To escape an abusive husband, Pauline Ray takes her two young children and all the money she’s secretly stashed over the years, and travels as far as the funds allow. She ends up in the small Virginia town where she encounters the eccentric Blue sisters, who take the family into their care. The sisters come up with the idea to pass Pauline off as the daughter of deceased friend. That way, she inherits a cottage and a new identity, that of Anne Elise Greenway.

In the small town of Norton, Virginia, gossip spreads like wildfire, and the story is that old man Greenways’s daughter has returned, a widow whose husband left her penniless. When the local ranch hand and mysterious loner, Jeremy Sheffield, learns this, having seen and become intrigue by her, he approaches with the idea of helping. She explains that she can’t afford to hire him; he explains there is more than one way to pay a man.

It’s supposed to be a surface relationship, help in exchange for sexual relations, but attraction fuels an unexpected affection, which complicates matters. Jeremy and Anne Elise have both suffered from gnawing loneliness most of their lives, and the intimacy between them changes everything.

Unfortunately, Pauline has not been forgotten; her husband, Ethan Ray, hires the Pinkerton Agency to find his wife and children. When a detective finally locates her, Ethan comes to collect his family. As usual, when Ethan is angry, he is violent. Jeremy arrives on the scene in time to save Anne Elise, but only by damning himself. The ghosts from his past resurface and he’s forced to accept that he’s meant to be alone. Only by drawing on all her newfound strength, will Anne Elise convince him of his worth and her love.