Sisters Easter and Ruby are in foster care after their mother dies. They haven't seen their father Wade, a faded minor league baseball player, since they were little, and the only other family are grandparents living too far away to contemplate.

The one day Wade reappears, hoping to get to know his daughters better. When he left his young family, he signed away his rights to them, but when he turns up again at their foster home, he just takes them in the night anyway. Easter is always wary of him, a very intelligent 12 year old who always seems to know just what is going on, but Ruby, only six, just wants to get to know her father, her excitement and trust evident throughout the whole story.

Before the abduction of his children, Wade had stolen money from a local thug, who allows one of his nightclub bouncers, Pruitt, to find Wade, retrieve the money - all for a price. But Pruitt has other ideas. A fellow baseball player himself, he has revenge on his mind, as his pursuit of Wade is personal as well as a business deal.

Add to the mix the court appointed guardian of Easter and Ruby, ex-police detective Brady, who can only do so much with the information he gleans from his ex-partner on the force.

There are a lot of baseball references throughout the story, but they somehow tied things together - Easter loved baseball, would talk to her friends about it and follow the rivalries between teams/players. Wade was a baseball player himself. This link between them was touching. Although Wade had been an absent father, and made many mistakes, but you can tell he really loves his children.