The story begins with a winter storm sweeping across a summer resort town in New Jersey. Maggie, a recent widow, is alone with her grief in a rented cottage on the shore. As the wind howls and blusters around her little red house, she opens her door to a stranger whose car has broken down on a nearby road. He explains that he saw her single light burning on the deserted shore and appeals to her for help and shelter from the storm. Maggie and Walt...