Nicky Dillon is 12 years old, and it has been two years since her mother and little sister were killed in an automobile accident. Now she lives with her grieving father, Robert, and when, one winter day, they find an abandoned newborn baby in the snowy woods, old wounds are opened--and new ones are suffered as well. As the police gradually establish the babys parentage, young Nicky gains some insight into her father, and into her rapidly maturing self. The story is told by Nicky as an adult, many years later.