Margaret and Harold Noyes have just purchased a house outside of Santa Fe that is to be their retirement home, but Harold is still finishing up work at his legal practice, so Margaret initially makes the move alone, driving out to New Mexico with her dog Daisy. She relishes the solitude and immediately begins exploring the area. She decides that she would like help with cleaning the home, so she hires a local woman named Carmen to be her housekeeper. One morning, Carmen shows up with a bucket of cleaning supplies, and Margaret lets her in, offering tea and cookies before Carmen begins work. She cannot help but notice that Carmen has a long, jagged scar on her neck. The two women talk, and Margaret asks Carmen to teach her Spanish. Carmen explains that she does not actually speak Spanish, and Margaret is mortified by her own ignorant faux pas. However, Carmen is gracious, and Margaret is sure that they will get along. Carmen has a 25-year-old son and a young granddaughter. Margaret is surprised that Carmen, who appears to be in her early 40s, is old enough to be a grandmother.

Margaret is an artist, and her current work-in-progress is a painting called “Canute Commands the Tides.