Just for the Summer

The film opens with Penelope, a dedicated middle school teacher in San Francisco, receiving news from her agent, Liam, that a prestigious publishing house is interested in her manuscript but requires significant revisions on a tight deadline. Despite the workload, Penelope travels to her grandmother Dot's lake house for Dot's 75th birthday celebration. Upon arrival, she is immediately thrust into a matchmaking scheme orchestrated by Dot and her friend Josie, who aim to reunite Penelope with Josie's grandson, Jason. After a series of awkward setups involving a pharmacist poet and a bakery owner's grandson, Penelope and Jason—who is currently an investment banker but secretly dreams of naval architecture—decide to enter a 'fake dating' pact to gain 'breathing room' from their grandmothers. They spend their days together under the guise of romance, though Penelope is actually using the time to rewrite her book and Jason is working on restoring an old sailboat. As they share their true passions, Jason helps Penelope solve a major plot hole in her novel by suggesting a more personal setting, while Penelope encourages Jason to enter a boat design competition. The ruse begins to crumble when Penelope's cousin Annabeth discovers the truth, but she agrees to keep the secret. Tensions rise as the 'fake' relationship develops real emotional depth, complicated by the memory of their high school breakup and Jason's recent failed engagement. At Grandma Dot's elaborate 75th birthday party, Penelope's agent arrives to announce she has secured a publishing deal. Fearing he might hold her back from her dreams, Jason initially prepares to leave, but ultimately confesses his love, admitting that the relationship was never truly pretend for him. In a final twist, Dot and Josie reveal they knew about the fake dating scheme all along and had intentionally sabotaged household items—like the kitchen sink and a boat mast—to force the couple together. The film concludes with Penelope dedicating her book to her 'matchmaking' grandmother and the couple fully reconciled.