Beneath his careful and controlled demeanor, attorney John O'Rourke is a man whose life is in turmoil. Since the death of his wife, he has been juggling the rigoes of a controversial capital murder case and the demands of raising two children. Eleven year-old Maggie's crooked bangs and rumpled clothes eloquently reproach John's earnest but haphazard attempts at mothers. Teddy, John's stalwart fourteen-year-old, has quietly assumed responsibilities far too weighty for his young shoulders, as he longs for the way things used to be and tries to ignore the hostility that has swirled around his family since his father took on the defense of a killer whose crimes have rocked Connecticut.