Josh Donnelly has a steady life of good habits, small carvings, and the rhythm of Church Street, until a wrapped bundle appears on his doorstep on the coldest night of the year. The baby-quiet, insistent, and utterly unexpected-pulls Josh out of his carefully ordered world and straight into the messy business of parenting. When authorities question how the child arrived, secrets from Peculiar's past surface: a long-buried death, a scarred family history, and whispers that force Josh and the woman who brought the baby to town into the spotlight.