Widowed Connie Forrester, mother to an adolescent son, TJ, and divorced Will DiNova are both second generation owner/operators of their respective family business. Those businesses just happen to be both toy stores - Forrester Toys and DiNova Toys, respectively - and both located in New Britain, Connecticut, one block away from each other. Connie's father and Will's uncle, from who they inherited their respective business, used to be business partners until they had a falling out which led to the two stores so close in proximity. Both Connie and Will speak nicely about the other's store when customers ask, but quietly seethe about the existence of the other and thus are not really on speaking terms. They are also both struggling financially, with Connie soon having to make a balloon payment on the store's property mortgage, while Will is trying to buy back what was his family's home which his ex-wife got in the divorce settlement, they both hoping a good Christmas season will yield enough in revenue to make these imminent payments. They face another potential hurdle in reaching their financial goals when they learn that a Roy's Toys megastore, owned by cutthroat Roy Barnes, will be opening in New Britain just in time for the Christmas season. Connie places an injunction on the store opening as it contravenes a long-standing but little known city ordinance. The hearing to decide the injunction will be held Christmas Eve, with their friend, Mayor Ben Stevens, secretly telling them that he knows the outcome will be in their favor, but that Roy's can remain open until the hearing. As such, Will suggests to Connie that they join forces, solely on this one project until the hearing, to use whatever legal means they have at their disposal to thwart either the megastore from opening at all or if it does to ensure that all the toy business in town comes their way. If their businesses are able to survive the competition from Roy, Connie and Will may find that they will want to continue their partnership beyond this one project, both professionally and personally, that is unless one of Roy's tactics, which is to divide and conquer, works. Meanwhile, Pam Forrester, Connie's piano teacher mother, gets a new student in sixty-eight year old Joe Haggarty, who recently moved to town when he purchased the diner. He has never touched a piano but wants to play at his niece's wedding in six weeks, or so he says. And Connie's younger brother Randy Forrester, who helps in the store when he isn't crewing on a fishing boat and who isn't the brightest light in the world, may be totally oblivious to the fact that Francine, one of Joe's waitresses, hangs around a lot at the store when he's there for a very specific reason, she taking extreme measures to get his attention.
—Huggo
