Sophie Ryan was a girl from the wrong side of town, pregnant, uneducated, and alone. Now she's a sheriff's deputy and has managed to put the past behind her. It's been a long time since the gossips of Treetop, Wyoming, have speculated on the identity of Joe Ryan's father, and Sophie would prefer that didn't change. But on a crisp fall day, Sophie's past comes back—in the form of Luke "Maverick" Salinger, the man who abandoned her when she needed him most. It's Sophie's job to arrest Luke on an old warrant, even though she knows the rumors will start to fly as soon as she gets the cuffs on him. The citizens of Treetop think they know who Joe's father is, but the truth is a mystery—even to Sophie.