Seventeen-year-old Sheila O'Connor's father died when his pickup truck stalled in the path of an oncoming train. Now her world is changing at an overwhelming pace. Her mother is preparing to remarry, already showing signs of a transformed life. Big brother Josh has joined the Marines, seemingly on a whim. And little sister Annie revels in the attention of her father-to-be, her first experiences of a real dad. Sheila is changing too, looking for love, trying to protect those whom she loves, and pretending that she can maneuver through the big and little dramas of those around her. But she is about to discover that the only fate she can control is her own . . . and even that will take courage she never knew she had.