Gordon McKenna -- at age 24 -- thinks he's already heard the worst news of his life when he learns that his only sister Georgia is fatally ill. Then Georgia and her husband die in a car accident, leaving behind their baby daughter, Keefer. Gordon and his parents are able to survive their sorrow only by devoting themselves heart and soul to the care of the beloved one-year-old.

But the decision of who will raise Keefer, and how, is far from over. Gordon's most basic assumptions about the security and identity of his family will be challenged in ways so provocative that the McKennas will be driven first to disbelief and then to outrage. Their ordeal will test the limits of love within a closely knit family again and again, challenging even love's ultimate capacity to heal.