Utah Territory, winter of 1888. Deborah Tyler waits for her husband, Samuel, who is weeks overdue from his travels as a wheelwright. Junction is a tiny town of seven Mormon families scattered along the floor of a canyon, and Deborah earns her living by tending orchards and making work gloves. Isolated by the red-rock cliffs that surround the town, the townspeople are regarded with suspicion by the Mormon faithful who question the depth of their belief....

After the death of her abusive father and loss of her beloved Ethan and their unborn child, Pattyn runs away, desperately seeking peace, as her younger sister, a sophomore in high school, also tries to put the pieces of her life back together.