At the heart of Cynthia Thayer's debut novel, Strong for Potatoes, was the tender relationship between a girl and her grandfather, evolving as their lives grew and changed. Now, Thayer tackles another kind of relationship, one born out of a meeting between strangers but forged in the need for survival.

Peter lost his wife and children in a fire years ago, yet the wound is fresh, painful. He's become something of a hermit on the coast of Maine, shearing sheep and gardening to live, an old Passama quoddy woman his only friend and bagpiping his only passion. Elaine is eight months pregnant and on the run from her husband, a hard man more interested in control than love. Fear is simply part of her life, fear for herself and her unborn child.

When Elaine turns up outside Peter's cabin during a terrible winter storm, Peter can't turn her away into the ice. The two lonely adults clash, then slowly discover that friendship, support, and healing grow in the unlikeliest places.