How do you pick up the pieces of a shattered life?

To escape her angry father, Dulcie McDaniel got pregnant—but lost her husband in a fatal accident. Penniless, she returned home with her little girl—only to have her world shattered once again. Lonely and filled with regrets, Dulcie struggles to provide a decent life for her daughter. Then a handsome stranger arrives.

Dulcie, usually shunned by proper folks, is suspicious of Rye Forrester, a drifter offering to work for his keep. But after he helps harvest the crops, her feelings toward the handsome stranger turn into a consuming mutual passion. Although Rye wears the brand of an army deserter, Dulcie is thrilled to be with such a good man.

But Rye has his own secrets. He can't understand why his late friend cheated on such a beautiful wife—or how he can now ask Dulcie's forgiveness for his part in her husband's death. Love is one thing—acceptance and forgiveness another. When their tragic pasts catch up with them, these two wounded souls must fight for the love that will keep them together for a lifetime.