In the series premiere, an old friend returns and new relationships are forged on the eve of the wedding of the year. Local business magnate Ed Burton is hosting the wedding of his daughter, Reese Burton, to her high-school sweetheart Travis Peterson. But Travis has some secrets he would like to stay that way - top of the list being his affair with Reese's oldest friend, Peyton Richards, the daughter of the Burtons' live-in housekeeper. And when Peyton and Reese's best friend Lane McKenzie returns from New York, in time for the wedding, things look poised to either go well or come crashing down... There's also trouble in the form of con artists Tom Massick and Veronica Koslowski, who have arrived in Savannah with a new mark - Ed Burton.
In the second-part of the series premiere, Reese must deal with Travis' lies, while Peyton strives to hide her participation in the affair from her best friends. Lane, meanwhile, enlists Dean on the hunt for her missing money - which takes them on an impromptu trip to Atlanta where reminiscing over their past relationship comes dangerously close to re-enactment... Back in Savannah, Tom and Veronica continue to play Ed, even going so far as to fake a day out at "their" ranch to see "their" horse.
As Peyton begins to lose her mind, wondering what happened to Travis, his body is discovered in a lake just outside town - which sends the newly-promoted Dean on a murder investigation. Reese, meanwhile, deals with the the funeral arrangements, as Tom continues to gently woo her. He's also still working the con with Veronica, and a poker game onboard the riverboat leads to an interesting gamble for Ed and Tom. Back on dry land, Peyton fears the affair will be discovered when Alex reveals that Travis had tapes of his sexual encounters with Bunny, and sets out to find the tapes before the cops do. Luckily for her, Lane is occupying much of Dean's attention these days...
The investigation into Travis' death continues, and threatens to tear the Savannah community apart - Reese and her father end up at loggerheads when Lane is accused, while Dean is thrown off the case for trying to protect Lane. And as he embarks on his own investigation, Peyton freaks when she realises that "Bunny" is back in town, with knowledge that could land her in a lot of trouble. As the net closes, there's a shocking discovery at the Burton mansion - and an even bigger surprise for Peyton. Tom and Veronica, meanwhile, continue their con of Ed Burton, but it seems Tom has a more personal interest in their mark than Veronica knew about...
Still reeling from her mother's revelation about her parentage, Peyton sets about causing trouble for Ed Burton - and when Reese writes down all her angry feelings about her father in a never-to-be-mailed letter, Peyton sees her opportunity to ruin the Burton's relationship for good... After Veronica bows out of the con when she realises Tom's personal vendetta is clouding his judgement, he realises why Ed was so quick to give the S.S. Savannah away - it's drowning in financial troubles. But an offhand remark from Reese gives Tom an idea, and a reason, to keep the sailboat running, as well as hiring both Reese and Peyton in the process. Veronica, meanwhile, sets her sights on Ed when Tom informs her he used her half of the takings to finance his new venture; and Lane decides to give Dean another chance - but a visitor from his past could wreck their burgeoning relationship...
After rescuing him from the fire, Veronica quickly marks her territory where Ed is concerned - a move that piques Peyton's curiosity, who hires a private investigator to look into her background. When he finds some interesting details, Peyton sets his investigative skills onto Tom as well... Tom, meanwhile, is dealing with his wayward brother Vincent, who turns up in Savannah after being released from prison. Reese tries to make nice with the two brothers, but it seems their past isn't as clear-cut as Vincent makes out... Dean's got his own problems to deal with, as Jeannie's return to Savannah has forced him to make a choice between the two women in his life. Unfortunately, that choice is made more difficult when Lane lands a job as the crime reporter for a local newspaper.
After Tom stalls Peyton's attempts at blackmailing him, she continues to dig into his background - and realises that not only did he and his brother Vincent used to live in Savannah, but that their father, Jack Henderson, used to own the S.S. Savannah. But when she brings the information to her mother, she discovers that the riverboat is not the only connection the Massick's have to the Burton's... Tom and Veronica, meanwhile, continue to one-up each other in their manipulation of the Burtons, with Veronica cooling things off with Ed in order to elicit a wedding proposal; while Reese finds herself opening up to Tom so much that she agrees to marry him too. Lane and Dean, however, aren't having as much luck with their relationship - Dean's wife Jeannie is still in the picture, while Lane decides that she needs to move on from a pining Dean. Unfortunately for her, she gets dragged back into the saga when she catches Jeannie with another man - and some crafty snooping leads her to a shocking confrontation in Augusta.
Armed with the information of Tom's parentage - and his dad's relationship with Ed Burton's deceased wife - Peyton manipulates Tom into taking her on as a business partner on the S.S. Savannah. Unfortunately for them, Ed has discovered Veronica's former life as a prostitute, and after spurning her she fills him in on everything there is to know about Tom. To get his revenge, Ed puts the kibosh on Tom's plans to open a gym on the boat, by paying off the equipment company to "lose" the gym machines - however, Peyton goes to drastic measures in order to secure the money for new equipment from Ed... Elsewhere, Lane informs Dean of Jeannie's fiance, Matt, and the pair take a trip to Augusta to meet him. Jeannie, meanwhile, discovers that Dean is on his way to Augusta, and convinces Matt to lie about her in order to throw Dean off the scent. Back in Savannah, Dean's son Jason accidentally tells him that he spent the past six months living with his grandmother, and Dean confronts her too - as it turns out, Jeannie lied to her as well about why she left Dean. He confronts Jeannie with what he knows, but he doesn't know if he'll get another chance to win Lane back... There's more devastating news for Reese, as while on a supply trip with Vincent, he spills the beans about his family's background, Tom's real reason for being in Savannah - and that Ed Burton had another daughter.
