Maddy's Phoenix

Maddy lives a hard life, working as a waitress at the Monte Rio Café in a town on California's Russian River. Abandoned by her mother when she was a teenager, she is nonetheless grateful for the cabin where she lives-and for Cheryl, the older waitress who watches over herwhile Maddy anticipates the birth of her baby.

Then Maddy goes into labor prematurely and loses her precious baby, a loss almost more than any young woman can bear. Soon after Maddy discovers a tiny infant in the dumpster behind the café, keeps the baby, and names her Judith.

Maddy takes the money in her tip jar and moves to the Bay Area, where she can study to become a nurse, to be better than the things her momma said about her. But how can Maddy take care of little Judith, work and go to school?