Tommy Guptill once had a dairy farm, but it burned to the ground after he forgot to turn off the milking machines. He and his wife, Shirley, buy a small house, and Tommy takes a job as a janitor for the Amgash school system. Although the fire damaged his relationship with his children, Tommy believes that it was a sign from God to remind him to appreciate what matters: his wife and children. Tommy compares his downfall to the poverty of the Barton family and considers himself lucky. Lucy, the youngest of the Barton children, fled to New York after spending many years lonely and wretchedly poor. Tommy often came across a sleeping Lucy while cleaning at the school after hours.

In town, Tommy runs into many friendly acquaintances. He buys his wife a scarf and then stops at the bookstore to look for a gardening book. In the window of the bookstore, he sees Lucy Barton’s newest novel. He checks in on Pete Barton and tells him about his older brother, who fought in World War II. Pete asks him to stop visiting and reveals that it was his father, who worked on and off for Tommy on the farm, who turned on the milking machines to burn the farm down.