Jenna Hunterson is a waitress living in the Southern United States, trapped in an unhappy marriage with her controlling and abusive husband, Earl. She works in Joe's Pie Diner, where her job includes creating inventive pies with unusual titles inspired by her life, such as the "Bad Baby Pie" she invents after her unwanted pregnancy is confirmed. While a receptionist at the doctor's office notices her disappointment, and even mentions to her that she can have the pregnancy "Abortion" in a city about two hours away, she decides to keep the baby nonetheless. Jenna longs to run away from her dismal marriage and is slowly accumulating money to do so. She pins her hopes for escape on a pie contest in a nearby town, which offers a $25,000 grand prize, but her husband won't let her go. Her only friends are her co-workers, Becky and Dawn, and Joe - the curmudgeonly owner of the diner and several other local businesses - who is a regular customer of Jenna's at the diner and encourages her to begin a new life elsewhere.