When the woman coming to be Josiah’s new bride and mother to his niece uses him to marry someone else, he’s not only devastated by the rejection, but worried. His niece is in desperate need of a mother’s love, and that’s his main focus. Especially as now, he’s worried no woman will want him for who he is. After losing her parents on the Oregon Trail, Joanne is in dire straits. As a young woman alone, she doesn’t have the means to fend off the men interested in her—in particular a miner who hasn’t seen a bar of soap since the day he was born and is convinced she belongs to him. With no other option, she writes away for a mail-order opportunity and prays it won’t take long. Feeling led to help Joanne, Josiah hurries to get her. But he has a secret his new wife won’t like. Will she reject him once she learns what it is? Or will Josiah become the husband and protector that Joanne needs?