Hayley Udall tries to make ends meet for herself and her 14 year-old daughter while providing alimony for a horrible ex-husband. She wishes her problems with her ex could go away, and upon venting her frustrations one night, finds herself tangled up in a pact with two people (Melanie and Kevin) to "eliminate" each other's problems. It seemed innocent wishful thinking before, but as people end up dead-including Hayley's ex-husband-Hayley is trapped to fulfill the pact or risk taking the fall for murder.

America is in the midst of the Great Depression, and the Kamp family is struggling to get by, especially since Mrs. Kamp’s untimely death nearly a year ago. The older children do their best to take care of the family, but it’s the younger children—Hopalong Cassidy fan Norman and straight-talking little Ruthie—who struggle most. Now, with their mother gone and their father overwhelmed by doctor bills from young Norman’s battle with polio, the Kamp siblings fully expect a Christmas without presents. But when William scrapes together a dollar in coins to use for Christmas gifts, everything begins to change.