Susannah Brown, a beautiful young widow, lives out the tragedy of having the love of her life die after only six months as his bride. Not only must she deal with the heartbreak of loneliness, she must try to support herself as a dairymaid in 1890's Arizona Territory after having been raised a lady in Boston.The house on the property she inherited is a tumbledown shack, and she despairs about her whole situation until the homecoming of her dead husband's half-brother, Douglas.Susannah has heard what townspeople whisper about him, and when she finds him on her doorstep, his visit is unwanted and unwelcome. But he helps out around her place and soon becomes a friend of sorts, confiding to her a secret that few people know.It is only after Susannah's obsession with her husband's memory drives Douglas away that she realizes she loves him. What will it take for her to win him back?