Pete Evans has finally completed his last journey as trail boss on the Oregon Trail, leading his newfound friends all the way across the frontier to Oregon City. But his heart grows heavy as he realizes this means the end of his time with Miss Josephine Lewis and the orphaned Chance family. Sense and logic tell him he should collect his belongings and retire, like a man his age should, but something keeps drawing him back to Josephine.
Josephine Lewis has a whole life waiting for her with her niece in Denver City...so why does she find it impossible to cut ties and head where reason dictates she should go? She is certain she's too old, at age forty, to form any new attachments, especially romantic ones. And how could a single woman of her age possibly be expected to become a mother to four orphans? Her final responsibility before moving on is to find a home for the Chance children.
But love has plans for Josephine and Pete that have nothing to do with reason or logic and that defy age. That is, if they can come to their senses before the Chance children find themselves in grave danger...