Eva Gregory (Thora Birch) lives in Los Angeles with her mother Amy (Mimi Rogers), her brother Jack (Adrian and Julian Johnson), and her stepfather Tom (Christopher McDonald), a police lieutenant. Tom's daughter Tessa (Alison Elliott) occasionally babysits Eva and Jack. Eva wants a dog, but her mother does not think she is responsible enough to take care of a pet, her stepfather is allergic to fur, and she cannot keep the pet at her father Peter's (Kevin Scannell) house because he is a pilot and travels a lot.