Patricia has been sent to live with her father, an Air Force pilot who had left her in the care of her two elderly aunts when her mother died. Believing that she will hate her father, Patricia secretly vows to be so disagreeable that he will dislike her and send her home to her aunts in Iowa. She comes to love him, of course, and the air force base on which they live. Patricia learns about being part of the "family" of the military and learns to value the friendship and support of other families stationed on an air force base.