Sara (Scottie Thompson) has it all. She’s a high-powered attorney with a successful boyfriend (Casper Van Dien), who is climbing her way to the top and enjoying life in the big city. Just after receiving the biggest case of her career and hints from her boss that she is on track to become a partner in the firm, Sara receives a call from her younger sister Lily (Madeline Zima), with shocking news that their father (Jeff Fahey) has died. Sara, with work in hand, returns to her childhood home on the enchanting Smith Mountain Lake to attend her father's funeral and help her sister and mother (Jane Seymour) settle the family estate.
 While there, Sara finds beauty and comfort in this "place that time forgot" and her passion for the lake and its tight-knit community reignites. In the days leading up to the funeral, Sara is overwhelmed with the paradox of celebrating her father's life with the town folk who loved him so much, and dealing with the huge debt that he left behind. She soon learns that unless her mom can come up with a large sum of money, the bank will foreclose on the lake house. With time running out, Sara puts her legal skills to work and soon discovers that the bank is engaged in illegal activity, and her boyfriend and law firm are involved. Now that the true colors of the people in her city life are exposed, Sara, with the help of her father's ever present spirit, looks inward and discovers the importance of love and family. In her discovery, she reconnects with a past boyfriend and is forced to confront the demons that caused her to leave the lake to begin with. Now armed with a brand new outlook on life, Sara is able to save the family home, and the magic and community over the siren calls of money, success and power.