Natalie has stayed with Carol and Jude as their assistant since their first born, Nora, was a newborn. Nora is now 7, and her brother is 5. Carol is dying of cancer, and the only person she trusts with the children is Natalie. Jude is a drunk and a serial womanizer.
Natalie promises Carol that she will stay on and take care of the kids even after she dies. Carol knows that Jude had tried several times over the seven years to sleep with Natalie, but that Natalie has been resisting him. It is part of the reason she trusts the younger woman. Carol assures Natalie that Jude cannot kick her out after her death, because she, Carol, owns the house and registered it in her name jointly with the kids. She appoints Natalie as the kid's guardian.
Much later after Carol’s death death, however, Jude changes. He stops drinking and doesn’t sleep out. He becomes a present father. To her dismay, Natalie finds herself falling in love with him.