It is 1923 and the world economy is booming. Myrtle runs a whore house in LaFollette, Tennessee. Eli is a stone killer if killing needs doing. Myrtle has scads of money in the bank and wants to retire early and furthermore, she wants to marry Eli. He doesn't think so. Why mess up a good thing? He has Myrtle when he feels the need. He's happy living alone in his cabin in the backwoods. Hunting, trapping, and killing are his only job skills. When Eli discovers a child with no family lying in a field, he discovers that he needs Myrtle more than he thought. He doesn't know beans about raising a kid.