Storyline

Living in the Mississippi River bayou country of Louisiana, seventeen year old Tammy Tyree and her grandpa John Dinwitty rescue Peter Brent, whose float plane crashed in the swamp near their houseboat. For Tammy, it's love at first sight. After Tammy nurses Peter back to health and he leaves to go home, Tammy is torn up believing that she'll never see him again. But when Grandpa is arrested for moonshining, he sends Tammy to stay with Pete, who previously agreed to look after her if anything ever happened to him. The uneducated and not traveled Tammy is more scared than excited to see Pete's life first hand: that he comes from a wealthy family, lives in a large country mansion with his bookish father, judgmental mother and artistically inclined Aunt Renie, and wants to work in the country doing agricultural research developing a new higher yielding and disease resistant tomato variety. Pete dreams of converting their land into a working, economically viable farm. Tammy also meets Pete's girlfriend, Barbara Bissle, who Pete talked about during his recuperation. Barbara and Pete admit that they have their fundamental differences, which they'll have to resolve if they ever decide to marry. Despite Tammy being in a different social class, she has a profound effect on those she meets there. She particularly catches the eye of Pete's friend, Ernie. But it still is Pete she is hoping will notice her as more than just a friend.