Sara arrives at the Prescott Spa for a girls' night, frustrated by Montana's brutal winter and a broken coat zipper. She's emotional, having recently fought with her husband Milo and reluctantly left their two-month-old son Hudson at home for the first time in a while.

Her best friend Gigi and the other women in their friend group—Felicity, Sabrina, Emmeline, and Maisy—offer her support and let her go ahead for the chair massage. Afterward, they insist she take a pedicure too, and Gigi asks what's wrong beyond the weather.

Sara explains that her mother is coming to meet Hudson in two weeks, and Milo, who deeply distrusts her mother due to past hurts, has been hostile, even insisting she sleep in the basement. Sara reflects on Hudson being their miracle baby after years of infertility struggles and on her strained relationship with her mother, who once sided with Sara's archenemy against her.

The friends realize they've never heard the full story of how Sara and Milo met. Encouraged that Milo has grown more open about his past, including the explosion that scarred him, Sara agrees to tell the story, beginning with the Candle Palace.