Both living in New York City, successful artist Phillip Gayley, most renowned for his series of Gayley Girls (swimsuit models in evocative poses), and Ellen Gayley, a one time Gayley Girl, have been divorced for one year. They each have six month custody of their only child, now seven year old Phillippa Gayley, nicknamed Flip. Flip loves both her parents and misses the other when she's not with that parent for that six months, especially when they have to say goodbye at the end of the six months. Phil didn't want to get the divorce, and Ellen only went through with it, convinced by her judgmental mother, Mrs. Hamilton, that Phil had a constantly wandering eye, most specifically with whoever the Gayley Girl of the day. Mrs. Hamilton would rather see Ellen married to someone more stable and secure, like her stuffy and officious lawyer, Rex DeVallon. However, both Phil and Ellen still love each other, and without telling the other would deep in their hearts want to reconcile. Beyond Flip, another person who does whatever he can to get them back together is their mutual friend Luigi, in whose restaurant they met, fell in love and got engaged. However as Gayley Girls still exist - the current, Nancy Graham, who sees herself as the future Mrs Gayley - as Rex is still in Ellen and Mrs. Hamilton's lives, as Mrs. Hamilton still dislikes Phil for what she believes he did to her daughter, and as Luigi's actions generally backfire, a road to a happy ending for Phil, Ellen and Flip may have a few bumps along the way. An added complication is the entrance of Flip's pen pal, US Marine Corporal Fenwick Lonkowski, who is in New York on his first leave in eighteen months.