The candid, but good-natured Grace operates a diner which doubles as a bus stop in a small Kansas town. One night, a snowstorm forces a busload of passengers to stay the night. Bo, the brash young cowboy, has his heart set on the night club singer Cherie. Upset by his advances, she runs to the local sheriff, Will, while Bo retreats to his friend Virgil, an older ranch hand.

Meanwhile, the intoxicated, middle-aged professor Dr. Lyman seems a little too interested in Graces wide-eyed young waitress Elma. And the colorful bus driver Carl has one eye on the weather and the other on Grace. Throughout the evening, they all become better acquainted with each other and with themselves, and most emerge in the morning with a different outlook on life.