It's shortly before Christmas, and trouble is afoot at the "Four Mermaids" restaurant. The lease is expiring and the new owner, Nick Winter, won't renew it. Indeed, he wants to tear the place down. Owner Maren will thus lose both her restaurant and her home. Feeling depressed, she welcomes the attentions of a charming guest who does not reveal his true identity: Nick Winter! But as he gets to know Maren and her three daughters, Nick begins to have second thoughts about his own plans ...