When Travis and Rebecca marry, rumors quickly spread that he has done so only for her dying father's ranch. Convinced that Travis can never truly love her, Rebecca disappears to make a new life for herself in a town far away, but her friends there are few, and life is hard. When desperate circumstances drive Rebecca home to Travis, she can see the change in the man she left behind. In her absence, he has grown from a rough-hewn cowboy to a confident...

Spirited and impetuous Katherine Taggart -- nicknamed "Rusty" for her curly red hair -- shines like a ray of sunshine at her aunt and uncle's orphanage. Wonderful with children but unaccustomed to traveling alone in the pioneer West, Rusty is accompanied on her first orphanage placement trip by the kind but reserved widower Chase McCandles. When Chase offers Rusty a position in his stately home as a companion for his young son, Quintin, Rusty accepts...