Jacob's Island, a barrier island located on Virginia's Eastern Shore, is a mysterious place - a seemingly parallel universe where legend has it an angel once lived. Enter Shelby Parks who is spending her vacation on the island to pursue her one diversion in life - bird watching. Shelby is sophisticated, intelligent and motivated - a successful attorney who seemingly has it all. But she lives in the shadow of her dead husband. It has been two years and she still cannot let him go. Her guide while on the island is Morgan Brooks, an enigmatic figure who is mentally impaired, has no known past, and a knack for irritating Shelby in every conceivable way. But as time goes by she begins to see something special in this simple and unpretentious man. She also begins to piece together his past - a past that she never could have imagined.