach. She walks up to him. He apologizes to her for everything that had happened. Ronnie
professes her regret too. People make Mistakes, she says, even people that we love. She tells
him about her decision to go to Juilliard, and he surprises her by revealing that he
will be transferring to Columbia University, so that the girl he loves can watch him make
a few more mistakes.