A law student and his bride try to build a life together despite her fear of intimacy.

In the late 1920's, law student Carl Brown marries Annie McGairy, despite opposition from their parents. They take up residence in a cottage near the athletic grounds of the midwestern college Carl attends. In exchange for his services as caretaker of the grounds and clubhouse, they live in the cottage rent free. To supplement their meager income, Carl takes on odd jobs, and Annie works as a babysitter for Beverly Karter, a widow who has provoked the disapproval of the town gossips by becoming the mistress of unhappily married Stan Pulaski. The goodhearted Annie also befriends another of the town's outcasts, Anthony Byrd, a homosexual florist. In an attempt to break up his son's marriage, Carl's father withdraws his financial assistance and thus forces Carl to take on a second job, as a nightwatchman. When Annie discovers that she is pregnant, she decides not to tell Carl and returns to her mother's house in an effort to relieve him of further burdens. When Carl's father discovers that his son is failing school because he is so unhappy about Annie's absence, he brings the two back together; and Annie gives birth to a son.