In the midst of a Christmas blizzard: A baby on the doorstep.
Itβs taken a long time and a little heartache, but Annie Sutton is finally following her dream of living on Marthaβs Vineyard. She fell in love with the islandβs singular beauty while using it as a setting for two of her novels. In her cozy rented cottage on Chappaquiddick, sheβs settling in for her first Vineyard winterβcomplete with a fierce norβeaster on the way, forecast to bring high winds and deep snow. But the blizzard also brings something unexpected to Annieβs front porch: a basket, encircled by a ribbon, containing a baby girl. The note reads: βI named her Bella, after my grandmother. Please help her, because I canβt.β
Adopted as a child, Annie is grateful for wonderful parents who raised her as their own. Yet she also hopes to spare little Bella the feelings of abandonment that still haunt her. And so, rather than take the baby to the police, Annie decides to keep her and try to find the birth mother, giving her a chance to change her mind.
But itβs not easy keeping a secret in a close-knit, island community, especially amid the bustle of Christmas. Before the holiday ends, there will be revelations, rekindled hope, and proof that familiesβthe ones we are born into and the ones we claim for ourselvesβare the gifts that truly matter . . .