In the autumn of 1913, Kirsty Lennox's children swell with hope for the future, their respective interests in Paisley's furniture and clothing trades ample reward for the family's recent trials.

Alex, who left the town as a headstrong young craftsman and has returned a successful Glasgow businessman, nurtures high hopes for the further expansion of the family's cabinet-making business. Caitlin, a budding dress designer, finds a suitable outlet for her talents at the shop run by her mother and Rose Hamilton, an independently wealthy and strong-minded young woman. Alex's attention, however, is also drawn to Rose's unconventional nature, sparking something deeper than a business relationship.

Yet as the Great War looms - and the sudden appearance of a four-year-old girl becomes a powerful catalyst for change in their lives - the whole family is forced to face the harsher realities of separation, tragedy and unexpected emotional awakening ...