When Ed Burton is nominated for candidacy for the state Senate, the secrets of those around him come tumbling out of their closets... Despite being assured by Ed to the contrary, Lucille is shown irrefutable evidence that he isn't going to honour their agreement of naming Peyton in his will. Feeling spurned, she writes Reese a letter - in which she names Peyton as Ed's other daughter. The women confront their father, and he denies it - although Peyton pressures him into taking a DNA test. Unfortunately, the results aren't what she was hoping for... Veronica, meanwhile, is forced to face up to her past as a prostitute when Lane's recieves a tip about her connection to Ed - luckily for Ed, though, she manages to turn it into a platform for him to be portrayed as a woman's rights activist. Elsewhere in Savannah, Tom's gambling license is rejected based on his criminal past in New York; but Peyton manipulates Reese into acquiring the license and coming onboard the casino as a minority partner. Dean's having troubles too, when he realises life as a single parent isn't going to be as easy as he thinks it will be - especially when Jason takes a disliking to Lane.
Angered after Ed gives her the results of the paternity test, Peyton hires a hotshot lawyer in order to both get her mother off the charges of Travis' murder, and to implicate Ed Burton - but his attempts to do so mean trouble for one resident of Savannah, who's charged with planting evidence... Peyton, meanwhile, sees the trial as another attempt to force a blood test with Burton, and as a way to flirt with the lawyer - to varying degrees of success. The trial's also causing troubles for Dean and Lane - after he innocently tells her of the medical examiner's personal problems, she prints a story implicating the M.E. in producing incorrect autopsy reports of Travis Peterson - causing problems in their relationship... Tom's got troubles of his own, when Vincent catches him stealing profits from the S.S. Savannah without Reese or Peyton's knowledge, but he quickly comes up with an idea to get Vincent out of the way - for good.
The results are in - Peyton is Ed Burton's daughter! The news rocks Savannah, as the scheming Peyton plays Reese against her father, causing further friction between the Burtons. Peyton's also got her eye on her mother's slick lawyer Brian Alexander - but his girlfriend Nancy could prove to be more of an obstacle than she realises... After overhearing Ed and Senator Harling discussing his nomination, and her unsuitableness as a romantic partner, Veronica sets out to reclaim her stock of the S.S. Savannah - but when Tom proves less-than-willing to hand over her money, she pays a visit to Vincent in prison, telling him the truth behind the drug-bust that landed him in jail in the first place; and the news doesn't bode well for Tom's future when Vincent concocts a plan to break out... Lane, meanwhile, is dealing with a mysterious "deep throat", who read her article on the inadequacies of the M.E. - but claims the conspiracy to frame Lucille Richards goes further than that. They meet up in secret, and he points her in several directions... all of which lead to Dean. Unsure of what to make of this, Lane holds off printing her article - with good reason, because her "deep throat" might be closer to Dean than he's letting on...
As the trial moves on, Lane digs around to discover the identity of her source - and when she realises it's Dean's former partner Jack Buchanan, who he snitched on to I.A.B. for drug abuse, she goes to Dean with everything she knows. Together, they investigate further, and find out from his ex-wife that he's still holding a grudge against Dean - a grudge he'll go to any lengths to satisfy... Meanwhile, Veronica continues to help Vincent in order to get her own back at Tom, and plays Tom into thinking she'll provide him with pictures and information that will destroy Ed Burton - when really it's a scam she and Vincent are pulling to get Tom thrown in prison. Unfortunately for them, they don't take into consideration how his feelings for Reese might affect their plan... Elsewhere, Lucille is found not guilty after a surprise witness shows up, and while Peyton celebrates with Brian and his mother, Lucille sets out to discover where this new witness came from. She finds out that Ed Burton paid him off to testify, and while Lucille takes matters into her own hands, Peyton gets a visit that could change everything in Savannah...
It's all in a day's work for the residents of Savannah, Georgia... Lane has been kidnapped by Jack Buchanan, and is declared missing by the Savannah Police; Reese is left toiling in jail after getting caught up in the drug sting that Veronica and Vincent had set up to ensnare Tom; leaving Peyton to deal with the arrival of Nick Corelli, Travis' heretofore-unknown twin brother, who has arrived in town to meet Travis' wife and in-laws after discovering a few months ago that both he and Travis were adopted. For his part, Nick stumbles right into the revelation that Travis might have had even more secrets, when he is hunted down by two goons asking after a mysterious object called "The Centurion" that Travis last had. Dean, meanwhile, is hot on the tail of Jack Buchanan, who is planning a fiery end for Dean, while Lane gamely attempts to escape from her captor's snake-ranch. Back in Savannah, Tom confronts Veronica over her part in Reese's conviction; while Edward, after being held at gunpoint by a vengeful Lucille, teams up with Brian's mother Eleanor to destroy Peyton.
After the explosion at the cabin, Dean - and the rest of Savannah - operate under the assumption that Lane died in the fire, and he is forced to break the news to Reese. Together, they commiserate over her "death", but their closeness is misinterpreted by a snooping Peyton... Lane, however, is alive and well, still with Milly, and despite numerous attempts to escape ends up locked in the basement once again, her fate solely in the hands of Milly... Back in Savannah, Tom and Veronica are both fingered as suspects in the setup that landed Reese a conviction, and the two go out of their way to ensure the other goes down for the crime. Meanwhile, Peyton takes in the high life at the Alexander mansion, but finds herself targeted by Eleanor - although Peyton's not without a few tricks up her sleeve; and Nick continues to investigate the Centurion Emerald, while trying to remain close to Travis' former friends.