A Walk in the Spring Rain 1970

Libby Meredith and her law-professor husband, Roger Meredith, 52, relocate from New York to a quiet, snow-dusted house in the Tennessee backwoods during a harsh winter. Their warm, married neighbor, Will Cade, is immediately drawn to Libby and proves helpful and friendly as they settle in. While Roger is busy drafting a book, Libby grows to appreciate the slower pace of rural life and finds herself drawn to Will’s grounded, country sensibilities, a connection that quietly blossoms into a brief affair.

Libby’s world is upended when her daughter, Ellen Meredith, arrives to ask them to return to New York so Libby can help raise her grandson, Bucky while Ellen attends Harvard Law School. The plan forces Libby to confront the consequences of leaving the life she built in the backwoods.

Will’s erratic son molests Libby as she walks; Will intervenes, but in the struggle he accidentally kills his son. After the funeral, the Merediths grow disillusioned and decide to return to New York, since Roger has not finished his book and Ellen needs Libby to help raise Bucky.

When Libby bids the Cades goodbye, Will follows her for a private chat and says he will wait for her to return, but she declares she no longer believes in miracles. The final scene mirrors the opening: Libby, dressed in the same clothes, picks up Bucky from school as a musical cue from the song A Walk in the Spring Rain swells over the end credits.