At Monti's café, 77-year old Willie eavesdrops on coffee drinkers, embroidering their stories to take home to her third husband, Jake. Willie's tales vary from recounting how 80-year old Eva stole a priceless Chinese cup to following the adventures of 79-year-old Magdalena, who took the Amtrak south and came back with a guy in a jaguar. Up the street from Monti's lives V (Valentine at birth), a retired painter, who muses over events, past and present, that unsettle her ideas about who she is. When these two old ladies meet, they embark on adventures around Portland, Oregon, that change both their lives.