It's not easy being nice to Valerie Flake (played by Susan Traylor); she has a sharp tongue and a bitterly sarcastic sense of humor that she uses to level nearly everyone in her path, making her rather difficult to comfort after the death of her husband in a motorcycle accident. Valerie takes solace where she can by getting drunk and picking up men; however, she decides she needs some time out and leaves Los Angeles for Palm Springs, where she stays with her parents. A local greengrocer (Jay Underwood) soon makes it his pet project to find the softer side of Valerie's personality, but his mother (Christina Pickles) senses there's more to her than meets the eye and wants her son to stay away. Traylor's outstanding performance as Valerie is the highlight of this film, which premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.