Kerley McFarland's brother, Dale, is killed in Omaha, Nebraska. Determined to find out what really happened and to recover Dale's prize pinto horse, Kerley's search leads him to a prosperous Nebraska farm. Here he learns the farmer's niece, Isabella Greely, has run away on the horse. Determined to find the animal, he tracks her. He spies her on the road ahead, then a couple of outlaws appear from behind some trees and attack her.

After freeing and escaping with her, it isn't long until she tells him she is his brother's widow and has run away from home because her uncle is trying to force her to marry an unsavory neighbor. Knowing his brother is not the marrying kind, he doesn't trust women and thinks she's lying, but doesn't confront her until he learns her next secret. She is soon to be the mother of his brother's child.

Realizing she could be telling the truth, he knows there is nothing he can do but protect her until he sorts out the truth. But it becomes harder each time he looks at the beautiful young woman, the first woman who has stirred his blood since the loss of his unfaithful wife.