After twelve years of wrestling with the conflicts of retirement, Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn't need a steady job to prove himself. Then he's given one. As for what it proves, heaven only knows. It's life as usual in Mitford. A beloved town character lands a front-page obituary, but who was it, exactly, who died? And what about the former mayor, born the year Lindbergh landed in Paris, who is still running for office? All this, of course,...

Wilson Steele is a single professor and Vietnam veteran who likes living alone, insisting it's too late for him to have a family. His mother disagrees. When she impulsively adopts a rescued black lab mix, she insists Thurman is special, and has whispered of the coming of grandchildren. Wilson brushes the notion off as fantasy. When his mother learns of her retirement community's 'no pets' policy, she forces Wilson to take the lovable dog. Wilson notices...