On Fran and Maxwell's honeymoon aboard the yacht, Fran falls overboard and Maxwell jumps in to rescue her. They manage to make it to a deserted island. There, they have some good times and bad times in their survival, but the worst ends up being a poisonous bite that Maxwell receives. He thinks he's going to die, but luckily for him, Fran watched daytime television in the past which gave her the necessary skills to tend to his illness. Meanwhile, they are noticed missing when the yacht docked at its first port without them. The Sheffield kids, Sylvia and Niles fear the worst. After a week of the Coast Guard not being able to locate any sign of Fran and Maxwell dead or alive, C.C. decides to take matters into her own hands.
If not for C.C. walking in on them, Maxwell and Fran would have done it in the hospital bed next to Niles. After the fact, Fran is encouraged that finally something is happening between them. Maxwell on the other hand is still uncertain, and gets some glib advice from Niles to preoccupy Fran with some meaningless project, like redecorating a room, to give him more time to figure out what to do. Fran sees right through what Maxwell's doing. Sylvia sees Maxwell's ploy as letting Fran into his life and his home, especially as the room in question is the sanctuary: the kitchen. Fran initially wants to do all the work herself, much like Maxwell's first wife, Sarah, did with the house, but Sylvia convinces Fran to enlist the help of Fran's flamboyant decorator cousin, Sheila.
Upon returning home from Paris, Fran couldn't be happier when C.C. says Maxwell just hired her for her looks. To find out if this is true, Fran tries dating a blind guy. Meanwhile Maxwell tries to back-peddle after what he told Fran on the plane.
Fran has had a pen pal named Lenny since the first grade. Fran and Lenny, through their letters, get along famously, almost like boyfriend/girlfriend. They agreed early on never to exchange photographs, but Lenny, coming to New York, wants to meet Fran in person. Maxwell is anxious to meet Lenny as he feels he's in competition with Lenny. Fran, on the other hand, is nervous to meet Lenny as she has exaggerated who "Fran Fine" is in her letters. But Fran agrees to meet Lenny at the Russian Tea Room, each identifying the other by the red rose worn on their lapels. Again, Maxwell is anxious to see Lenny, and accompanies Fran to the Russian Tea Room and stays with her until Lenny shows up. Fran and Maxwell are having a nice enough "date" of their own while they wait for Lenny, so nice that Fran almost doesn't care if Lenny shows up or not.
