After years of playing imaginary second fiddle to Isabella Carson, alter-ego Desdemona decides she's had it! No longer satisfied with being the strong, creative side of Izzy's personality, Desdemona longs to live out Izzy's dream of becoming an artist. A chance encounter with a fallen star on a beach fulfills Desdemona's wish to physically become a woman all her own, and she flees Isabella's decision to wed her college beau in order to become a wildly successful artist in the Key West arts scene.

Over ten years' time, Desdemona and Isabella remain connected, each through the dreams of the other's life; Izzy revels in her dreams of an exciting, bohemian artist's life in the Keys while Desdemona's torturous nightmares of marital mediocrity drive her to paint late at night to avoid sleep. A personal crisis in each woman's life draws Isabella and Desdemona inexorably home to Collinsville, where chasing Izzy's childhood dream of joining the volunteer fire department becomes a priority for Desdemona as she empowers the women around her and rekindles a flame from their past that could change Izzy's life forever.