Kit Tolliver, a man with a broken heart and a dark past, rides into the Starbuck Valley looking for a place to get through the winter and finds himself caught in the middle of a range war and the object of the affections of two beautiful but very different women.
Cassidy Holt, the impetuous daughter of a Philadelphia matron and socialite, is exiled to her Uncle’s ranch in the valley, and is caught between her love for a man with hidden secrets and the new-found faith that she shares with her best friend who loves the same man. That friend, Nellie Slocum, a store-owner’s crippled daughter, has a deep faith in God and the trust that there is good in everyone, even those with hidden secrets.
Tolliver hires on with Seymour Gray, an elderly rancher trying to hold his small spread against the guns and greed of Jed Walker, the man who controls most of the valley. Tolliver’s guns back up Joshua Willard, the pastor of a small congregation whose faith in God’s plan for everyone is tested against the power of a wealthy ranch owner and the guns of an outlaw gang. When the valley erupts in gun fire, Dr. James Adams, the small-town Doctor who has seen the horrors of Gettysburg must try to care for those who fall victim to a range war.