Ella is a charitable, spirited Newport socialite in 1905 who dreams of using her wealth to start a foundation to help others in town. After learning that her father intends for her to become engaged to a man she's never met at the upcoming Christmas Eve ball, Ella goes for a nighttime sail in her schooner to clear her head. Upon seeing a comet shoot across the sky, she wistfully wishes for a different life. Ella is shocked to suddenly find Nick, a sailor and local Newport historian, aboard her schooner and accuses him of being a stowaway. But Nick insists that he owns the boat and a standoff ensues. Once on dry land, Ella realizes that she has somehow traveled from 1905 to 2025. As she spends time there and gets a glimpse at what her future in 1905 appears to be, she becomes reluctant to return, especially since she and Nick have grown close and she now knows how true love feels. But the legacy that Ella built in her time and the course of Newport's history risk being erased the longer she stays in the present, so the two plot a course for her trip back through time. But what awaits her at home is even more surprising that what she found in the future.