Dating the Delaneys

The film opens with Maggie Delaney balancing her life as a single mother to Emma and Gary while running her bakery, Sweet Sensations. Her mother, Barb, reveals she has started dating a man named Rick whom she met at pickleball, which surprises Maggie. When Maggie's ex-husband, David, announces he is marrying his girlfriend Lisa and invites the whole family to the wedding, Maggie feels pressured to move on and find a date. She reconnects with Michael, a widower whose son is friends with Gary, at a basketball game. Michael, a PR professional, suggests they go on a 'pretend date' to help Maggie practice her rusty dating skills. Their first practice outing at a New Orleans-themed restaurant is a success, filled with laughter and 'crawfish-peeling lessons.' Meanwhile, Maggie is thrilled to learn her bakery has been selected for the show 'Make It, Bake It, Cake It.' Michael offers to use his professional expertise to help her prep for the cameras, leading to more time spent together. Maggie tries her hand at real dating through an app, using the handle 'Cool Mom MD,' but a date with a pretentious wine connoisseur named Steve goes poorly because he lacks a sense of humor and dislikes her puns. Parallel to Maggie's story, her daughter Emma navigates high school heartbreak when her crush, Zach, asks someone else to homecoming, eventually realizing that her kind lab partner, John (the 'new kid'), is a better match. Maggie eventually confronts David about his unreliability as a father, asserting her independence. During the filming of the baking show, Maggie chooses a unique Pecan Pie Cake that impresses the host, Priya Parker. In the aftermath of the show's success, Michael confesses his true feelings by gifting Maggie a barometer, referencing an earlier conversation where she called him her 'indicator' for good men. He tells her he no longer wants to be an indicator but the man she actually dates. The film concludes with Maggie and Michael officially together, planning to attend David's wedding as a real couple, while Emma heads to homecoming with John.