In prohibition-era Manhattan, shopkeeper Mary Brown loses Aubrey, her childhood sweetheart, when he marries a rich woman. Reporter Steve "Rollo" Porter has lost his childhood sweetheart Elaine, who has also married another. Mary and Steve become friends, and make a marriage of convenience, based on a shared sense of whimsical humor as well as their mutual losses. When their old loves re-enter their lives a few years later, Mary and Steve must decide what is really important to them.