Rose dreamed of leaving the Sioux reservation in Santee, NE. Now, faced with the wide world, she must decide if she is truly ready to strike out on her own and take the risk. Rose has fought against the painful abuse of her father and the loneliness of a mother long-dead of a white man’s sickness. When Pete offers her the chance to escape to a new life, she must take it or marry into the same abuse she’s lived for so long. Pete has always helped Rose from the shadows. Being half-white, he’s had to. He has loved Rose for as long as he can remember, but he must prove his worth to her by helping her to freedom and safety. Pete must compete for the right to take Rose to Kansas but his young and impetuous heart steers him wrong. In shame, he abandons Rose, but can never leave her care completely to someone else. When they finally make it to Kansas, Pete comes out of the shadows once again. Once within the safety of a Kansas ranch, can Rose forgive Pete for leaving her? Will Pete remain the brooding half-blood from the reservation, or grow into the man Rose needs him to be?

Meg Connor’s world is falling apart after the loss of her husband. The rules of mourning state that she has to wait one year and one day before she may marry again, but she could lose her home if she doesn’t find a husband fast. Jax McCartney is on the run from a man who wants him dead. Meg’s ranch is the perfect place to hide and get off the trail for a while. He can’t afford to be found. When Meg hires Jax to be her foreman to help her keep her ranch, could she really have found the answer to her prayers?