During 1964's Freedom Summer, Boston journalist Laura Stainsby goes undercover in Southeast Georgia to investigate a grudge-match Congressional election between widowed plantation owner Patrick O'Grady and wealthy Cadillac dealer, "Big Billy" Berens. The line between truth and justice becomes a tightrope when century-old family secrets threaten Georgia's most prominent family, an innocent black man is accused of murder, and a child is kidnapped—forcing Laura to risk her career and her dream of a family—for the truth.

Widower Patrick O'Grady II has avoided his family's political legacy, staying out of the limelight running Langesford Plantation while raising his six-year-old daughter Danielle until his father's sudden death forces him to run for his office—against his old rival, Billy Berens. When he discovers that "Sarah Tucker", the woman he hired to watch over Dani, is an imposter—and a reporter hired by Billy—he must battle his feelings for Laura, defend an innocent black employee facing a lynch mob, protect his daughter—and deal with a secret that could destroy his family's two hundred year old legacy.